BAXUS Launches, Enabling Anyone to Buy, Trade and Preserve Rare, Valuable Wine and Spirits

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 25, 2023--

BAXUS, the pioneer marketplace enabling wine and whiskey enthusiasts to curate a rare, luxury collection, today announced the launch of its whiskey and wines marketplace. Backed by whisky industry insiders, BAXUS is redefining how people engage with rare, vintage wine and spirits. BAXUS harnesses the power of blockchain technology to give users proof of ownership, authentication, and a safe storage solution, ensuring complete peace of mind for every transaction. To-date, BAXUS has traded over $20M in whiskey, fueling investor interest in the category.

BAXUS is founded by Todd Wiesel, seasoned whisky investor and trader who launched his own whiskey fund while studying computer science and database building at Columbia University. Todd launched BAXUS to create the pioneer secondary marketplace that connects thousands of wine and spirits enthusiasts worldwide, opening access and opportunity to rare, vintage liquids. Today, BAXUS holds a few of the rarest bottles in the world, including dozens of Pre-Prohibition bourbons, Yamazaki 55, and complete sets of Lenell’s Red Hook Rye.

“The god of wine and spirits is Baccus. So, BAXUS was born, which is the ‘tech-friendly’ version of the name,” said Todd Wiesel, founder and CEO of BAXUS. “Internationally, bottles represent memories and evoke nostalgia for millions of people. BAXUS gives wines and spirits collectors and investors a place to participate in the market, when they otherwise wouldn’t have because of opaque pricing conditions, infrequent auctions, high fees, complicated legal framework around alcoholic beverages, and many other reasons. BAXUS is solving these problems via a trusted third-party responsible for custody and authentication, allowing institutions and individuals to digitally transact around the globe,” said Wiesel.

"For over 11 years at Pernod Ricard, I worked with some of the world's most iconic brands in China, Japan, and the U.S. and during this time, I learned just how disconnected and challenging the global wine and spirits market can be. Knowing this, I have always wanted to help build a true, connected community that is driven by the consumer; through transparent, approachable information and education. Historically, bottle choices on the shelf have been shaped by the supply side of the industry vs. the demand side with limited to no two-way conversation between brands and consumers. Today, we're democratizing information, pricing data, and history on rare and limited wines and spirits, and making every decision for the platform based on what our consumer wants. Through access and education, we're building an industry leading platform and marketplace for wine and spirits enthusiasts." - said Finian Sedgwick, VP of Sales and Marketing at BAXUS.

Post-pandemic, the wines and spirits industry has seen explosive growth, notably in the U.S. and U.K. Auction house Sotheby's Concierge Auctions revealed that wine and spirits auction sales reached a high of $150M in 2022, with spirits sales reaching a new high of $29M, a significant increase from $22M in 2021 and a dramatic jump from just $4M in 2017. In the case of rare whiskies, the market is driven by both demand for collectible bottles as well as investment demand for rare and aged bottles with limited supply.

“I met Todd at Columbia University, where I was hosting a lecture about databases. I was amazed by the massive impact technology could have on the transparency and efficiency of the wine and spirits market: a very archaic industry. Coming from The New York Times' machine learning platform team, I understood the potential that data could have on this very opaque market,” said Carrie Kellar, co-founder and CTO of BAXUS. “Todd and I recognized that the only way to "fix" this market was through tokenizing these assets exclusively on the blockchain. At BAXUS, we’re using the blockchain for its original intent: ensuring complete transparency, authentication, ownership and provenance,” she said.

Today, BAXUS holds the most advanced pricing data on its platform, where users gain free access to hundreds of data points before buying or selling. The pricing data is tailored to a portfolio holder’s collection, eliminating time users would spend sifting through a large search index. In the coming year, BAXUS plans to grow its technology team, with a particular focus on machine learning and computer vision to further accelerate the company’s pricing data collection and data sales operations.

BAXUS also plans to open an experiential events space, where partner brands will have the opportunity to host exclusive, private tastings with VIP members. Finally, BAXUS plans to launch new features and access points for all members, such as lending, for wherever they are on their journey– from bottle 1 to bottle 1,000.

Boilerplate

BAXUS is the secure way to trade wine and spirits. Harnessing the power of blockchain technology to give users proof of ownership, authentication, and a safe storage solution, ensuring complete peace of mind for every transaction. BAXUS also provides a personal dashboard for managing your collection with the latest pricing information and a global marketplace of like-minded enthusiasts, providing an unrivaled platform to explore, exchange, and elevate your collection.

Sign up for BAXUS' newsletter on our website at www.baxus.co to receive regular updates, including announcements about the availability of new bottles. And, follow BAXUS on Twitter and Instagram, where new product releases and updates are announced.

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KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA NEW YORK

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SOURCE: BAXUS

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PUB: 10/25/2023 07:00 AM/DISC: 10/25/2023 07:01 AM

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