Global Interactive Technologies, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024

Overview

Global Interactive Technologies, Inc. (the “Company”), a Delaware corporation formerly known as Hanryu Holdings, Inc., is a technology-driven platform company connecting global fans of Korean culture through innovative digital experiences. The Company operates Faning, a comprehensive interactive platform designed to facilitate content discovery, monetization, user-generated content, and deep community engagement among global fandom communities. The Company focuses on leveraging technology to expand Korean culture (Hallyu) beyond traditional K-Pop, spanning digital media, entertainment, and interactive platform services.

The Company is a corporation that was incorporated in the state of Delaware on October 20, 2021, as Hanryu Holdings, Inc. On December 5, 2024, the Company formally changed its name from Hanryu Holdings, Inc. to Global Interactive Technologies, Inc. pursuant to an amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation filed with the Secretary of State of Delaware. In connection with the name change, the Company also changed its Nasdaq ticker symbol from HRYU to GITS.

Corporate Structure and Subsidiaries

As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s primary operating subsidiary is Faning Korea, LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Faning Korea oversees the development, maintenance, and operation of the Faning application and related web services.

Throughout 2024, the Company restructured its subsidiaries, including the divestiture of Hanryu Bank on December 28, 2024, and FNS and Marine Island on November 5, 2024. Faning Korea, LLC was acquired on December 4, 2024. These changes were not deemed material and, therefore, were not separately reported on Form 8-K.

IPO and Nasdaq Listing

On July 31, 2023, the Company successfully completed its IPO on Nasdaq, raising approximately $8.77 million through issuing 877,328 shares of Class A common stock at $10 per share. The Company’s stock initially traded under the symbol ‘HRYU,’ changing subsequently to ‘GITS’ following the name change.

Strategic Developments

On February 26, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors terminated the employment of Changhuyk Kang as Chief Executive Officer for cause. On the same day, the Board appointed Mr. Taehoon Kim, the Company’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

**FANING (**successor to the Fantoo platform)

FANING has become a globally recognized platform for providing an amazing and active community among people that have an interest in K-POP and modern Korean culture. The multifaceted nature of the Company’s operations has solidified the business’ reputation as one of the preeminent platforms for fandom. FANING’s users are able to seamlessly interact with each other to discuss exciting K-POP topics.

FANING allows fans to interact within their fandoms and discuss these interests, create and share content, and interact through a number of channels, including (i) secure, direct messaging, (ii) open social pages, and (iii) virtual spaces (“FANING Clubs” or “Clubs”). FANING Clubs concentrate on a specific topic, allowing moderators to control the Club functions, and the Club members to aggregate their FP rewards. Integrated within each FANING Club is a “Club Vault,” a service provided by FANING that allows the individual members of a Club to donate their personal FP to an account held by the Club. The Club Vault allows the Club’s members to aggregate their FP and increase their purchasing power. This increase in purchasing power allows the Club’s individual users to more rapidly accumulate FP and pool their rewards with other users, in order to purchase services such as fan events or the ability to live stream a concert from their favorite band. Decisions regarding the use of the accumulated FP within the Club Vault are determined by a vote of the Club members.

Our users are the core of our business. We provide our users with customized experiences, including unique interactions within the FANING community. FANING algorithms curate individual user experiences, recommending content, clubs to join, users to connect with, and enabling users to subscribe to keywords and access automatic content geared toward their interests. Through these services, FANING provides the fandom community a way to stay connected and up to date with their fandom communities.

FANING further offers each user the ability to freely create, upload, and monetize their own content by earning in-platform rewards of FP. FANING removes language barriers, providing live chat ability between users worldwide, and global access to platform content, as the FANING platform supports automatic, real-time translation services for 17 languages. FANING also offers a fast, secure, and easy-to-use commerce and user-to-user transaction system. These unique features will allow FANING to generate user loyalty, maintain user interest in the platform, and attract new users.

For growth, we intend to develop short content (two minutes) that will focus on interesting pop music and cultural topics. These videos will be distributed through FANING while concurrently being shown on third party social media platforms and video sharing websites. This new aspect of growth is important for a few reasons. First, it will further enhance the strength of the FANING community by fostering a greater degree of engagement. Second, it will allow for greater visibility for K-POP on a global basis. Management will continue to expand this aspect of operations through the life of the business.

THE FANING ECOSYSTEM

We designed FANING as an ecosystem that is easy for users to adapt and use all features throughout the platform, and for us to develop and roll-out new technologies and functionality. FANING’s launch included a rollout of our messenger, community and club technologies, along with our reward system for users, as described below. Since FANING’s launch in May 2021, the FANING platform has attracted more than 26.6 million users, as of December 31, 2024, from the regions in the chart below:

The main age groups that compose our use base are the 20-29-year age group, and 30-39-year age group, as set forth in the chart below:

The combined age groups of 20-39 years have the highest purchasing power among commercial and entertainment industries, and accounts for more than 80% of all FANING users, with a median age of 27 years old. FANING available to individuals 12 years and older and has an age restriction set that will not allow users under the age of 12 to sign up.

User Reward System

The reward system is the basis of FANING ecosystem. Users earn FP based on: (i) the level of each user’s activity within the FANING platform; and (ii) the revenue we derive from FANING’s advertising sales. At midnight of each day, all advertising revenue for that day is accumulated, and 50% of that day’s total net advertising profits are distributed as FP to users, based upon their level of contribution within the FANING platform. From the 50% of profits that are distributed to users as FP, approximately 30% of the distribution of rewards will go to users who are content creators, and the remaining 20% will be issued to general users who participate on the platform. For the purposes of calculating advertising profits allocated for user rewards, the amount of FP issued will be exchanged at a ratio of one FP for every 100 Korean Won. For the avoidance of doubt, the issuance of FP from advertising revenue is limited to advertising revenue generated within the FANING platform, and the Company may earn revenue from advertising outside of the FANING platform that would not result in the issuance of FP.

Faning Point (“FP”)

FP is a measurement of reward points within the FANING platform. Accruing FP allows users to redeem FP for a wide variety of products and services within FANING, including content from other users and artists available on FANING, K-Culture merchandise, and more. FP will be stored and quantified as rewards point within the FANTOO platform under the in-platform reward system structure that consists of (i) the Company’s FP reserve account, (ii) the Company’s active account for collected advertising revenue which was converted into FP and ready to distribute to users based on user contributions to the FANING platform, (iii) the Company’s recycled FP account, which stores FP after being spent by users to make purchases within the application, and (iv) each user’s individual account stores. The value of FP is set at a fixed ratio of 1:100 FP to Korean Won. The Company does not intend to repurchase FP from users now or in the future. FP does not expire, and FP that is not redeemed by a user will accumulate in such user’s account unless and until such user deactivates their account, at which time such FP will be forfeited and moved to the Company’s reserve account for redistribution.

FP Storage and Security

FP are stored and managed through a database that is separate and apart from other databases used to store and manage other FANING app data. The separate FP database is operated to ensure maximum data confidentiality by minimizing access to the database and limiting the number of individuals who are able to access such database. Access to the database is limited to permitted IP bands, and the backup function of the cloud service used to store data can be restored within a few hours in the event of a disaster recovery event such as a server failure.

User-to-User Interactions

We developed FANING to include numerous opportunities for our users to engage with the platform, including clubs, community forums, chat functions, and functionality to create user-generated content, each of which are intended to build the FANING brand and deepen the loyalty of our users.

FANING Clubs

FANING Clubs are user-created based upon areas of interest in order to link users across the globe and create friendships. Users have the ability to create clubs based upon topics of their own choosing, such as favorite artists, television series, movies, video games, sports, and more. A club can be customized by its moderator according to various policies and preferences to cultivate a close group of users based upon a shared culture. Integrated within each FANING Club is a “Club Vault,” a service provided by FANING that allows the individual members of a Club to donate their personal FP to an account held by the Club. The Club Vault allows the Club’s members to aggregate their FP and increase their purchasing power. This increase in purchasing power allows the Club’s users to more rapidly accumulate FP and pool their rewards, in order to purchase services such as fan events or the ability to live stream a concert from their favorite band. Decisions regarding the use of accumulated FP within the Club Vault are determined by a vote of the Club members.

FANING Communities

FANING communities are open forums where user-generated content is socially promoted and curated by FANING users. Once user requests for a community based around a certain topic exceed a pre-determined threshold, the FANING platform will create such a community based upon the users submitting the requests.

FANING Chats

Real-time multilingual translation capability, currently offered in 17 languages, allows both private messages and open chats via the FANING chats function without language barriers. Messages and chats are protected utilizing end-to-end encryption to prevent leakage of personal information. End-to-end encryption is a system of secured communication to prevent third parties from accessing chat messages, increasing the level of security.

Content

User-Created Content. Core to our business is moving into a user-based content creation model that allows users varying ways to create and sell fandom content to other FANING users, including the content types described below:

• Fanart is artwork created by fans relating to artists, movies, and dramas they like.
• Web Novels are user written novels, uploaded by users to the FANING platform. Readers can make comments at very specific areas within the novel. Novels can be viewed in the language of each user’s choice. If the desired language is not available, users can request or suggest the corresponding language translation. Through the process of “translation matching”, writers can search for translators while translators can ask writers for permissions to obtain the right to translate their stories. Once the writer and translator approve and consent, these translated stories can be sold to users. Any profit will be distributed automatically by FANING based on their prior agreement.
• Webtoons are user-created digital comics, uploaded by users to the FANING platform. Users can also buy and sell user-translated copies of these webtoons through the “translation matching” services referenced above, allowing users across the globe to enjoy their favorite webtoons in their own language.
• User-generated content also includes any other content created and sold by FANING users, such as the FANING shop offerings described below.

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Company-Created Content. FANING original content. The Company also creates and distributes its own content. Content is distributed within the FANING platform both for free and for sale for premium content. The Company currently has 12 key employees broken up into a number of content-creating teams that cast entertainers for creating original video content, primarily uploaded on FANING TV within the FANING platform. As the business grows, the Company intends to hire more employees and produce high-quality content that engages the users into the FANING platform. In addition to the content types similar to the categories listed above for user-generated content, FANING original content also includes:

• FANING original shows and web series are shows and web series produced by FANING. This original content is exclusively available on the FANING platform. From time-to-time, we may sell such content for distribution on other third-party channels and platforms.
• Concerts are hosted by FANING for its users across numerous musical genres, from Korean pop to independent music, in venues of all sizes, from stadiums to small stages. Users that cannot attend these concerts in person can access these concerts on FANING via our online streaming service, and tickets can be purchased, using FP or cash, in the FANING Shop, also known as the “Fanshop.”

Third Party Content. Third party content includes content from trusted third-party media companies. Third party content can be uploaded to FANING pursuant to certain agreements between the Company and third-party providers. These articles and videos are provided in real time, with automatic translation support in 17 languages.

FANING Fanshop

The FANING Fanshop is the e-commerce service provided through the FANING platform to its users. Through the Fanshop, users can purchase various items directly from FANING, such as gifts for artists, pre-paid cards, concert tickets, and other fandom goods using FP or cash. To the extent that items are purchased by the Company to sell within the FANING Fanshop, the Company uses cash to purchase the products and then lists the items in the Fanshop. The Fanshop will also offer a video commerce service, intended to be an online version of traditional home shopping networks on cable television. For example, users can purchase items relating to their favorite K-pop artist, such as the artist’s latest album, at the same time such user is streaming the artist’s live event.

Within the Fanshop, FANING users can also participate in user-to-user transactions, such as selling or purchasing the following:

• Emojis used within chats on the FANING platform. Users have the ability to create emojis and register them in the Fanshop to generate sales by selling them to other users, generating FP in such transactions.
• Augmented reality (“AR”) filters used in videos within the FANING platform. Users have the ability to create and sell registered AR filters within the Fanshop to other users.
• Digital stickers used within the FANING platform. Users have the ability to create and sell registered digital stickers within the Fanshop to other users.

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For both user-to-user transactions and transactions with the Company, payment can be made either by credit card through a secure, third-party payment system built into the FANING platform, or by settling the total with the use of FP. Sales settled in FP will be charged a transaction fee based upon the specific item sold, ranging between 7% to 15% of the sale price. For user-to-user transactions, the selling user receives the proceeds upon the purchaser’s confirmation of receipt of the good sold.

If the item sold in the user-to-user transaction requires shipping, the Company intends on partnering with providers such as Qxpress to provide shipping services for which the fee will be bundled into the total transaction cost. Alternatively, users can ship the item directly using another third-party shipping service.

Also, the Company set up international logistic service for FANING with partners called the Epic eCommerce platform. We believe the operations of the Epic eCommerce platform will catapult the income of Global interactive technologies. This is state -of-the-art eCommerce marketplace will allow for substantial revenues to be produced by facilitating sales among companies that want to provide their inventories to the FANING user base. The platform will provide a complete end-to-end sales and logistics solution for enrolled users.

This new business unit will integrate a full ordering management system (“OMS”), cross border shipping management tools, and seller shipping tools. It has the potential to reach an immense audience, on a global basis, among companies and independent entre preneurs that are seeking to target younger demographics with their products. The benefits of using this system include:

• Sell globally with one origin
• Duty-free for eCommerce orders
• Provide guidelines for eCommerce customs clearance
• Various shipping options to choose and create last-mile labels from our system
• Fast international shipping and reduced costs
• Provide local fulfillment services to various countries
• Customs clearance status
• Shipment tracking system

The key markets that Management will target for Epic’s operations include:

• South Korea
• Hong Kong
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Singapore
• Thailand
• Indonesia
• Taiwan

Our Opportunity

With the continued global expansion of the Korean Wave (Hallyu), K-Culture has become a dominant cultural force, shaping trends in entertainment, media, fashion, and consumer behavior across the world. According to the Korea Foundation’s 2023 Global Hallyu Trends Report, the global K-Culture fan base reached approximately 229 million fans across 119 countries, up from 156.6 million in 2021 — a nearly 50% increase in just two years.

As of the most recent data:

• China remains the country with the largest number of K-Culture fans, totaling 86.32 million, followed by:
• The United States: 27.17 million
• Thailand: 17.37 million
• Indonesia: 16.36 million
• Japan: 7.9 million
• Vietnam: 6.1 million
• Mexico: 5.5 million
• India: 5.2 million
• Philippines: 4.8 million
• Brazil: 4.6 million

Due to regulatory concerns related to data privacy and national policy within China, the Company does not operate or provide services in China, Hong Kong, or Macau. For further details, refer to “Risk Factors — Our decision not to provide products and services and to restrict user access in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) will limit our total addressable market and may limit our ability to grow our business…”

In parallel with this cultural momentum, K-Culture’s global purchasing power was estimated at $147.3 billion as of 2023, according to the Korea Creative Content Agency (KOCCA). Despite economic pressures and the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Korean content exports continue to rise, contributing billions annually to South Korea’s GDP and influencing global consumer trends.

The proliferation of mobile and digital access is a major accelerator. As of 2023, more than 5.6 billion people globally use mobile phones, with more than 60% of the global population active on social media platforms. Studies by KOFICE and KMFA show that mobile-first access is now the dominant channel for engaging with K-Culture content, whether through music streaming, webtoons, fandom communities, or virtual events.

We believe FANING is uniquely positioned to capture this growing demand. The platform’s real-time engagement tools, multilingual UX (supporting 17 languages), monetization mechanisms, and mobile/PC accessibility align closely with how K-Culture is consumed and celebrated worldwide.

The rise of virtual concerts and online fan events has further opened the market. For example, BTS’s virtual concert Bang Bang Con: The Live set a Guinness World Record with 756,000 concurrent viewers from 107 countries. According to Grand View Research, the global virtual events market was valued at approximately $114.1 billion in 2023 and is projected to reach $657.6 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 21.4%.

With its integrated reward system, partnerships across the Korean entertainment industry, and rapidly growing user base, the FANING platform is strategically positioned to become a leading player in the digital K-Culture experience economy.

OUR VALUE

We focus on providing user-centric services to provide a single platform that can address and satisfy the interests of fans within FANING. FANING will enrich users fandom experience by providing an all-in-one platform for fandom content, including news, popular culture, discussions, live shows, and fan creativity. FANING is currently available in 17 languages, with real-time translation services. These real time translation services enable our users to communicate with each other across the globe without language barriers. For languages that are not available for real-time translation, FANING provides a solution through the use of translation matching services among users. Through the translation matching services, FANING ensures that content is accurately translated and available to a greater number of global fans in their own languages. In addition, FANING further allows users to freely create and monetize their own content, enabling fast and secure user-to-user sales.

Within FANING, our reward system ensures users are rewarded with FP for staying active and creative within the platform, as well as attracting new users. The more FP a user earns, the more purchasing power the user has within the FANING platform, allowing users to purchase goods and/or services within the FANING platform either directly from us or from other users.

OUR STRENGTHS

We differentiate ourselves from competing social networks through the power of a fully-integrated platform and established partnerships with leaders in the entertainment industry within South Korea. Our platform and partnerships enable our users to create clubs, communities, and gather over similar fandoms, all while monetizing their content and contributing to the FANING platform experience. Our core strengths include the following:

• Value Creation Through Direct Sales Revenue. We intend to derive revenue from multiple revenue sources, including: (i) advertising revenue, which includes advertisement sales through the placement of banners, splash advertising, pop-up advertisement within the platform, in-platform promotions, branded content productions, and other FANING produced programs; (ii) content sales revenue as FANING continues to produce original content, such as web series, sold to FANING users or otherwise licensed to other third party media services; and (iii) the sale of e-commerce goods through FANING’s Fanshop, including the latest fandom goods and concert tickets.
• Value Creation Through Revenue Derived From User Activity. We intend to generate revenue from the sale of goods and/or services within the FANING platform from one user to another. Revenue is derived from user-to-user sales as follows: (i) from the sale of emojis and online stickers, from which we will collect 30% of the price paid by the purchaser, with the remaining 70% being remitted to the seller; (ii) from web novels and webtoons. If posted for free, the creator will only receive rewards in FP in relation to the number of views and likes; however, if the creator charges for the content, we intend to collect 30% of the price paid by the user, with the remaining 70% being remitted to the seller; (iii) users can offer the service of translation matching, where a user offers to translate another user’s content for a commission (in either cash or FP), and the parties agree to split the sales revenue from the translated content at a pre-determined ratio, for which we will collect 30% of each sale, and remit the remainder to the creator and translator based on a split determined by the parties; and (iv) for transactions between users involving tangible goods or other non-platform based fandom items (such as concert tickets), we intend to charge a fee of 3.5% of the total value of the transaction at the time of sale.
• FANING’s Direct Advertising Platform. We intend to directly engage with our advertisers. Without the need for third-party engagement, we can leverage the FANING platform to better understand advertisers and their expectations, ensuring we can create highly curated advertising products that will promote high levels of engagement and sales conversions for advertisers. We believe this will increase advertising revenue and build sustainable relationships with advertisers, while concurrently increasing the attractiveness of the FANING platform to new advertisers and users interested in the products advertised within the FANING platform.
• Industry Leading Privacy and Safety. Privacy and safety is provided by the FANING platform through the implementation of artificial intelligence (“AI”).
• High User Engagement. We intend to drive user engagement by offering a one-stop fandom platform and by offering an in-platform reward system. These features are intended to allow the FANING platform to keep and maintain a highly engaged user-base, loyal to the FANING platform and its brand. This brand loyalty will assist by reducing the Company’s advertising costs by replacing it with non-paid platform promotion through the word-of-mouth of its current user base.

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OUR GROWTH STRATEGY

Our core strategy is to pursue initiatives that promote the viral growth of our user base, and in doing so, drive advertising revenue, user-generated revenue, and create other revenue streams. Our focus on user acquisition and retention provides the primary lens to view our plans for community growth, engagement, and long-term brand equity.

• Attracting Global Users. Our core business strategy is to promote the FANTING platform and grow our global user base, which will drive revenue growth by increasing advertising revenue and user activity-based revenue.
• Broaden Product and Service Offerings. Within the FANING platform our objective is for users to benefit from a wide range of products and services offered, and we intend to continuously expand our product and service offerings as the user-base and revenue grow. Broadening our product offerings will ensure FANING grows along with the fandom community in which it operates, eventually creating a one-stop platform for our users across all fandoms.
• Continued Research and Development. We intend to continue to invest in developing and implementing the newest technologies to ensure a better and more secure user experience compared to other social media platforms.
• Development of Intellectual Property. We intend to develop our own intellectual property assets based upon user-demand and data analysis from the FANING platform. Since the intellectual property developed from user-data will be based on user-demand, we believe that any new intellectual property will facilitate user engagement and growth.
• Expansion to Other Fandoms. We intend to expand FANING outside of the K-Culture fandom, and into other fandoms across an expansive number of entertainment types and cultures. Users will be able to easily transition between different fandom clubs and communities, and seamlessly access the newest trends and popular cultures. This anticipated expansion is intended to make FANING a platform that can evolve with, and fully integrate, all fans utilizing the FANING platform, regardless of the continuous rise and fall of popular culture trends.

The Company’s revenue growth strategy spans multiple time horizons. In the short term, the Company aims to generate revenue through virtual events hosted on the FANING platform, monetizing both commissions and operational profits. Additionally, the Company plans to establish a base of steady monthly income by offering premium subscription services tailored to both individual users and institutional partners. In the mid-term, the Company intends to drive explosive revenue growth by leveraging FANING’s advertising infrastructure, which will include affiliate marketing partnerships and platform-driven advertising sales.

OUR MARKETING STRATEGY

We intend to market our platform to users through media ads, promotions, campaigns, referrals, and other similar initiatives. Currently, we focus on our core target in K-Culture, and specifically, the K-pop fandom. We intend to achieve user growth by utilizing the following strategies:

• Localized Marketing Efforts. As we intend to capture a larger percentage of the global fandom market, we will need to effectively develop marketing for each region’s fandom community. This will require localized marketing efforts for regional marketing to be successful. We believe we can successfully develop regional marketing results by: (i) partnering with local content creators to create regional-specific marketing; and (ii) partnering with local advertising agencies to develop advertising campaigns that will attract regional users. It is important for us to localize our services and marketing strategies in order to expand our business in the U.S. Therefore, we plan to set up branches in the U.S. in the first half of 2025, and plan to hire around 20 developers to localize the services of FANING. We also plan to work with U.S. marketing experts and cooperate with marketing agencies to reach U.S. audiences through online marketing, sponsoring advertisements, and holding various user-engagement events and promotions in the major cities in the U.S. When we believe the operation in the U.S. is settled, we will set up a branch office in the United Kingdom for further expansion into Europe. The Company currently has no intention of expanding into China due to the Chinese government’s unofficial ban on K-Culture as well as official ban on all foreign social media platforms. Additionally, due to regulatory concerns regarding data protection and privacy within China, the Company will not expand its business into China in order to protect the privacy of the Company’s users. For the avoidance of any doubt, the Company does not have customers in, does not otherwise provide products or services in, and restricts user access to individuals in China (including Hong Kong and Macau). See “Risk Factors — Our decision not to provide products and services and to restrict user access in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) will limit our total addressable market and may limit our ability to grow our business” for additional information.
• Global Ambassador Program. We intend to engage with individuals in various countries (“Global Ambassadors”) that will create theme-specific content aimed at potential users in the Global Ambassador’s region, and further communicate with fans and targeted users within their region, to increase the growth in the user-base, and attract fans of K-Culture within that region to the FANING platform. Our Global Ambassadors will focus on users who enjoy K-Culture while simultaneously promoting FANING and hosting localized events.
• Building Strong User-Relationships. We intend to build strong ties with our existing users to increase their loyalty. We communicate with our users through various channels including social media, surveys, direct messages, focus groups, and similar means of communication to improve our service offerings so that we can exceed current users’ expectations. We believe that our fully engaged and satisfied users will be more likely to promote our platform voluntarily, thereby promoting organic growth through a continuous flow of new users by way of current user referrals. The rate of organic growth that we can achieve will accelerate the growth of FANING’s user-base.
• Special Event Hosting. In order to provide value to both our current users and targeted users, as well as promote activity within the FANING platform, we intend to host special themed events to which both current users and targeted users are invited. These events include K-pop concerts, dance performances, and other live shows. Generally, these events are driven by user input by way of voting for events that our users would prefer to attend. The participation of our users within our platform to determine upcoming events further encourages users to be active within the FANING platform.

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Technology and Intellectual Property

The Company developed FANING as an evolution of its previous FANTOO platform, significantly enhancing functionality and scalability.

FANING offers competitive advantages through an integrated suite of advanced tools designed specifically for fandom communities, including live-streaming, real-time interaction, digital content monetization, subscriptions, and extensive community-building features such as clubs and forums. These robust capabilities enable creators to directly monetize their content and engage deeply with fans, significantly differentiating FANING from generalist social platforms.

FANING also offers a PC version alongside its mobile app, designed to enhance accessibility and convenience for users. Through the PC version, users can manage their profiles, access news and updates, and participate in fandom events, all through a user-friendly UX/UI tailored for desktop engagement.

FANING was designed and developed to connect fans across the globe. As a result, we have been developing and acquiring cutting edge technologies in order to deliver a smooth experience, regardless of location. These technologies include:

• AI-driven content curation through personalized searches and content delivery recommendations.
• AI speech synthesis that will allow our AI to learn from voice recordings through specialized vocabulary, that will eventually be able to read unrecorded sentences in the voice of whichever celebrity a user may choose. This will allow various literary works and written content to be spoken to the user in the user’s favorite celebrity’s voice.
• AI-powered nudity detection that automatically filters and blocks users from exposure to nudity if uploaded on the FANING platform.
• AI-enabled deepfake detection that performs verification services to identify whether images and/or videos uploaded on the FANING platform are actually authentic images/videos of the person depicted in the video, or if the image/video was falsified and computer generated through the use of “deepfake” technology.

Competition

Our competitors include:

• Social platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter(X)
• Community service platforms, such as Reddit
• K-pop fandom platforms, such as Lysn, Weverse and Universe
• Amateur content creating platforms, such as Whattpad, and
• eCommerce platforms, such as Amazon, eBay and Ticketmaster.

While many of these platforms have achieved success in growing users and have greater financial resources than the Company, we believe the FANING platform is the only all-in-one global fandom platform that also offers a unique user reward system that incentivizes users to participate and engage within the platform. These features were developed to position FANING to successfully complete with the more established platforms and facilitate an active fandom experience.

Partnerships

On April 19, 2021, Hanryu Bank Co., Ltd. (“HBC”), our wholly owned subsidiary entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Federation of Artistic & Cultural Organization of Korea (“FACO”) (the “MOU”). Pursuant to the MOU, we were granted certain collaborative rights in which we can promote cultural events, while participating and taking advantage of FACO’s infrastructure and network to develop and export South Korea’s popular culture around the globe.

FACO was established as a non-profit business in 1961, organized for the purpose of contributing to the development of Korean art and culture, promoting the international exchange of Korean art and culture, and ensuring the well-being of affiliated artists. FACO’s membership currently consists of over 1.3 million artists from 10 different member associations, spread across 167 branches globally, including two branches in the United States and one in Japan.

We have strategically developed this partnership with FACO due to their substantial contribution to the Korean entertainment and pop-culture industry. The partnership benefits FANING users through the synergy between these organizations and the FANING platform, such as content creation, hosting K-pop concerts, and much more.

On September 10, 2021, we entered into a partnership with the “Metaverse Alliance,” an initiative led by South Korea’s Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology (“MSIT”) (the “MSIT Partnership”), which is intended to facilitate our development of innovative technologies and advancements within the metaverse. The MSIT built the Metaverse Alliance to coordinate and facilitate the development of virtual and augmented reality platforms. Approximately 643 firms have joined MSIT to date, including Samsung, Hyundai Motors and Naver.

Digital Properties and Websites The Company owns several digital properties to support its platform business and broader digital strategy, including:

• FANING Platform: fanining.xyz, faning.co.kr
• Corporate Website: www.gitechnologies.com (http://www.gitechnologies.com)
• Koreavibe.net: a digital media property providing original news content and features dedicated to global K-culture fandoms, attracting substantial viewership through its website and various social media channels. Koreavibe.net complements our primary platform, FANING, by driving additional user engagement and brand visibility.

Corporate Structure and Subsidiaries

As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s primary operating subsidiary is Faning Korea, LLC (“Faning Korea”), a wholly-owned subsidiary based in Seoul, Republic of Korea. Faning Korea oversees the development, maintenance, and operation of the Faning application and related web services.

Throughout 2024, the Company restructured its subsidiaries, including the divestiture of Hanryu Bank on December 28, 2024, and FNS and Marine Island on November 5, 2024. Faning Korea was acquired on December 4, 2024. These changes were not deemed material and, therefore, were not separately reported on Form 8-K.

IPO and Nasdaq Listing

On July 31, 2023, the Company successfully completed its IPO on Nasdaq, raising approximately $8.77 million through issuing 877,328 shares of Class A common stock at $10 per share. The Company’s stock initially traded under the symbol ‘HRYU,’ changing subsequently to ‘GITS’ following the name change.

Strategic Developments

On February 26, 2024, the Company’s Board of Directors terminated the employment of Changhuyk Kang as Chief Executive Officer for cause. On the same day, the Board appointed Mr. Taehoon Kim, the Company’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President, as Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective immediately.

Employees and Labor Relations

As of December 31, 2024, the Company had five full-time employed directly through Global Interactive Technologies, Inc., with an additional seven full-time employees through Faning Korea, LLC. Additionally, we occasionally enter into agreements with contractors, on an as-needed basis, to perform certain services, including contract workers. The Company continues to operate with a lean organizational structure appropriate to its current size and stage of development. There has been no labor dispute. None of our employees are represented by labor unions.

Seasonality

We do not expect to experience any significant seasonality trends that would materially impact our operations or financial performance. However, seasonality trends may emerge in the future as our user base and service offerings evolve.

Governmental Regulation

We are subject to a variety of national, regional, and local laws and regulations in both the United States and the Republic of Korea. These laws affect multiple aspects of our business, including how we interact with users, partners, and vendors. Applicable areas of law include fair trade, competition, labor and employment, privacy and data protection, intellectual property, consumer protection, and import/export regulations.

Many of these laws are continuing to evolve, especially those governing digital platforms, content, and data. The interpretation and enforcement of these regulations are often uncertain, particularly in emerging and fast-developing sectors like ours. As a result, there may be instances where we are not, or may not have been, fully compliant with all applicable requirements in every jurisdiction.

Due to the extent of our operations in South Korea, we are subject to several specific Korean regulatory regimes, including but not limited to:

• Copyright Act: Protects various types of creative works, including software and databases. It enforces fair use, statutory damages, and online service provider exemptions under the Korea–U.S. Free Trade Agreement.
• Youth Protection Act: Regulates media content and environments accessible to minors, classifying harmful content and restricting distribution through specific administrative procedures.
• Content Industry Promotion Act: Governs the production and sale of digital content, requiring content providers to include consumer protection provisions in their terms of service, such as refunds, cancellation rights, and damage compensation.
• Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA): Regulates the collection, use, and destruction of personal data. It includes strict consent requirements, data subject rights, breach notification obligations, and administrative and criminal penalties for non-compliance.
• Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act: Overseen by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (KFTC), this law imposes disclosure and compliance obligations on business groups with assets exceeding 5 trillion KRW.

Cost of Compliance with Environmental Laws

To date, we have not incurred any material costs associated with compliance with environmental laws or regulations. We do not currently anticipate incurring such costs in the near future; however, we cannot guarantee that this will remain the case as our operations expand or regulations evolve.

Facilities

The Company’s primary operational and development activities are conducted from office premises located at 160 Yeouiseo-ro, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Korea.

Legal Proceedings

As of December 31, 2024, the Company is not subject to any material pending legal proceedings or claims. Previously disclosed legal matters were associated with subsidiaries that have since been divested and no longer affect the Company’s operations or financial position.

Available Information

The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to reports filed pursuant to Sections 13(a) and 15(d) of the Exchange Act are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The Company is subject to the informational requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”) and files or furnishes reports, proxy statements, and other information with the SEC. Such reports and other information filed by the Company with the SEC are available free of charge on the Company’s website at www.gitechnologies.com (http://www.gitechnologies.com) when such reports are available on the SEC’s website. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file electronically with the SEC at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov). The contents of these websites are not incorporated into this filing. Further, the Company’s references to the URLs for these websites are intended to be inactive textual references only.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS

We have incurred significant losses since our inception, and we intend to continue to invest in our business. As a result, we may continue to experience losses in the future.

The Company incurred a net loss of approximately $(6.2) million for the year ended December 31, 2024, and reclassified Additional Paid-in Capital of approximately $7.2 million related to the disposal of subsidiary interests to Accumulated Deficit. For the period ended December 31, 2023, the Company incurred a net loss of approximately $(9.4) million. As of December 31, 2024, the accumulated deficit was approximately $(37.9) million, compared to approximately $(38.9) million as of December 31, 2023. The audited report of our independent registered public accounting firm to the financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2024, and 2023, included elsewhere in the Report, contains an explanatory paragraph stating that our recurring losses from operations, accumulated deficit and negative working capital raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

We expect to continue to invest heavily in our product development and operations, to focus on our FANING platform to increase our user base to support future growth, and to meet our expanded reporting and compliance obligations as a public company. We may not generate sufficient revenue to offset such costs to achieve or sustain profitability in the future.

We believe our current cash, net proceeds from debt issuances and the amount available from future issuances of common stock will be sufficient to fund our working capital requirements beyond the next 12 months. This belief assumes, among other things, that we will be able to raise additional equity financing, will continue to be successful in implementing our business strategy and that there will be no material adverse developments in the business, liquidity or capital requirements. If one or more of these factors do not occur as expected, it could have a material adverse impact on our activities, including (i) reduction or delay of our business activities, (ii) forced sales of material assets, (iii) defaults on our obligations, or (iv) insolvency. Our planned investments may not result in increased revenue or growth of our business. We cannot assure you that we will be able to generate revenue sufficient to offset our expected cost increases and planned investments in our business and platform. As a result, we may incur significant losses for the foreseeable future, and may not be able to achieve and/or sustain profitability. If we fail to achieve and sustain profitability, then we may not be able to achieve our business plan, fund our business or continue as a going concern. The financial statements included in this Report do not contain any adjustments which might be necessary if we were unable to continue as a going concern.

Our auditor has included an explanatory paragraph in their opinion regarding our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to continue as a going concern, our securities will have little or no value.

OenStop Assurance, PAC, our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, has included an explanatory paragraph in their opinion that accompanies our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023, indicating that our recurring losses from operations and a working capital deficiency raises substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to obtain profitability or improve our liquidity position, we may not be able to continue as a going concern.

We anticipate that we will continue to generate operating losses and use cash in operations through the foreseeable future. As further set forth below, we anticipate that we will need significant additional capital, or we may be required to curtail or cease operations.

To continue as a going concern, we will require significant additional capital, which we may be unable to obtain.

The revenues generated from our operations are not presently sufficient to sustain our operations. Therefore, we will need to raise additional capital in the future to continue our operations. We anticipate that our principal sources of liquidity will not be sufficient to fund our activities to obtain long-term, sustainable profitability. To have sufficient cash to fund our operations to obtain long-term, sustainable profitability, we will need to raise additional equity or debt capital. There can be no assurance that additional funds will be available when needed from any source or, if available, will be available on terms that are acceptable to us. We will be required to pursue sources of additional capital through various means, including debt or equity financing. Future financing through equity investments will be dilutive to existing stockholders. The terms of securities we may issue in future capital transactions may be more favorable for new investors. Newly issued securities may include preferences, superior voting rights, the issuance of warrants or other derivative securities, and the issuances of incentive awards under equity employee incentive plans, all of which will have additional dilutive effects. Further, we may incur substantial costs in pursuing future capital and/or financing, including investment banking fees, legal fees, accounting fees, printing and distribution expenses and other costs. We may also be required to recognize non-cash expenses in connection with certain securities we may issue, such as convertible notes and warrants, which may adversely impact our financial condition. Our ability to obtain needed financing may be impaired by such factors as the capital markets and our history of losses, which could impact the availability and cost of future financing. If the amount of capital we can raise from financing activities, together with our revenues and profits from operations, is not sufficient to satisfy our capital needs, even to the extent that we reduce our operations accordingly, we may be required to curtail or cease operations.

We are a development stage company, and we may not be able to sustain our rapid growth, effectively manage our anticipated future growth or implement our business strategies.

We have a limited operating history. Although we have experienced significant growth since FANING(FANTOO) was launched, our historical growth rate may not be indicative of our future performance due to our limited operating history and the rapid evolution of our business model, including a focus on the FANING application. We may not be able to achieve similar results or accelerate growth at the same rate as we have historically. As our application offerings continue to develop, we may adjust our strategy and business model to adapt. These adjustments may not achieve expected results and may have a material and adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, our rapid growth and expansion have placed, and continue to place, significant strain on our management and resources. This level of significant growth may not be sustainable or achievable at all in the future. We believe that our continued growth will depend on many factors, including our ability to develop new sources of revenues, diversify monetization methods including advertising revenue, attract and retain users, increase engagement on our FANING platform, continue developing innovative technologies and application uses in response to shifting demand in the market, increase brand awareness, and expand into new markets. We cannot assure you that we will achieve any of the above, and our failure to do so may materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

Global interactive technologies is a holding company with no business operations of its own and manages a network of South Korean subsidiaries, subject to South Korean regulation. Further, as we have no business operations of our own, we will depend on the cash flow and business of our subsidiaries to make payments to us and meet our obligations.

Global interactive technologies is a holding company with no independent operations of our own. Our South Korean subsidiaries, including Faning Korea,LLC, conduct substantially all of Global interactive technologies’ business operations. Managing the regulatory compliance activities for each of these subsidiaries is a complicated task, and we may expend significant resources doing so. However, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to keep abreast of the changing legal and regulatory landscapes for each of the jurisdictions in which our subsidiaries exist. If any of the regulatory environments applicable to our subsidiaries change materially, and we fail to adapt to such change, our business and financial results may be harmed. Applicable tax laws may also subject such payments to us by our subsidiaries to further taxation.

Additionally, as a holding company, we may rely on our operating subsidiaries for distributions or payments for cash flow. Therefore, our ability to fund and conduct our business, service any debt, and pay dividends, if any, in the future may depend on the ability of our South Korean subsidiaries to make upstream cash distributions or payments to us, which may be impacted, for example, by their ability to generate sufficient cash flow or limitations on the ability to repatriate funds, whether as a result of currency liquidity restrictions, monetary or exchange controls, regulatory restrictions, or otherwise. Further, our subsidiaries’ ability to make payments to us will depend on:

• their earnings;
• covenants contained in any debt agreements to which we may then be subject, including any debt agreements of our subsidiaries;
• covenants contained in other agreements to which we or our subsidiaries are or may become subject;
• business and tax considerations; and
• applicable law, including any restrictions under South Korean law that may be imposed on our subsidiaries, including HBC or its subsidiaries and affiliates, that would restrict its ability to make payments to Global interactive technologies.

We cannot assure that the operating results of our subsidiaries at any given time will be sufficient to make distributions or other payments to us.

We are subject to risks associated with operating in a rapidly developing industry and a relatively new market.

Many elements of our business are unique, evolving and relatively unproven. Our business and prospects depend on the continuing development of the social media market, which is relatively new, rapidly developing and subject to significant challenges. Our business relies upon our ability to cultivate and grow an active online community, and our ability to successfully monetize such community through methods that include, without limitation, advertising revenue. In addition, our continued growth depends, in part, on our ability to respond to constant changes in the industry, including rapid technological evolution, continued shifts in user trends. Developing and integrating new content, products, services or infrastructure could be expensive and time-consuming, and these efforts may not yield the benefits we expect to achieve at all. We cannot assure you that we will succeed in any of these aspects or that the industry will continue to grow as rapidly as it has in the past.

Our success depends on our ability to develop products and services to address the rapidly evolving market for the content creation and social media platform industry, and, if we are not able to implement successful enhancements and new features for our products and services, our business could be materially and adversely affected.

We expect that new services and technologies applicable to the content creation and social media platform industry in which we operate will continue to emerge and evolve. Rapid and significant technological changes continue to confront the industries in which we operate, including developments in the social media platform and content creation industry. Incorporating new technologies into our products and services may require substantial expenditures and take considerable time, and we may not be successful in realizing a return on these development efforts in a timely manner or at all. There can be no assurance that any new products or services we develop and offer to our customers will achieve significant commercial acceptance. Our ability to develop new products and services may be inhibited by industry-wide standards, laws and regulations, resistance to change from buyers or sellers, or third parties’ intellectual property rights. Our success will depend on our ability to develop new technologies and to adapt to technological changes and evolving industry standards. If we are unable to provide enhancements and new features for our products and services or to develop new products and services that achieve market acceptance or that keep pace with rapid technological developments and evolving industry standards, our business would be materially and adversely affected.

The success of enhancements, new features, and products and services depends on several factors, including the timely completion, introduction, and market acceptance of the enhancements or new features or services. We often rely not only on our own initiatives and innovations, but also on third parties, including some of our competitors, for the development of and access to new technologies.

In addition, because our products and services are designed to operate with a variety of systems, infrastructures, and devices, we need to continuously modify and enhance our products and services to keep pace with changes in mobile, software, communication, and database technologies. We may not be successful in either developing these modifications and enhancements or in bringing them to market in a timely and cost-effective manner. Any failure of our products and services to continue to operate effectively with third-party infrastructures and technologies could reduce the demand for our products and services, result in dissatisfaction of our sellers or their customers, and materially and adversely affect our business.

As a creator and a distributor of digital media content, we face liability and expenses for legal claims based on the nature and content of the materials that we create or distribute, including materials provided by third parties. If we are required to pay damages or expenses in connection with these legal claims, our business and results of operations may be harmed.

We display original content and third-party content on our websites and in our marketing messages. As a result, we have faced and will continue to face potential liability based on a variety of theories, including deceptive advertising and copyright or trademark infringement. We generally rely on the “fair use” exception for our use of third-party brand names and marks, but these third parties may disagree, and the laws governing the fair use of these third-party materials are imprecise and adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. We also create content we believe to be original for our websites. While we do not believe that this content infringes on any third-party copyrights or other intellectual property rights, owners of competitive websites that present similar content have taken and may take the position that our content infringes on their intellectual property rights. We are also exposed to risk that content provided by third parties is inaccurate or misleading, and for material posted to our websites by users and other third parties. These claims could divert management time and attention away from our business and result in significant costs to investigate and defend, regardless of the merit of these claims. The general liability insurance we maintain may not cover potential claims of this type or may not be adequate to indemnify us for all liability that may be imposed. Any imposition of liability that is not covered by insurance, or is in excess of insurance coverage, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our dependence on third-party relationships with content producers and distribution channels to develop and distribute entertainment content is critical to the success of the FANING Platform.

We rely on third party relationships with content producers and distribution channels to develop and distribute entertainment content. Our financial performance may be adversely affected by our relationships with content producers and distribution channels. Some of our content producers may have their own or other distribution capabilities in the markets in which we operate. These third-party content producers and distribution channels may decide, or be required by their respective parent companies, to use their intracompany distribution or content production capabilities rather than posting such content with us. Our business may be harmed if the content producers and distribution channels with which we work stop or reduce the amount of content they produce for us, or otherwise demand less favorable terms to us.

Our decision not to provide products and services and to restrict user access in China (including Hong Kong and Macau) will limit our total addressable market and may limit our ability to grow our business.

China and Hong Kong could represent a large market opportunity for our business. However, and although we believe that such a decision may benefit the Company in the long run, by choosing not to provide products and services, and restricting user access in China (including Hong Kong and Macau), we are sacrificing potential business opportunities that may negatively impact the Company. As a result, the Company’s total addressable market and potential growth may be limited and, as a result, the market price of our common stock may significantly decrease or become worthless.

If our content streaming initiatives are unsuccessful, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.

Content streaming is intensely competitive and cash intensive and there can be no assurance that our content creation initiatives will be profitable or otherwise successful. Our ability to attract, engage and retain users within the FANING platform, as well as the corresponding advertising revenues they generate, will depend on our ability to consistently provide appealing and differentiated content globally, effectively market our content and services and provide a quality experience for selecting and viewing that content. Our success will require significant investments to produce original content and acquire the rights to third-party content, as well as the establishment and maintenance of key content and distribution partnerships.

We must continually add new users and meaningfully engage with existing users to manage turnover, or “churn,” to grow our business. If we are unable to successfully compete with competitors in attracting, engaging with and retaining users as well as creative talent, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected. The relative service levels, content offerings, promotions and pricing and related features of our competitors’ services may adversely impact our ability to attract, engage and retain users. If consumers do not consider our platform to be of value compared to our competitors’ platforms, including because we fail to introduce attractive new content and features, do not maintain competitive pricing, terminate or modify promotional or trial period offerings, experience technical issues, or change the mix of content in a manner that is unfavorably received, we may not be able to attract, engage and retain users. If we are not able to attract new users, or our existing users decide to not continue using our services for any reason, including a perception that they do not use our platform sufficiently, the need to cut household expenses, unsatisfactory content, promotions or offers expire or are modified, competitive platforms provide a better value or experience or customer service or technical issues are not satisfactorily resolved, our business, financial condition or results of operations could be adversely affected.

We are dependent on the continued services and on the performance of key third party content contributors, the loss of which could adversely affect our business.

We rely on content contributed by third party providers, which has in turn attracted users that drive advertising revenue. The loss of the services of any of such key contributors could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. We also depend on our ability to identify, attract, and retain other highly skilled third-party content contributors. Competition for such contributors is intense, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully attract, assimilate or retain them. The loss or limitation of the services of any of our key third party contributors, or the inability to attract and retain additional qualified key contributors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Substantial and increasingly intense competition in the social media platform and content creation industry may harm our business.

We compete in markets characterized by vigorous competition, changing technology, evolving industry standards, and frequent introductions of new products and services. We expect competition to intensify in the future as existing and new competitors introduce new services or enhance existing services. We compete against many companies to attract customers, and some of these companies have greater financial resources and substantially larger bases of customers than we do, which may provide them with significant competitive advantages. These companies may devote greater resources to the development, promotion, and sale of products and services, and they may introduce their own innovative products and services that adversely impact our growth. Mergers and acquisitions by these companies may lead to even larger competitors with more resources. We also expect new entrants to offer competitive products and services. If we are unable to differentiate ourselves from and successfully compete with our competitors, our business will be materially and adversely affected.

We may also face pressures from competitors for user engagement and, in the future, advertising revenues. Some potential competitors are able to offer greater returns on content sales to content creators for similar services by cross-subsidizing their payments services through other services they offer. Such competition may result in the need for us to alter the amount we charge creators in content-sales transactions, and could reduce our gross profit. In addition, as we grow, influential creators may demand more customized and favorable pricing from us, and competitive pressures may require us to agree to such pricing, further reducing our gross profit.

Systems failures, interruptions, delays in service, catastrophic events, and resulting interruptions in the availability of our products or services could harm our business and our brand, and subject us to substantial liability.

Our systems and those of our third-party data center facilities may experience service interruptions, denial-of-service and other cyber-attacks, human error, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, natural disasters, power losses, disruptions in telecommunications services, fraud, military or political conflicts, terrorist attacks and other geopolitical unrest, computer viruses, or other events. Our systems are also subject to break-ins, sabotage, and acts of vandalism. Some of our systems are not fully redundant, and our disaster-recovery planning is not sufficient for all eventualities. In addition, as a provider of payments solutions, we are subject to increased scrutiny by regulators that may require specific business continuity and disaster recovery plans and more rigorous testing of such plans. This increased scrutiny may be costly and time-consuming and may divert our resources from other business priorities.

We may, and are likely to, experience denial-of-service attacks, system failures, and other events or conditions that interrupt the availability or reduce the speed or functionality of our products and services. These events, should they occur, would likely result in loss of revenue. In addition, they could result in significant expense to repair or replace damaged equipment and remedy resultant data loss or corruption. A prolonged interruption in the availability or reduction in the speed or other functionality of our products or services could materially harm our reputation and business. Frequent or persistent interruptions in our products and services could cause users to believe that our products and services are unreliable, leading them to switch to our competitors or to avoid our products and services, and could permanently harm our reputation and business. Moreover, to the extent that any system failure or similar event results in damages to customers or their businesses, these customers could seek compensation from us for their losses, and those claims, even if unsuccessful, would likely be time-consuming and costly for us to address.

Our success depends largely on the continued service and availability of key personnel.

Much of the Company’s future success depends on the continued availability and service of key personnel, including its Chief Executive Officer, executive team and other highly skilled employees. Since the technology industry is characterized by high demand and intense competition for talents, we cannot assure you that we will be able to attract or retain qualified staff or other highly skilled employees. In addition, as the Company is relatively young, our ability to train and integrate new employees into our operations may not meet the growing demands of our business which may materially and adversely affect our ability to grow our business and hence our results of operations.

From time to time, we may become involved in legal proceedings.

From time to time, we may become subject to legal proceedings, claims, litigation and government investigations or inquiries, which could be expensive, lengthy, disruptive to normal business operations and occupy a significant amount of our employees’ time and attention. In addition, the outcome of any legal proceedings, claims, litigation, investigations, or inquiries may be difficult to predict and could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, or financial condition.

The preparation of our financial statements involves the use of good faith estimates, judgments and assumptions, and our financial statements may be materially affected if such good faith estimates, judgments or good faith assumptions prove to be inaccurate.

Financial statements prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) typically require the use of good faith estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts. Often, different estimates, judgments and assumptions could reasonably be used that would have a material effect on such financial statements, and changes in these estimates, judgments and assumptions may occur from period to period over time. Significant areas of accounting requiring the application of management’s judgment include, but are not limited to, determining the fair value of assets, share-based compensation and the timing and amount of cash flows from assets. These estimates, judgments and assumptions are inherently uncertain and, if our estimates were to prove to be wrong, we would face the risk that charges to income or other financial statement changes or adjustments would be required. Any such charges or changes would require a restatement of our financial statements and could harm our business, including our financial condition and results of operations and the price of our securities. See “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for a discussion of the accounting estimates, judgments and assumptions that we believe are the most critical to an understanding of our financial statements and our business.

RISKS RELATED TO GOVERNMENT REGULATION

Our business is subject to regulation, and changes in applicable regulations may negatively impact our business.

We are subject to a number of foreign and domestic laws and regulations relating to user privacy, data collection, retention, electronic commerce, virtual items and currency, consumer protection, content, advertising, localization, and information security which have been adopted or are being considered for adoption by many jurisdictions and countries throughout the world. These laws could harm our business by limiting the products and services we can offer consumers or the manner in which we offer them. The costs of compliance with these laws may increase in the future as a result of changes in interpretation. Furthermore, any failure on our part to comply with these laws or the application of these laws in an unanticipated manner may harm our business and result in penalties or significant legal liability.

Actions by governments that restrict access to FANING in their countries, or that otherwise impair our ability to sell advertising in their countries, could substantially harm our business and financial results.

Governments from time to time seek to censor content available on social media platforms, or restrict access to social media platforms from their country entirely, or impose other restrictions that may affect the accessibility of our products in their country for an extended period of time or indefinitely. For example, user access to certain other company social media platforms has been or is currently restricted in whole or in part in China, Iran, and North Korea. In addition, government authorities in other countries may seek to restrict user access to our products if they consider us to be in violation of their laws or a threat to public safety or for other reasons, and certain of our products have been restricted by governments in other countries from time to time. It is also possible that government authorities could take action that impairs our ability to sell advertising, including in countries where access to our consumer-facing products may be blocked or restricted. In the event that content shown on FANING is subject to censorship, access to our products is restricted, in whole or in part, in one or more countries, we are required to or elect to make changes to our operations, or other restrictions are imposed on our products, or our competitors are able to successfully penetrate new geographic markets or capture a greater share of existing geographic markets that we cannot access or where we face other restrictions, our ability to retain or increase our user base, user engagement, or the level of advertising by marketers may be adversely affected, we may not be able to maintain or grow our revenue as anticipated, and our financial results could be adversely affected.

Our business is subject to complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding privacy, data use and data protection, content, competition, consumer protection, and other matters. Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in claims, changes to our business practices, monetary penalties, increased cost of operations, or declines in user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.

We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations that involve matters central to our business, including privacy, data use, data protection and personal information, rights of publicity, content, intellectual property, advertising, marketing, distribution, data security, data retention and deletion, data localization and storage, data disclosure, artificial intelligence, electronic contracts and other communications, competition, protection of minors, consumer protection, telecommunications, product liability, e-commerce, taxation, economic or other trade prohibitions or sanctions, anti-corruption and political law compliance, securities law compliance, and online payment services. The introduction of new products, expansion of our activities in certain jurisdictions, or other actions that we may take may subject us to additional laws, regulations, or other government scrutiny. In addition, foreign data protection, privacy, content, competition, and other laws and regulations can impose different obligations or be more restrictive than those in the United States.

Since our operations are based in Korea, where most of our users are domiciled, we are subject to, among others, the Personal Information Protection Act and related legislation, regulations and orders (the “PIPA”), the Act on the Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Protection of Information Act (Korea), and the Credit Information Act in Korea that specifically regulates certain sensitive personal information. PIPA requires consent by the consumer with respect to the use of his or her data and requires the persons responsible for management of personal data to take the necessary technological and managerial measures to prevent data breaches and, among other duties, to notify the Personal Information Protection Commission of any data breach incidents within 24 hours. Failure to comply with PIPA in any manner may subject these persons responsible to personal liability for not obtaining such consent in an appropriate manner or for such breaches, including even negligent breaches, and violators face varying penalties ranging from monetary penalties to imprisonment. We strive to take the necessary technological and managerial measures to comply with PIPA, including the implementation of privacy policies concerning the collection, use, and disclosure of subscriber data on our apps and websites, and we regularly review and update our policies and practices. Despite these efforts to comply with PIPA, these rules are complex and evolving, subject to interpretation by government regulators which may change over time and therefore we are subject to the risk of claims by regulators of failure to comply with PIPA. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with such policies, laws, regulations, and other legal obligations and regulatory guidance could adversely affect our reputation, brand, and business, and may result in claims, proceedings, or actions, including criminal proceedings, against us and certain of our executive officers by governmental entities or others or other liabilities. Any such claim, proceeding, or action, could hurt our reputation, brand, and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, result in a loss of customers and merchants, and could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

These U.S. federal and state and foreign laws and regulations, which in some cases can be enforced by private parties in addition to government entities, are constantly evolving and can be subject to significant change. As a result, the application, interpretation, and enforcement of these laws and regulations are often uncertain, particularly in the new and rapidly evolving industry in which we operate, and may be interpreted and applied inconsistently from country to country and inconsistently with our current policies and practices. For example, regulatory or legislative actions affecting the manner in which we display content to our users or obtain consent to various practices could adversely affect user growth and engagement. Such actions could affect the manner in which we provide our services or adversely affect our financial results.

We are also subject to evolving laws and regulations that dictate whether, how, and under what circumstances we can transfer, process and/or receive certain data that is critical to our operations, including data shared between countries or regions in which we operate and data shared among our products and services. If we are unable to transfer data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, or if we are restricted from sharing data among our products and services, it could affect our ability to provide our services, the manner in which we provide our services or our ability to target ads, which could adversely affect our financial results.

Proposed or new legislation and regulations could also significantly affect our business. Laws and regulations are evolving and subject to interpretation, and resulting limitations on our advertising services, or reductions of advertising by marketers, have to some extent adversely affected, and will continue to adversely affect, our advertising business. Changes to our products or business practices as a result of these developments may adversely affect our advertising business. Similarly, there are a number of legislative proposals in the European Union, the United States, at both the federal and state level, as well as other jurisdictions that could impose new obligations or limitations in areas affecting our business. In addition, some countries are considering or have passed legislation implementing data protection requirements or requiring local storage and processing of data or similar requirements that could increase the cost and complexity of delivering our services.

For example, the European Union traditionally has imposed stricter obligations under its laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection than the United States. In May 2018, the European Union’s new regulation governing data practices and privacy called the General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, became effective and substantially replaced the data protection laws of the individual European Union member states. The law requires companies to meet more stringent requirements regarding the handling of personal data of individuals in the EU than were required under predecessor EU requirements. In the United Kingdom, a Data Protection Bill that substantially implements the GDPR also became law in May 2018. The law also increases the penalties for non-compliance, which may result in monetary penalties of up to €20.0 million or 4% of a company’s worldwide turnover, whichever is higher. The GDPR and other similar regulations require companies to give specific types of notice and in some cases seek consent from consumers and other data subjects before collecting or using their data for certain purposes, including some marketing activities. Outside of the European Union, many countries have laws, regulations, or other requirements relating to privacy, data protection, information security, and consumer protection, and new countries are adopting such legislation or other obligations with increasing frequency. Many of these laws may require consent from consumers for the use of data for various purposes, including marketing, which may reduce our ability to market our products. There is no harmonized approach to these laws and regulations globally. Consequently, we increase our risk of non-compliance with applicable foreign data protection laws by operating internationally. We may need to change and limit the way we use personal information in operating our business and may have difficulty maintaining a single operating model that is compliant. In addition, various federal, state and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies, or self-regulatory organizations, may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection, information security and consumer protection. For example, California recently adopted the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), which provides new data privacy rights for consumers and new operational requirements for businesses. The CCPA includes a statutory damages framework and private rights of action against businesses that fail to comply with certain CCPA terms or implement reasonable security procedures and practices to prevent data breaches. The CCPA went into effect in January 2020. The effects of the CCPA potentially are significant, however, and may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies and to incur substantial costs and expenses in an effort to comply. As a general matter, compliance with laws, regulations, and any applicable rules or guidance from self- regulatory organizations relating to privacy, data protection, information security and consumer protection, may result in substantial costs and may necessitate changes to our business practices, which may compromise our growth strategy, adversely affect our ability to acquire customers, and otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

These laws and regulations, as well as any associated claims, inquiries, or investigations or any other government actions, have in the past led to, and may in the future lead to, unfavorable outcomes including increased compliance costs, delays or impediments in the development of new products, negative publicity and reputational harm, increased operating costs, diversion of management time and attention, and remedies that harm our business, including fines or demands or orders that we modify or cease existing business practices.

Payment transactions may subject us to additional regulatory requirements and other risks that could be costly and difficult to comply with or that could harm our business.

Our users can purchase virtual and digital goods from creators and developers within our platform and infrastructure on FANING. In addition, certain of our users can use our FANING infrastructure, including within Clubs and communities, for other activities, such as sending money to other users or purchasing goods and/or services from other users. We are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States, Europe, and elsewhere, including those governing anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, money transmission, gift cards and other prepaid access instruments, electronic funds transfer, charitable fundraising, and import and export restrictions. Depending on how our payments product evolves, we may also be subject to other laws and regulations including those governing gambling, banking, and lending. In some jurisdictions, the application or interpretation of these laws and regulations is not clear. Our efforts to comply with these laws and regulations could be costly and result in diversion of management time and effort and may still not guarantee compliance. In the event that we are found to be in violation of any such legal or regulatory requirements, we may be subject to monetary fines or other penalties such as a cease and desist order, or we may be required to make product changes, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business and financial results.

In addition, we are subject to a variety of additional risks as a result of payments transactions, including: increased costs and diversion of management time and effort and other resources to deal with bad transactions or customer disputes; potential fraudulent or otherwise illegal activity by users, developers, employees, or third parties; restrictions on the investment of consumer funds used to transact payments; and additional disclosure and reporting requirements. We have also launched/have announced plans to develop digital payments products and services, which may subject us to many of the foregoing risks and additional licensing requirements.

Changes in tax laws or regulations that are applied adversely to us or our customers may have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations.

New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could affect the tax treatment of our earnings and adversely affect our operations, and our business and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. There may be material adverse effects resulting from the legislation that we have not yet identified. No estimated tax provision has been recorded in the financial statements included herein for tax attributes that are incomplete or subject to change.

The foregoing items could have a material adverse effect on our business, cash flow, financial condition or results of operations. In addition, it is unclear how these U.S. federal income tax changes will affect state and local taxation, which often uses federal taxable income as a starting point for computing state and local tax liabilities. The impact of this tax legislation on holders of our common stock is also uncertain and could be adverse. We urge our stockholders and investors to consult with our legal and tax advisors with respect to this legislation and the potential tax consequences of investing in or holding our common stock.

Failure to comply with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act could result in fines, criminal penalties and an adverse effect on our business.

We may operate in a number of countries throughout the world, including countries known to have a reputation for corruption. We are committed to doing business in accordance with applicable anti-corruption laws and have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics which is consistent and in full compliance with the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977, or the FCPA. We are subject, however, to the risk that we, our affiliated entities or our or their respective officers, directors, employees and agents may take actions determined to be in violation of such anti- corruption laws, including the FCPA. Any such violation could result in substantial fines, sanctions, civil and/or criminal penalties, curtailment of operations in certain jurisdictions, and might adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition. In addition, actual or alleged violations could damage our reputation and ability to do business. Furthermore, detecting, investigating, and resolving actual or alleged violations is expensive and can consume significant time and attention of our senior management.

RISKS RELATED TO DOING BUSINESS IN KOREA

Fluctuations in exchange rates could result in foreign currency exchange losses to us.

The value of the Korean Won and other currencies against the U.S. dollar has fluctuated, and may continue to fluctuate and is affected by, among other things, changes in political and economic conditions. It is difficult to predict how market forces or Korean or U.S. government policy, including any interest rate increases by the Federal Reserve, may impact the exchange rate between the Korean Won and the U.S. dollar in the future.

A substantial percentage of our revenue and costs are denominated in Korean Won, and a significant portion of our financial assets are also denominated in Korean Won, while we anticipate that a substantial portion of any debt incurred will be denominated in U.S. dollars. We are a holding company and we may receive dividends, loans and other distributions on equity paid by our operating subsidiaries in Korea. Any significant fluctuations in the value of the Korean Won may materially and adversely affect our liquidity and cash flows. For example, the depreciation of the Korean Won and other foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar typically results in a material increase in the cost of hosting services and equipment purchased from outside of Korea and the cost of servicing debt denominated in currencies other than the Korean Won. As a result, any significant depreciation of the Korean Won or other major foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. If we decide to convert our Korean Won into U.S. dollars for the purpose of repaying principal or interest expense on any future U.S. dollar-denominated debt, making payments for dividends on our common stock, or other business purposes, depreciation of the Korean Won or other foreign currencies against the U.S. dollar would have a negative effect on the U.S. dollar amount we would receive. Conversely, to the extent that we need to convert U.S. dollars into Korean Won for our operations, appreciation of the Korean Won against the U.S. dollar would have an adverse effect on the Korean Won amount we would receive.

Tensions with North Korea could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations, and the price per share of our common stock.

Relations between Korea and North Korea have fluctuated over the years. Tension between Korea and North Korea may increase or change abruptly as a result of current and future events. In particular, there have been heightened security concerns in recent years stemming from North Korea’s nuclear weapon and ballistic missile programs as well as its hostile military actions against Korea.

North Korea’s economy also faces severe challenges, which may further aggravate social and political pressures within North Korea. Since April 2018, North Korea has held a series of bilateral summit meetings with Korea and the United States to discuss peace and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. However, North Korea has since resumed its missile testing, heightening tensions, and the outlook of such discussions remains uncertain.

Further tensions in North Korean relations could develop due to a leadership crisis, breakdown in high-level inter-Korea contacts or military hostilities. Alternatively, tensions may be resolved through reconciliatory efforts, which may include peace talks, alleviation of sanctions or reunification. We cannot assure you that future negotiations will result in a final agreement on North Korea’s nuclear program, including critical details such as implementation and timing, or that the level of tensions between Korea and North Korea will not escalate. Any increase in the level of tension between Korea and North Korea, an outbreak in military hostilities or other actions or occurrences, could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations and could lead to a decline in the price per share of our common stock.

There are special risks involved with investing in Korean companies, including the possibility of restrictions being imposed by the Korean government in emergency circumstances, accounting and corporate disclosure standards that differ from those in other jurisdictions, and the risk of direct or vicarious criminal liability for executive officers of our Korean affiliates.

Our wholly owned subsidiary, Faning Korea, LLC, is our Korean subsidiary and operates in a business and cultural environment that is different from that of other countries. For example, under the Foreign Exchange Transaction Act of Korea, if the Korean government determines that in certain emergency circumstances, including sudden fluctuations in interest rates or exchange rates, extreme difficulty in stabilizing the balance of payments or substantial disturbance in the Korean financial and capital markets are likely to occur, it may impose any necessary restriction such as requiring Korean or foreign investors to obtain prior approval from the Minister of Economy and Finance of Korea prior to entering into a capital markets transaction, repatriating interest, dividends or sales proceeds arising from Korean securities or from the disposition of such securities or other transactions involving foreign exchange. Although investors will hold shares of our common stock, Faning Korea,LLC may experience adverse risks and in turn could adversely impact our business, prospects, financial condition, and results of operations and could lead to a decline in the price per share of our common stock.

In addition, under Korean law, there are circumstances in which certain executive officers of a company may be investigated or held criminally liable either directly or vicariously for the actions of the company and its executives and employees. For example, complaints alleging infringement of intellectual property rights, breaches of certain Korean laws (e.g., labor standards laws and fair trade laws), and product-related claims may be investigated and prosecuted as criminal offenses with both the company and the company’s executive officers being named as defendants in such proceedings. These risks change over time.

As a result of these current and changing risks, Faning Korea,LLC’s executive officers may be named in the future in criminal investigations or proceedings stemming from our operations. In Korea, company executive officers being named in such investigations or proceedings is a common occurrence, even though in practice many such cases result in no liability to the individual. If Faning Korea,LLC’s executive officers were to be named in such criminal proceedings or held either directly or vicariously criminally liable for the actions of the company and its executives and employees, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be harmed.

Faning Korea,LLC’s transactions with its subsidiaries and affiliates may be restricted under Korean fair trade regulations.

Faning Korea,LLC enters into business relationships and transactions with its subsidiaries and affiliates, which are subject to scrutiny by the Korean Fair Trade Commission (“KFTC”) as to, among other things, whether such relationships and transactions constitute undue financial support among companies in the same business group. If, in the future, the KFTC determines that Faning Koera,LLC has engaged in transactions that violate the fair trade laws and regulations, it may be subject to an administrative and/or criminal fine, surcharge or other actions, which may have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our Korean subsidiary, Faning Korea, LLC, may be designated as an affiliated group under Korean law, in which case the group of companies would be required to make certain disclosures and implement additional corporate governance requirements.

Our Korean subsidiary, Faning Korea, LLC are likely to be designated as a business group subject to disclosure under the Korean Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act. As described in greater detail in the section titled “Government Regulation-The Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act”, such a designation would impose additional corporate governance and public disclosure requirements on this group of affiliated companies. These requirements would create additional costs of compliance and could subject this group of affiliated companies to greater regulatory scrutiny and risk of penalties for any failure to comply with the additional obligations imposed.

Faning Korea, LLC is subject to certain requirements and restrictions under Korean law that may, in certain circumstances, require it to act in a manner that may not be in our or our stockholders’ best interest.

Under applicable Korean law, directors of a Korean company, such as Faning Korea,LLC, owe a fiduciary duty to the company itself rather than to its stockholders. This fiduciary duty obligates directors of a Korean company to perform their duties faithfully for the good of the company as a whole. As a result, if circumstances arise in which the good of Faning Korea, LLC conflicts with the good of Global Interactive Technologies, Inc or our stockholders, Faning Korea, LLC may not be permitted under applicable Korean law to act in a manner that is in the best interest of Global Interactive Technologies, Inc, as its parent, or our stockholders. For example, providing guarantees or collateral by Faning Korea, LLC in favor of Global Interactive Technologies, Inc, as its parent, without a justifiable cause and on other than arm’s length terms may cause breach of a fiduciary duty of directors to Faning Korea, LLC.

Approval by the board of directors of a Korean company is required for, among other things, all transactions between a director or major stockholder (including a 10% or more stockholder) and the company for the director’s or the major stockholder’s account. As a result, intercompany transactions between us and Faning Korea, LLC (or any other Korean subsidiary we may own, from time to time), could arise in the future in which the directors of the Korean subsidiary are not able to act in ours or our stockholders’ best interest as a result of competing interests of the subsidiary. Since substantially all of our operations are conducted by Faning Korea, LLC, any such occurrence with respect to Faning Korea, LLC could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Faning Korea, LLC’s transactions with related parties are subject to close scrutiny by the Korean tax authorities, which may result in adverse tax consequences.

Under Korean tax law, there is an inherent risk that ***Faning Korea, LLC’***s transactions with its subsidiaries, affiliates or any other person or company that is related to us may be challenged by the Korean tax authorities if such transactions are viewed as having been made on terms that were not on an arm’s-length basis. If the Korean tax authorities determine that any of its transactions with related parties were on other than arm’s-length terms, it may not be permitted to deduct as expenses, or may be required to include as taxable income, any amount which is found to be undue financial support between related parties in such transaction, which may have adverse tax consequences for us and, in turn, may adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

If we are deemed to have a “place of effective management” in Korea, we will be treated as a Korean company for the purpose of Korean corporate income tax with regards to our worldwide income.

Under the Corporate Tax Act (“CTA”), as amended on August 17, 2021, a corporation having a “place of effective management” in Korea will be treated as a Korean company for the purposes of Korean corporate income tax. However, the CTA does not clearly define what constitutes “place of effective management” and, to date, there has not been any court precedent. If we are deemed to have a “place of effective management” in Korea, we will be required to file annual corporate income tax returns with the Korean tax authorities and be subject to Korean corporate income tax. Currently, the applicable rates are 9.9% (inclusive of local corporate taxes) for taxable income up to 200 million Korean Won, 23.1% (inclusive of local corporate taxes) for taxable income exceeding 200 million Korean Won and less than 20 billion Korean Won, 24.2% (inclusive of local corporate taxes) for taxable income greater than 20 billion won and less than 300 billion Korean Won, and 26.4% (inclusive of local corporate tax) for taxable income greater than 300 billion Korean Won. Taxable income would include any worldwide income, such as dividends we receive from our Korean operating company and any interest income earned outside of Korea. If we are required to pay Korean corporate income tax, it may reduce our cash flow and negatively impact the returns to investors.

If we are deemed to have a “permanent establishment” in Korea, we will be subject to Korean corporate income tax with regards to any Korean source income attributable to or effectively connected with such permanent establishment.

If we are deemed to have a “permanent establishment” as defined under Korean tax law, we would be required to file annual corporate income tax returns with the Korean tax office and be subject to Korean corporate income tax. The applicable rates are 9.9% (inclusive of local corporate taxes) for taxable income up to 200 million Korean Won, 20.9% (inclusive of local corporate taxes) for taxable income exceeding 200 million Korean Won and less than 20 billion Korean Won, 23.1% (inclusive of local corporate taxes) for taxable income greater than 20 billion won and less than 300 billion Korean Won, and 26.4% (inclusive of local corporate tax) for taxable income greater than 300 billion Korean Won. Taxable income includes any Korean source income attributable to or effectively connected with such permanent establishment, such as dividends we receive from our Korean operating company. If we are required to pay Korean corporate income tax, it may reduce our cash flow and negatively impact the returns to investors.

A focus on regulating copyright and patent infringement by the Korean government subjects us to extra scrutiny in our operations and could subject us to sanctions, fines, or other penalties, which could adversely affect our business and operations in Korea.

The Korean government has recently focused on addressing copyright and patent infringement in Korea, particularly with respect to luxury and brand name merchandise. Despite measures we have taken to address copyright and patent infringement, the Korean government may subject us to sanctions, fines, or other penalties, which could adversely affect our business and operations in Korea.

Our business may be adversely affected by developments that negatively impact the Korean economy and uncertainties in economic conditions that impact spending patterns of our customers in Korea.

We have historically generated a substantial majority of our revenue from sales in Korea. Our future performance will depend in large part on Korea’s future economic growth. Adverse developments in Korea’s economy as a result of various factors, including economic, political, legal, regulatory, and social conditions in Korea may have an adverse effect on customer spending, which may not allow us to achieve our desired revenue growth. The economic indicators in Korea in recent years have shown mixed signs of growth and uncertainty, and in 2020, the Korean and global economies were affected as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, future growth of the Korean economy is subject to many factors beyond our control, including developments in the global economy.

The Korean economy is closely tied to, and is affected by developments in, the global economy. In recent years, adverse conditions and volatility in the worldwide financial markets, fluctuations in oil and commodity prices, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have contributed to the uncertainty of global economic prospects in general and have adversely affected, and may continue to adversely affect, the Korean economy. Due to liquidity and credit concerns and volatility in the global financial markets, the value of the Korean Won relative to the U.S. dollar and other foreign currencies and the stock prices of Korean companies have fluctuated significantly in recent years. Further declines in the Korea Composite Stock Price Index, and large amounts of sales of Korean securities by foreign investors and subsequent repatriation of the proceeds of such sales may adversely affect the value of the Won, the foreign currency reserves held by financial institutions in Korea, and the ability of Korean companies to raise capital. Any future deterioration of the Korean economy or the global economy could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

New legislative proposals may expose our business to additional risks from litigation, regulation, and government investigations.

We are subject to changing laws and regulations everywhere we do business, including in Korea. For example, on September 28, 2020, the Korean Ministry of Justice announced (i) a proposed amendment to the Korean Commercial Code to adopt a punitive damages system that would apply generally to all areas of business, and (ii) a proposed bill to introduce a class action litigation system in Korea.

Previously, punitive or exemplary damages have been available in Korea only in specific business fields. The proposed legislation would broaden the potential availability of such damages. Similarly, the proposal relating to class actions would make such litigation applicable to a broader scope of cases, would allow for a Korean style discovery process, jury trials in many cases, and would apply to claims whose cause arose before the bill’s enactment.

Additionally, on September 28, 2020, the KFTC introduced a proposed bill entitled the “Fair Online Platform Intermediary Transactions Act.” This proposed act is intended to augment the existing legal framework under the Monopoly Regulation and Fair Trade Act of Korea to regulate competition and fairness issues arising in the business of online platforms. This proposed act would enhance liability of online platform operators to merchants, suppliers, and customers.

Also, on January 8, 2021, the main session of the Korean National Assembly passed a draft Bill on Punishment for Serious Accidents, etc. (the “Serious Accidents Act”), which came into effect January 27, 2022. The Serious Accidents Act imposes enhanced liability (including criminal liability) on businesses, managers, and individuals who are responsible for causing loss of life by failing to fulfill duties relating to workplace safety and health or risk prevention. The Serious Accidents Act provides the potential for criminal punishment, public disclosure of punishment, and monetary damages, including punitive damages up to five times the actual damages suffered. The Serious Accidents Act extends potential liability to a wider group of persons than under existing law, including those who oversee safety and health matters for the business concerned and also general managers of the business.

These are just some examples of how our business could be affected by changing regulations. If these proposals are enacted and implemented, our Korean subsidiary, Faning Korea, LLC, could face substantial costs and management could be required to spend significant time and attention on these matters, which would divert our focus from our core business. This could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As Faning Korea, LLC is incorporated in Korea, it may be more difficult to enforce judgments obtained in courts outside Korea.

Our operations are primarily conducted outside of the United States. In addition, all of our directors and officers are non-residents of the United States, and all or a substantial portion of the assets of these non-residents are located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult or impossible for U.S. investors to serve process within the United States upon us, our subsidiaries or our directors and officers or to enforce a judgment against us for civil liabilities in U.S. courts. In addition, you should not assume that courts in the countries in which we or our subsidiaries are incorporated or where our or the assets of our subsidiaries are located (1) would enforce judgments of U.S. courts obtained in actions against us or our subsidiaries based upon the civil liability provisions of applicable U.S. federal and state securities laws or (2) would enforce, in original actions, liabilities against us or our subsidiaries based on those laws.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR TECHNOLOGY

Technology changes rapidly in our business and if we fail to anticipate or successfully implement new technologies or adopt new business strategies, technologies or methods, the quality and competitiveness of our service offerings may suffer.

Technology changes rapidly in the social media market which requires us to anticipate which technologies we must develop, implement and take advantage of in order to remain competitive. We have invested, and in the future may invest, in new business strategies including technologies, products, and to continue to persistently deliver the best product. Such endeavours may involve significant risks and uncertainties, and no assurance can be given that the technology we choose to adopt and the features that we pursue will be successful. If we do not successfully implement these new technologies, our reputation may be materially adversely affected and our financial condition and operating results may be impacted. We also may miss opportunities to adopt technology, or develop new technologies, which could adversely affect our financial results. It may take significant time and resources to shift our focus to new technologies, putting us at a competitive disadvantage.

There may be losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information, including personally identifiable information (“PII”), that could subject the Company to significant reputational, financial, legal and operational consequences.

The Company’s business requires it to use and store confidential information including, among other things, PII, with respect to the Company’s customers and employees. The Company devotes significant resources to network and data security, including through the use of encryption and other security measures intended to protect its systems and data. However, these measures cannot provide absolute security, and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information occur and could materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results.

The Company’s business also requires it to share confidential information with suppliers and other third parties. Although the Company takes steps to secure confidential information that is provided to third parties, such measures are not always effective and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information occur and could materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results.

For example, the Company may experience a security breach impacting the Company’s information technology systems, which, for the avoidance of doubt, includes the Company’s separate FP database, that compromises the confidentiality, integrity or availability of confidential information. Such an incident could, among other things, impair the Company’s ability to attract and retain customers for its products and services, impact the Company’s stock price, materially damage supplier relationships, and expose the Company to litigation or government investigations, which could result in penalties, fines or judgments against the Company.

The Company has implemented systems and processes intended to secure its information technology systems and prevent unauthorized access to or loss of sensitive data, including through the use of encryption and authentication technologies. As with all companies, these security measures may not be sufficient for all eventualities and may be vulnerable to hacking, employee error, malfeasance, system error, faulty password management or other irregularities.

In addition to the risks relating to general confidential information described above, the Company is also subject to specific obligations relating to payment card data. Under payment card rules and obligations, if cardholder information is potentially compromised, the Company could be liable for associated investigatory expenses and could also incur significant fees or fines if the Company fails to follow payment card industry data security standards. The Company could also experience a significant increase in payment card transaction costs or lose the ability to process payment cards if it fails to follow payment card industry data security standards, which would materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results.

While the Company maintains insurance coverage that is intended to address certain aspects of data security risks, such insurance coverage may be insufficient to cover all losses or all types of claims that may arise.

We use third-party services and technologies in connection with our business, and any disruption to the provision of these services and technologies to us could result in negative publicity and a slowdown in the growth of our users, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business partially depends on services provided by, and relationships with, various third parties, including cloud hosting and broadband providers, among others. To this end, when our cloud hosting and broadband vendors experience outages, our services offered through FANING and related applications will be negatively impacted and alternative resources will not be immediately available. We exercise no control over the third-party vendors that we rely upon for cloud hosting, broadband and software service. If such third parties increase their prices, fail to provide their services effectively, terminate their service or agreements or discontinue their relationships with us, we could suffer service interruptions, reduced revenues or increased costs, any of which may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Growth of our client base depends upon effective interoperability with mobile operating systems, networks, mobile devices and standards that we do not control.

We are dependent on the interoperability of our services with popular mobile devices and mobile operating systems that we do not control, such as Android and iOS. Any changes in such mobile operating systems or devices that degrade the functionality of our services or give preferential treatment to competitive services could adversely affect usage of our services. In order to deliver high quality services, it is important that our services work well across a range of mobile operating systems, networks, mobile devices and standards that we do not control. We may not be successful in developing relationships with key participants in the mobile industry or in developing services that operate effectively with these operating systems, networks, devices and standards. In the event that it is difficult for our users to access and use our services, particularly on their mobile devices, our user growth and user engagement could be harmed, and our business and operating results could be adversely affected.

Security breaches, improper access to or disclosure of our data or user data, other hacking and phishing attacks on our systems, or other cyber incidents could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business.

Our industry is prone to cyber-attacks by third parties seeking unauthorized access to our data or users’ data or to disrupt our ability to provide service. Our products and services involve the collection, storage, processing, and transmission of a large amount of data, including FP stored in the Company’s separate FP database. Any failure to prevent or mitigate security breaches and improper access to or disclosure of our data or user data, including personal information, content, or payment information from users, or information from marketers, could result in the loss, modification, disclosure, destruction, or other misuse of such data, including FP stored in the Company’s separate FP database, which could harm our business and reputation and diminish our competitive position. In addition, computer malware, viruses, social engineering (predominantly spear phishing attacks), scraping, and general hacking have become more prevalent in our industry, have occurred on our systems in the past, and will occur on our systems in the future. Our efforts to protect our company data or the information we receive, and to disable undesirable activities on our platform, may also be unsuccessful due to software bugs or other technical malfunctions; employee, contractor, or vendor error or malfeasance, including defects or vulnerabilities in our vendors’ information technology systems or offerings; government surveillance; breaches of physical security of our facilities or technical infrastructure; or other threats that evolve. In addition, third parties may attempt to fraudulently induce employees or users to disclose information in order to gain access to our data or our users’ data. Cyber-attacks continue to evolve in sophistication and volume, and inherently may be difficult to detect for long periods of time. Although we have developed systems and processes that are designed to protect our data and user data, to prevent data loss, to disable undesirable accounts and activities on our platform, and to prevent or detect security breaches, we cannot assure you that such measures will provide absolute security, that we will be able to react in a timely manner, or that our remediation efforts will be successful.

We may experience such cyber-attacks and other security incidents of varying degrees from time to time, and we may incur significant costs in protecting against or remediating such incidents. In addition, we are subject to a variety of laws and regulations in the United States and abroad relating to cybersecurity and data protection. As a result, affected users or government authorities could initiate legal or regulatory actions against us in connection with any actual or perceived security breaches or improper access to or disclosure of data, which could cause us to incur significant expense and liability or result in orders or consent decrees forcing us to modify our business practices. Such incidents or our efforts to remediate such incidents may also result in a decline in our active users base or engagement levels. Any of these events could have a material and adverse effect on our business, reputation, or financial results.

We anticipate that our ongoing efforts related to privacy, safety, security, and content review will identify instances of misuse of user data or other undesirable activity by third parties on our platform.

In addition to our efforts to mitigate cybersecurity risks, we are making significant investments in privacy, safety, security, and content review efforts to combat misuse of our services and user data by third parties, including investigations and audits of platform applications. As a result of these efforts, we anticipate that we may discover incidents of misuse of user data or other undesirable activity by third parties. We may not discover all such incidents or activity, whether as a result of our data or technical limitations, including our lack of visibility over our encrypted services, the scale of activity on our platform, challenges related to our personnel working remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, the allocation of resources to other projects, or other factors, and we may be notified of such incidents or activity by the media or other third parties. Such incidents and activities may, in the future, include the use of user data or our systems in a manner inconsistent with our terms, contracts or policies, the existence of false or undesirable user accounts, improper advertising practices, activities that threaten people’s safety on- or offline, or instances of spamming, scraping, data harvesting, unsecured datasets, or spreading misinformation. We may also be unsuccessful in our efforts to enforce our policies or otherwise remediate any such incidents. Any of the foregoing developments may negatively affect user trust and engagement, harm our reputation and brands, require us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business, and adversely affect our business and financial results. Any such developments may also subject us to litigation and regulatory inquiries, which could subject us to monetary penalties and damages, divert management’s time and attention, and lead to enhanced regulatory oversight.

Our products and internal systems rely on software and hardware that is highly technical, and any errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities in these systems, or failures to address or mitigate technical limitations in our systems, could adversely affect our business.

Our products and internal systems rely on software and hardware, including software and hardware developed or maintained internally and/or by third parties, that is highly technical and complex. In addition, our products and internal systems depend on the ability of such software and hardware to store, retrieve, process, and manage immense amounts of data. The software and hardware on which we rely may contain, and will in the future may further contain, errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities, and our systems are subject to certain technical limitations that may compromise our ability to meet our objectives. Some errors, bugs, or vulnerabilities inherently may be difficult to detect and may only be discovered after the code has been released for external or internal use. Errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, design defects, or technical limitations within the software and hardware on which we rely have in the past led to, and may in the future lead to, outcomes including a negative experience for users and marketers who use our products, compromised ability of our products to perform in a manner consistent with our terms, contracts, or policies, delayed product introductions or enhancements, targeting, measurement, or billing errors, compromised ability to protect the data of our users and/or our intellectual property or other data, or reductions in our ability to provide some or all of our services. For example, we make commitments to our users as to how their data will be used within and across our products, and our systems are subject to errors, bugs and technical limitations that may prevent us from fulfilling these commitments reliably. In addition, any errors, bugs, vulnerabilities, or defects in our systems or the software and hardware on which we rely, failures to properly address or mitigate the technical limitations in our systems, or associated degradations or

interruptions of service or failures to fulfil our commitments to our users may in the future lead to outcomes including damage to our reputation, loss of users, loss of marketers, loss of revenue, regulatory inquiries, litigation, or liability for fines, damages, or other remedies, any of which could adversely affect our business and financial results.

RISKS RELATED TO DIGITAL ASSETS

Regulatory changes or actions may restrict the use of digital assets in a manner that adversely affects our business, prospects or operations.

FP may be considered a digital asset. Although FP is not offered on a public blockchain and its value is derived primarily from its utility exclusively within its closed network community, it may also be subject to increasingly restrictive, complex and evolving U.S. and foreign laws and regulations regarding digital assets, including commodities and securities, anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing, money transmission, consumer protection, taxation, intellectual property, property rights and other matters (for the purposes of this section, the “Digital Asset Laws”). Many of these laws and regulations are subject to change and uncertain interpretation, and could result in outright bans in certain jurisdictions, sanctions, monetary penalties, claims, increased compliance costs, or declines in adoption that could impede user growth or engagement, or otherwise harm our business.

For example, in the United States, the SEC has been particularly active in pursuing digital asset issuers for unregistered security offerings to U.S. residents. In Korea, the Financial Services Commission has banned initial coin offerings within Korea. We have not offered KDC in jurisdictions where it was be prohibited or in a manner that is prohibited. The initial public offering of KDC was conducted on centralized digital asset exchanges that excluded subscribers from prohibited jurisdictions. Further, we conducted no public solicitation for the offering of KDC in the United States or South Korea. Nonetheless, because KDC is available on the public blockchain it may be possible for residents in such jurisdictions to acquire KDC in peer to peer transactions, as most jurisdictions, including the United States and South Korea, do not prohibit private parties from engaging in peer to peer digital asset transactions. With respect to resales or secondary digital asset transactions, jurisdictions generally regulate intermediaries for such transactions dependent on the extent and nature of an intermediary’s role in a transaction. Decentralized finance (“defi”) applications that are connected to the public blockchain have substantially minimized the role of the intermediary. Given the emerging nature of such defi applications, the regulatory landscape pertaining to such applications is still evolving and consequently, numerous defi applications are available to transaction parties, often irrespective of the physical location of a party and irrespective of the actions or inactions of the issuers of such digital assets. To date, we do not monitor for such defi transactions, nor do we have any prospective plans to do so. Furthermore, given that we would never have access to the personal information of the parties to such transactions, even if we had the ability to restrict private defi transactions we would not have the ability to identify whether any particular transaction should be restricted under the Digital Asset Laws of any given jurisdiction or whether we would be under any obligation to endeavour to enforce such restrictions, to the extent possible. To the extent government enforcement authorities or regulators seek to enforce current or future Digital Asset Laws against us for these transactions, we may be subject to investigation, administrative or court proceedings, and civil or criminal monetary fines and penalties, all of which could harm our reputation and negatively impact our business operations.

Regulation of digital assets and digital asset exchanges is currently undeveloped and likely to evolve rapidly, vary significantly among international regulatory agencies, and is subject to significant uncertainty. A failure by the Company to comply with any laws, rules and regulations, some of which may not exist yet or are subject to interpretation and may be subject to change, could result in a variety of adverse consequences, including civil penalties and fines imposed by governmental authorities. Under certain circumstances, such failure to comply by the Company could also result in criminal sanctions

As blockchain networks and digital assets have grown in popularity and in market size, governments and regulatory agencies have begun to take interest in, and in some cases regulate, their use and operation. To the extent that a government or quasi-governmental agency exerts regulatory authority over a blockchain network or asset upon which our business relies, our business could be adversely affected. Blockchain networks currently face an uncertain regulatory landscape in many jurisdictions. The effect of any future legal or regulatory change is impossible to predict, but such laws, regulations or directives may directly and negatively impact our business.

Governments may in the future curtail or outlaw the acquisition, use or redemption of digital assets. Ownership of, holding or trading in digital assets may then be considered illegal and subject to sanction. Governments may also take regulatory action that may increase the cost and/or subject digital asset companies to additional regulation. Judicial determinations may also have an adverse impact on the trading of digital assets.

Users of FANING are issued FP for engaging and transacting within the Company’s ecosystem. FP may be subject to various regulations in South Korea that restrict or limit the use of FP on FANING.

In addition to the application of the Digital Asset Laws arising as a result of the use of FP in various jurisdictions, our operation of the FANING platform within South Korea and the issuance of FP to users engaging with the FANING platform may subject us to various regulations in South Korea, including the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (“FISCM”) and the Act on Reporting and Using Specified Financial Transaction Information (“RSFTI”). The FISCM was enacted to advance the Korean financial market by improving the competitive edge of the nation’s capital market and financial investment industry, and the RSFTI provides for the regulation of matters concerning reporting on and use of specified financial transaction information necessary to regulate money laundering and financing of terrorism through financial transactions, such as foreign exchange transactions, thereby contributing to preventing crimes and further establishing a sound and transparent financial system. Although FP is not currently classified as a financial investment instrument as such term is defined in the FISCM, or a virtual asset, as such term is defined by the RSFTI, any amendments to or interpretations of the FISCM, RSFTI or FP in the future may subject the Company to regulation, including among other requirements, providing financial transaction information in order to, among others, prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism.

We may have security laws exposure relating to the previous issuances of Kingdom Coin.

While we no longer hold or otherwise possess KC, we are subject to compliance with securities laws, which could expose us to potential liabilities, including potential rescission rights. In August of 2021, we issued to certain creditors of HBC an aggregate total of 348,679,380 KDC in exchange for the cancellation of an aggregate value of $9,428,664 in HBC debt (the “KDC Exchange”). KDC was further listed on LBank.com in August, 2021, and XT.com in September 2021 (LBank.com and XT.com are collectively, the “Listing Platforms”). The current market price of KDC ($0.00011) is significantly lower than the valuation of KDC used to extinguish the HBC debt.

At the time of the KDC Exchange, and subsequently at the time of listing of KDC on the Listing Platforms, HBC was operated solely under the jurisdiction of the ROK. During the KDC Exchange, and subsequently upon the listing of KDC on the Listing Platforms, the Company did not direct any sales efforts in the United States or to U.S. Persons. Further, pursuant to the terms and conditions of each Listing Platform, neither Listing Platform permits U.S. Persons as customers. While the Company therefore believes there were no sales of KDC to or by a U.S. person, or efforts to sell KDC to U.S. persons that would be subject to U.S. federal securities laws, we relied on each of the Listing Platforms to prevent offers and sales in the United States and to U.S. persons. As such, the Company may be subject to the risks below in the event that the policies and procedures of the Listing Platforms are not effective and/or sufficient to prevent such offers and sales or that persons may have been able to circumvent such policies and procedures.

While we do not believe that we were subject to U.S. federal securities laws at the time of the KDC Exchange and the listing of KDC on the Listing Platforms, and therefore did not need to conduct the offerings pursuant to an available exemption under the U.S. federal securities laws, the analysis of such jurisdictional question is factual. The applicability of jurisdiction under the Securities Act, and the availability of any exemptions thereunder, depends upon our conduct and that of those persons contacting potential investors and making the offering. We further relied on the terms and conditions of the Listing Platforms to ensure that no offers or sales were made in the United States or to U.S. persons. As such, if the KDC Exchange, the listing of KDC on the Listing Platforms, or any other such offering of securities by the Company is determined by either judicial decision or by the SEC to fall under the jurisdiction of U.S. federal securities laws, and does not qualify for an exemption from registration under the Securities Act, an investor would have the right to rescind its purchase of the securities if it so desired. It is possible that if an investor should seek rescission, such investor would succeed. If investors were successful in seeking rescission, we would face severe financial demands that could adversely affect our business and operations. Additionally, if we did in fact fall under the jurisdiction of U.S. federal securities laws, or alternatively, if such offerings do not qualify for an exemption thereunder, we may become subject to significant fines and penalties imposed by the SEC and state securities agencies.

RISKS RELATED TO INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

We may be subject to claims of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights.

From time to time, third parties may claim that we have infringed their intellectual property rights. For example, patent holding companies may assert patent claims against us in which they seek to monetize patents they have purchased or otherwise obtained. Although we take steps to avoid knowingly violating the intellectual property rights of others, it is possible that third parties still may claim infringement. Existing or future infringement claims against us, whether valid or not, may be expensive to defend and divert the attention of our employees from business operations. Such claims or litigation could require us to pay damages, royalties, legal fees and other costs. We also could be required to stop offering, distributing or supporting the FANING application, or other features or services which incorporate the affected intellectual property rights, redesign products, features or services to avoid infringement, or obtain a license, all of which could be costly and harm our business.

Our technology, content and brands are subject to the threat of piracy, unauthorized copying and other forms of intellectual property infringement.

We regard our technology, content and brands as proprietary and take measures to protect our technology, content and brands and other confidential information from infringement. Piracy and other forms of unauthorized copying and use of our technology, content and brands may become persistent, and policing is difficult. Further, the laws of some countries in which our products are or may be distributed either do not protect our intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States, or are poorly enforced. Legal protection of our rights may be ineffective in such countries. In addition, although we take steps to enforce and police our rights, factors such as the proliferation of technology designed to circumvent the protection measures used by our business partners or by us, the availability of broadband access to the Internet, the refusal of Internet service providers or platform holders to remove infringing content in certain instances, and the proliferation of online channels through which infringing product is distributed all have contributed to a general expansion in unauthorized copying of technology, content and brands.

We may not be able to prevent others from unauthorized use of our intellectual property, which could harm our business and competitive position.

We regard our registered trademark and pending trademarks, service marks, domain names, trade secrets, proprietary technologies and similar intellectual property as critical to our success. We rely on trademark law, trade secret protection and confidentiality and license agreements with our employees and others to protect our proprietary rights.

We have invested significant resources to develop our own intellectual property and acquire licenses to use and distribute the intellectual property of others in the operation of the FANING platform. Failure to maintain or protect these rights could harm our business. In addition, any unauthorized use of our intellectual property by third parties may adversely affect our current and future revenues and our reputation.

Policing unauthorized use of proprietary technology is difficult and expensive. We rely on a combination of copyright, trademark and trade secret laws and restrictions on disclosure to protect our intellectual property rights. Further, we require every employee and consultant to execute proprietary information and invention agreements prior to commencing work. Despite our efforts to protect our proprietary rights, third parties may attempt to copy or otherwise obtain and use our intellectual property or seek court declarations that they do not infringe upon our intellectual property rights. Monitoring unauthorized use of our intellectual property is difficult and costly, and we cannot assure you that the steps we have taken will prevent misappropriation of our intellectual property. From time to time, we may have to resort to litigation to enforce our intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources.

GOVERNANCE RISKS AND RISKS RELATED TO OUR COMMON STOCK

We received a notice from Nasdaq that our common stock may be delisted from trading on the Nasdaq Capital Market if we fail to comply with the continued listing requirements, including the minimum bid price requirement and timely filing requirements of all required periodic reports with the SEC. A delisting of our common stock is likely to reduce the liquidity of our common stock and may inhibit or preclude our ability to raise additional financing.

We are required to comply with certain Nasdaq continued listing requirements, including a minimum bid price for our common stock and timely filing requirements of all required periodic reports with the SEC. If we fail to maintain compliance with any of those requirements, our common shares could be delisted from Nasdaq.

On May 21, 2024, we received a delinquency compliance alert notice (the “Notice”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”). The Notice stated that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1), as the Company had failed to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended March 31, 2024, and remained delinquent in filing its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Subsequently, the Company filed its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter on September 30, 2024, thereby resolving the basis for delisting.

On April 18, 2024, we received a delinquency compliance alert notice from Nasdaq advising the Company that due to the Company’s failure to timely file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), the Company is not in compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1), which requires the timely filing of all required periodic reports with the SEC.

On June 17, 2024, the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) requested that the Company submit a plan (the “Plan”) to address the noncompliance issue by June 17. The Company submitted the Plan on June 14, 2024. Subsequently, on July 16, 2024, the Company filed its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year 2023, thereby resolving the basis for delisting

On August 20, 2024, the Company received a delinquency compliance alert notice (the “Notice”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”). The Notice stated that the Company was not in compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5250(c)(1) (the “Rule”) because it failed to timely file its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2024, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Subsequently, the Company filed the Form 10-Q for the second quarter on October 15, 2024, thereby resolving the basis for delisting.

On February 5, 2024, the Company received a delinquency compliance alert notice from the Listing Qualifications Department (the “Staff”) of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”), stating that the Company was not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirement for continued listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market, as set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), because the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock had been below $1.00 for the previous 30 consecutive business days. To regain compliance with the minimum bid price requirement, the Company’s common stock must maintain a closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days during the 180-calendar-day period from February 5, 2024 to August 4, 2024.

Subsequently, on February 5, 2025, the Company received a determination letter (the “Determination Letter”) from the Nasdaq Staff stating that the Company was subject to delisting for failing to meet the minimum bid price requirement under Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). In order to resolve the deficiency, the Company implemented a reverse stock split on January 27, 2025. Following the reverse split, the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock met or exceeded $1.00 for 10 consecutive business days, and on February 10, 2025, the Company received a notice from Nasdaq confirming that it had regained compliance with the minimum bid price requirement and that the matter was closed.

If, for any reason, Nasdaq should delist our common stock from trading on its exchange and we are unable to obtain listing on another national securities exchange or take action to restore our compliance with the Nasdaq continued listing requirements, a reduction in some or all of the following may occur, each of which could have a material adverse effect on our stockholders:

• the liquidity of our common stock;
• the market price of our common stock;
• we will become a “penny stock”, which will make trading of our common stock much more difficult;
• our ability to obtain financing for the continuation of our operations;
• the number of institutional and general investors that will consider investing in our common stock;
• the number of investors in general that will consider investing in our common stock;
• the number of market makers in our common stock;
• the availability of information concerning the trading prices and volume of our common stock; and
• the number of broker-dealers willing to execute trades in shares of our common stock.

Our stock price may be volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

The trading price of our common stock following our offering may fluctuate substantially and may be higher or lower than the initial public offering price. This may be especially true for companies with a small public float. The trading price of our common stock following our offering will depend on several factors, including those described in this “Risk Factors” section, many of which are beyond our control and may not be related to our operating performance. These fluctuations could cause you to lose all or part of your investment in our common stock since you might be unable to sell your shares at or above the price you paid in the offering.

In addition, the stock market in general, and the market for technology companies in particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. Broad market and industry factors, as well as general economic, political and market conditions such as recessions or interest rate changes, may seriously affect the market price of our common stock, regardless of our actual operating performance. These fluctuations may be even more pronounced in the trading market for our stock shortly following our offering. If the market price of our common stock after our offering does not exceed the initial public offering price, you may not realize any return on your investment in us and may lose some or all of your investment.

In addition, in the past, following periods of volatility in the overall market and the market prices of particular companies’ securities, securities class action litigations have often been instituted against these companies. Litigation of this type, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources. Any adverse determination in any such litigation or any amounts paid to settle any such actual or threatened litigation could require that we make significant payments.

If securities industry analysts do not publish research reports on us, or publish unfavourable reports on us, then the market price and market trading volume of our common stock could be negatively affected.

Any trading market for our common stock will be influenced in part by any research reports that securities industry analysts publish about us. We may not obtain any future research coverage by securities industry analysts. In the event we are covered by research analysts, and one or more of such analysts downgrade our securities, or otherwise reports on us unfavourably, or discontinues coverage of us, the market price and market trading volume of our common stock could be negatively affected.

You will experience dilution as a result of future equity offerings.

We may in the future offer additional shares of our common stock or other securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock. Although no assurances can be given that we will consummate a future financing, in the event we do, or in the event we sell shares of common stock or other securities convertible into shares of our common stock in the future, additional and potentially substantial dilution will occur. In addition, investors purchasing shares or other securities in the future could have rights superior to future investors.

We have not paid cash dividends in the past and do not expect to pay dividends in the future. Any return on investment will likely be limited to the value of our common stock.

We have never paid cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate doing so in the foreseeable future. The payment of dividends on our common stock will depend on earnings, financial condition and other business and economic factors affecting us at such time as our board of directors may consider relevant. If we do not pay dividends, our common stock may be less valuable because a return on your investment will only occur if our stock price appreciates.

Since we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our capital stock in the foreseeable future, stock price appreciation, if any, will be your sole source of gain.

We currently intend to retain all of our future earnings, if any, to finance the growth and development of our business. In addition, the terms of any future debt agreements may preclude us from paying dividends. As a result, appreciation, if any, in the market price of our common stock will be your sole source of gain for the foreseeable future.

Future issuances of debt securities, which would rank senior to our common stock upon our bankruptcy or liquidation, and future issuances of preferred stock, which would rank senior to our common stock for the purposes of dividends and liquidating distributions, may adversely affect the level of return you may be able to achieve from an investment in our common stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by offering debt securities. In the event of a bankruptcy or liquidation, holders of our debt securities, and lenders with respect to other borrowings we may make, would receive distributions of our available assets prior to any distributions being made to holders of our common stock. Moreover, if we issue preferred stock in the future, the holders of such preferred stock could be entitled to preferences over holders of common stock in respect of the payment of dividends and the payment of liquidating distributions. Because our decision to issue debt or preferred securities in any future offering, or borrow money from lenders, will depend in part on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of any such future offerings or borrowings. Holders of our common stock must bear the risk that any such future offerings we conduct or borrowings we make may adversely affect the level of return they may be able to achieve from an investment in our common stock.

We may need to implement additional finance and accounting systems, procedures and controls as we grow our business and organization and to satisfy new reporting requirements.

Upon becoming subject to reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), we will be required to comply with a variety of extensive reporting, accounting, and other rules and regulations. Compliance with each of these requirements is expensive, time consuming and intricate. Further requirements may increase our costs and require additional management time and resources. We may need to implement additional finance and accounting systems, procedures and controls to satisfy our reporting requirements. We intend to remediate this weakness when we become a public company by adding additional, qualified and experienced accounting personnel.

If our internal controls over financial reporting remain ineffective, such failure could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, negatively affect the market price of our common stock, subject us to regulatory investigations and penalties, cause us to have to restate our financial statements, and adversely impact our business and financial condition.

We are an emerging growth company, and any decision on our part to comply only with certain reduced reporting and disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies could make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are an emerging growth company, and, for as long as we continue to be an emerging growth company, we may choose to take advantage of exemptions from various reporting requirements applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies,” including:

• not being required to have our independent registered public accounting firm audit our internal control over financial reporting under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act;
• reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and annual report on Form 10-K; and
• exemptions from the requirements of holding a non-binding advisory vote on executive compensation and stockholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved.

We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years following the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Market. Our status as an emerging growth company will end as soon as any of the following takes place:

• the last day of the fiscal year in which we have more than $1.07 billion in annual revenue;
• the date we qualify as a “large accelerated filer,” with at least $700 million of equity securities held by non-affiliates as of the prior June 30;
• the date on which we have issued, in any three-year period, more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities; or
• the last day of the fiscal year ending after the fifth anniversary of the listing of our common stock on the Nasdaq Market.

We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we choose to rely on the exemptions afforded emerging growth companies. If some investors find our common stock less attractive because we rely on any of these exemptions, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and the market price of our common stock may be more volatile.

Under the JOBS Act, emerging growth companies can also delay adopting new or revised accounting standards until such time as those standards apply to private companies. We have elected to use this extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards that have different effective dates for public and private companies until the earlier of the date we (i) are no longer an emerging growth company or (ii) affirmatively and irrevocably opt out of the extended transition period provided in the JOBS Act. As a result, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that comply with new or revised accounting pronouncements as of public company effective dates.

We will incur increased costs as a result of being a public company, particularly after we cease to qualify as an “emerging growth company.”

As a public company, we expect to incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we did not incur as a private company, particularly after we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined under the JOBS Act. In addition, new and changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Dodd-Frank Act and the rules and regulations promulgated and to be promulgated thereunder, as well as under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the JOBS Act, have created uncertainty for public companies and increased costs and time that boards of directors and management must devote to complying with these rules and regulations. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules of the SEC and the Nasdaq Stock Market regulate corporate governance practices of public companies. We expect compliance with these rules and regulations to increase our legal and financial compliance costs and lead to a diversion of management time and attention from sales-generating activities. For example, we will be required to adopt new internal controls and disclosure controls and procedures. In addition, we will incur additional expenses associated with our SEC reporting requirements and increased compensation for our management team. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we will incur as a public company or the specific timing of such costs.

Because of our status as an emerging growth company, you will not be able to depend on any attestation from our independent registered public accounting firm as to our internal control over financial reporting for the foreseeable future.

Our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act until the later of the year following our first annual report required to be filed with the SEC or the date we are no longer an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act. Accordingly, you will not be able to depend on any attestation concerning our internal control over financial reporting from our independent registered public accounting firm for the foreseeable future. Subsequent to the time frame above, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act until such time that the Company becomes an “accelerated filer,” as defined by the SEC.

If our shares become subject to the penny stock rules, it would become more difficult to trade our shares.

The SEC has adopted rules that regulate broker-dealer practices in connection with transactions in penny stocks. Penny stocks are generally equity securities with a price of less than $5.00, other than securities registered on certain national securities exchanges or authorized for quotation on certain automated quotation systems, provided that current price and volume information with respect to transactions in such securities is provided by the exchange or system. If we do not obtain or retain a listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market or if the price of our common stock falls below $5.00, our common stock will be deemed a penny stock. The penny stock rules require a broker-dealer, before a transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document containing specified information. In addition, the penny stock rules require that before effecting any transaction in a penny stock not otherwise exempt from those rules, a broker-dealer must make a special written determination that the penny stock is a suitable investment for the purchaser and receive (i) the purchaser’s written acknowledgment of the receipt of a risk disclosure statement; (ii) a written agreement to transactions involving penny stocks; and (iii) a signed and dated copy of a written suitability statement. These disclosure requirements would likely have the effect of reducing the trading activity in the secondary market for our common stock, and therefore stockholders may have difficulty selling their shares.

FINRA sales practice requirements may limit a stockholder’s ability to buy and sell our stock.

In addition to the “penny stock” rules described above, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (“FINRA”), has adopted rules that require that in recommending an investment to a customer, a broker-dealer must have reasonable grounds for believing that the investment is suitable for that customer. Prior to recommending speculative, low-priced securities to their non-institutional customers, broker-dealers must make reasonable efforts to obtain information about the customer’s financial status, tax status, investment objectives and other information. The FINRA requirements may make it more difficult for broker-dealers to recommend that their customers buy our common stock, which may have the effect of reducing the level of trading activity in our common stock. As a result, fewer broker-dealers may be willing to make a market in our common stock, reducing a stockholder’s ability to resell shares, as well as overall liquidity, of our common stock.

We will incur increased costs as a result of operating as a listed public company and our management will be required to devote substantial time to new compliance initiatives and corporate governance practices.

If at some point in the future we are no longer an “emerging growth company,” we will incur significant legal, accounting and other expenses that we have not incurred in the past. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the JOBS Act, the listing requirements of the Nasdaq Capital Market and other applicable securities rules and regulations impose various requirements on public companies beyond what management has experienced in operating a privately held company. Our management and other personnel will need to devote a substantial amount of time to comply with these requirements. Moreover, these rules and regulations will increase our legal and financial compliance costs and will make some activities more time-consuming and costly. For example, we expect that these rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, which could make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified members of our board of directors. We cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we will incur as a listed public company, or the timing of such costs, but such costs will be significant.

We are evaluating these rules and regulations, and cannot predict or estimate the amount of additional costs we may incur or the timing of such costs. These rules and regulations are often subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and, as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies. This could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices.

We may be considered a smaller reporting company and will be exempt from certain disclosure requirements, which could make our common stock less attractive to potential investors.

We are also a smaller reporting company as defined in the Exchange Act. We may continue to be a smaller reporting company even after we are no longer an emerging growth company. We may take advantage of certain of the scaled disclosures available to smaller reporting companies and will be able to take advantage of these scaled disclosures for so long as (i) the market value of our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $250 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter or (ii) our annual revenue is less than $100 million during the most recently completed fiscal year and the market value of our voting and non-voting common stock held by non-affiliates is less than $700 million measured on the last business day of our second fiscal quarter. Specifically, as a smaller reporting company, we may choose to present only the two most recent fiscal years of audited financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K and have reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation, and, similar to emerging growth companies, if we are a smaller reporting company with less than $100 million in annual revenue, we would not be required to obtain an attestation report on internal control over financial reporting issued by our independent registered public accounting firm.

If we fail to remediate our internal control weakness and maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations or prevent fraud, and investor confidence and the market price of our common stock may be materially and adversely affected.

We have historically operated as a private company with limited accounting personnel and other resources with which to address our internal controls and procedures. The management has reviewed the current internal controls over financial reporting and concluded that our internal controls are ineffective, registration statement. Our independent registered public accounting firm has not conducted an audit of our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, after we become a public company, our reporting obligations will place a significant strain on our management, operational and financial resources and systems for the foreseeable future and we may be unable to timely complete our evaluation testing and any required remediation.

During the course of documenting and testing our internal control procedures, we identified weaknesses and deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting. In addition, if we fail to remediate these weaknesses and maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, as these standards are modified, supplemented, or amended from time to time, we will not be able to conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal control over financial reporting. Generally, if we continue to fail to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which would likely cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a decline in the trading price of our common stock. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from the stock exchange on which we list, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions.

We may need additional capital, and we may be unable to obtain such capital in a timely manner or on acceptable terms, or at all. Furthermore, our future capital needs may require us to sell additional equity or debt securities that may dilute our stockholders or introduce covenants that may restrict our operations or our ability to pay dividends.

To grow our business and remain competitive, we may require additional capital from time to time for our daily operation. Our ability to obtain additional capital is subject to a variety of uncertainties, including:

• our market position and competitiveness in the content creation and social media platform market;
• our future profitability, overall financial condition, results of operations and cash flows; and
• economic, political and other conditions in the U.S. and internationally.

We may be unable to obtain additional capital in a timely manner or on acceptable terms or at all. In addition, our future capital needs and other business reasons could require us to sell additional equity or debt securities or obtain a credit facility. The sale of additional equity or equity-linked securities could dilute our stockholders. The incurrence of indebtedness would result in increased debt service obligations and could result in operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations or our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.

Because we do not expect to pay dividends in the foreseeable future, you must rely on price appreciation of our common stock for return on your investment.

We currently intend to retain most, if not all, of our available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and growth of our business. As a result, we do not expect to pay any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our common stock as a source for any future dividend income.

Our board of directors has complete discretion as to whether to distribute dividends, subject to certain requirements of Delaware General Corporation Law. Even if our board of directors decides to declare and pay dividends, the timing, amount and form of future dividends, if any, will depend on, among other things, our future results of operations and cash flow, our capital requirements and surplus, the amount of distributions, if any, received by us from our subsidiaries, our financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors deemed relevant by our board of directors. Accordingly, the return on your investment in our common stock will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our common stock. There is no guarantee that our common stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which you purchase the common stock. You may not realize a return on your investment in our common stock and you may even lose your entire investment in our common stock.

Substantial future sales or perceived potential sales of our common stock in the public market could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

On January 27, 2025, we implemented a 1-for-20 reverse stock split of our issued and outstanding shares of common stock. As a result of the reverse stock split, every 20 shares of existing common stock were consolidated into one share, reducing the total number of issued shares from 52,808,589 to 2,640,429. All registered shares of common stock are freely transferable without restriction or additional registration under the Securities Act. Sales of common stock in the market by registered stockholders, or even the perception that such sales may occur, could cause a decline in the market price of our common stock and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our certificate of incorporation designates a state or federal court located within the State of Delaware as the exclusive forum for certain litigation that may be initiated by our stockholders, which could limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us.

Pursuant to our certificate of incorporation and our bylaws, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, (iv) any action asserting a claim against the Corporation governed by the internal affairs doctrine, in each case subject to the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware having jurisdiction over the subject matter and personal jurisdiction over the indispensable parties name as defendants therein, or (v) any action asserting an “internal corporate claim” as that term is defined in Section 115 of the DGCL. Any person or entity purchasing or otherwise acquiring any interest in shares of our capital stock shall be deemed to have notice of and consented to this provision. The forum selection clause in our bylaws may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against us or our directors and officers and may limit our stockholders’ ability to obtain a favorable judicial forum for disputes with us. These choice of forum provisions will not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act, the Exchange Act, or any other claim for which federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction.

These exclusive forum provisions may limit the ability of our stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with us or our directors, officers, or employees, if any, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our directors, officers, and employees, if any. Alternatively, if a court were to find the choice of forum provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation to be inapplicable or unenforceable in an action, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, and operating results. For example, under the Securities Act, federal courts have concurrent jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Securities Act, and investors cannot waive compliance with the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. In addition, the exclusive forum provisions described above do not apply to any actions brought under the Exchange Act.

Inconsistencies in legal filings related to the reverse stock split, caused by former legal counsel, may expose the Company to compliance or reputational risks.

In connection with the reverse stock split approved by shareholders in 2024, the Company’s former legal counsel drafted and filed documents that contained inconsistencies between the proxy disclosure and the Certificate of Amendment filed with the Delaware Secretary of State. These discrepancies were not the result of Company management and were addressed promptly upon discovery.

See “Reverse Stock Split and Legal Disclosure Clarification” under Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for additional details.

Risk Management and Strategy

We have an information security program designed to identify, protect, detect and respond to, and manage reasonably foreseeable cybersecurity risks and threats. To protect our information systems from cybersecurity threats, we utilize various security tools that help prevent, identify, escalate, investigate, resolve, and recover from identified vulnerabilities and security incidents in a reasonably timely manner. These include, but are not limited to, internal reporting and tools for monitoring and detecting cybersecurity threats.

We evaluate the risks associated with technology and cybersecurity threats and monitor our information systems for potential weaknesses. We review and test our information technology system on an as-needed basis and also utilize internal team personnel to evaluate and assess the efficacy of our information technology system and enhance our controls and procedures. The results of these assessments are reported to our Audit Committee and, from time to time, our Board of Directors.

There can be no assurances that our cybersecurity risk management program and processes, including our policies, controls, or procedures, will be fully implemented, complied with or are effective in protecting our systems and information.

As of the date of this report, we are not aware of any cybersecurity incidents, that have had a materially adverse effect on our operations, business, results of operations, or financial condition. Please refer to the “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item 1A of this Form 10-K for more information on risks posed by cybersecurity threats to the Company.

Governance

Our Board of Directors considers cybersecurity risk as part of its risk oversight function. It has delegated oversight of cybersecurity and other information technology risks to the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors. The Audit Committee oversees the implementation of the cybersecurity risk management program.

The Audit Committee receives periodic reports from management on potential cybersecurity risks and threats. The Audit Committee reports to the full Board of Directors regarding its activities, including those related to cybersecurity. The full Board of Directors also receives briefings from management on the cybersecurity risk management program as needed.

Management is responsible for assessing and managing our material risks from cybersecurity threats. Management has primary responsibility for our overall cybersecurity risk management program and supervises both the internal cybersecurity personnel and external cybersecurity consultants.

The management team supervises efforts to prevent, detect, mitigate, and remediate cybersecurity risks and incidents through various means, which may include briefings from internal security personnel, threat intelligence and other information obtained from governmental, public or private sources, including external consultants; and alerts and reports produced by security tools deployed in the IT environment. Our cybersecurity incident response plan governs our assessment and response upon the occurrence of a material cybersecurity incident, including the process for informing senior management and our Board of Directors.

As of December 31, 2024, the Company is not subject to any material pending legal proceedings or claims. Previously disclosed legal matters were associated with subsidiaries that have since been divested and no longer affect the Company’s operations or financial position.

You should read this discussion and analysis together with our audited financial statements, the notes to such statements, and the other financial information included in this Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth under the section entitled “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in this Form 10-K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. See “Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” for a discussion of the uncertainties, risks, and assumptions associated with these statements.

Overview

The Company also implemented significant leadership changes and board realignment aimed at improving governance and execution. A new management team with deeper public company experience was appointed, and the workforce was streamlined by transitioning core functions to outsourced development and operational support, significantly reducing capital expenditure while enhancing operational flexibility.

Liquidity remained constrained during the year, driven by negative operating cash flow and continued investment in the FANING platform. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had current assets of $2,987 and current liabilities of $668,339, resulting in an accumulated deficit of $37,901,301. These conditions raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. To support its turnaround efforts, the Company plans to raise new capital through equity financing and borrowing and expects revenue growth and cost efficiency to improve following the release of the upgraded FANING platform in 2025.

Refer to the subsequent sections of this Item 7 for a detailed discussion of our results of operations, liquidity and capital resources, and financial condition.

Results of Operations

The Company’s consolidated statements of operations for the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023 are as follows.

Consolidated Statements of Operations

For the Years Ended December 31, 2024 and 2023

44

During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, the Company underwent a year of restructuring, including the replacement of management that had been operating the Company ineffectively and the divestiture of financially distressed subsidiaries. As a result, no revenue was generated during the year ended December 31, 2024. Furthermore, for the comparative period ended December 31, 2023, revenue has been reclassified as discontinued operations following the divestiture of the three subsidiaries in 2024, and thus there is no revenue from continuing operations. For reference, revenue from discontinued operations amounted to $196 in 2024 and $827,489 in 2023.

Selling, general, and administrative expenses related to continuing operations decreased by 56% to $888,363 in 2024, compared to $2,005,925 in 2023, due to workforce reductions and the sale of subsidiaries. In addition, selling, general, and administrative expenses related to discontinued operations significantly decreased to $1,489,006 in 2024 from $10,483,401 in 2023.

The subsidiaries sold in 2024—Hanryu Bank Co., Ltd., FNS Co., Ltd., and Marin Island Co., Ltd.—have been reclassified as discontinued operations and reflected as such in the financial statements.

The Company expects that its financial structure will improve starting in 2025, driven by the launch of the upgraded, user-centric FANING platform and enhanced cost efficiency from the 2024 restructuring efforts. The new management team is committed to securing long-term sustainability by expanding the user base, diversifying revenue streams, and maintaining tight cost controls.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company’s balance sheets as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 are as follows.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023

46

The Company’s liquidity position remained severely constrained throughout 2024. As of December 31, 2024, from continuing operations, the Company reported cash and cash equivalents of $2,352 and total current assets of $2,987, compared to $69,688 and $201,516, respectively, as of December 31, 2023. This sharp decline reflects the depletion of cash reserves due to operational restructuring, platform development efforts, and the absence of revenue.

Total current liabilities increased to $668,339 as of December 31, 2024, from $0 as of December 31, 2023 (from continuing operations), primarily due to accrued professional fees and other operating expenses. As a result, the Company’s working capital deficit widened, underscoring the urgency of its capital-raising efforts.

In response, management initiated actions to secure additional funding through equity issuances and potential debt financing. In early 2025, the Company also executed a reverse stock split to maintain its Nasdaq listing and enhance its appeal to institutional investors.

To conserve capital, the Company adopted a leaner operational model by outsourcing key development and administrative functions to third-party providers. These cost-saving measures are expected to support near-term cash flow stabilization.

The Company’s ability to continue as a going concern depends on its success in raising additional capital and executing its platform monetization strategies. Management believes that the launch of the upgraded FANING platform and recent operational realignments provide a foundation for improved performance beginning in 2025.

Financial Condition and Going Concern

As of December 31, 2024, the Company’s financial condition reflected a continued working capital deficiency, a significant accumulated deficit, and ongoing operating losses. These factors raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the issuance date of the financial statements.

In evaluating the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern, management considered its current cash position, projected operating expenditures, and anticipated financing activities. Management is actively pursuing financing alternatives and has taken steps to reduce operating costs, including the divestiture of non-core subsidiaries and implementation of an outsourced operational model.

While there can be no assurance that sufficient funding will be secured in a timely manner, the Company believes its improved governance structure, upgraded FANING platform, and streamlined business focus enhance its ability to attract investment and commercial partnerships.

Management will continue to monitor liquidity closely and adjust operational plans as needed to conserve resources while maintaining progress toward its strategic objectives.

Critical Accounting Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, and expenses, as well as related disclosures.

Significant accounting estimates and judgments include:

• Classification and presentation of discontinued operations resulting from the divestiture of subsidiaries.
• Assessment of going concern and the recoverability of assets and obligations.
• Allocation of shared operating expenses and liabilities between continuing and discontinued operations.
• Potential impairment of intangible assets related to platform development.

Management regularly reviews its estimates and assumptions, which are based on historical experience and other relevant factors, including the current economic environment. Actual results may differ materially from these estimates. Any material changes in assumptions could have a significant impact on our financial statements.

FANING is a fandom-centered platform designed to deliver an all-in-one ecosystem that enriches the fan experience through content, community, commerce, and creativity. The platform is available in 17 languages and supports real-time multilingual translation, enabling global fan engagement. Users can consume K-culture content, interact socially, and monetize creative work, including fan art, webtoons, and merchandise.

The platform’s monetization strategy includes:

• Direct revenue from advertising, digital content, and commerce
• Commissions on user-to-user transactions, including gifts, stickers, translation matching, and creator content

As of December 31, 2024, FANING had over 26.6 million registered users globally. The platform is positioned to capitalize on the global rise in K-Culture fandom, now exceeding 229 million fans in 119 countries.

The Company uses the following Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to monitor platform performance

Key Performance Indicators (“KPIs”)

In addition to the measures presented in our consolidated financial statements, our management regularly monitors certain KPIs for our business. The KPIs used by the Company are: (1) user base; (2) monthly active users; (3) average revenue per user; and (4) user acquisition cost (“UAC”).

User Base

User base is defined by the Company as all registered users, regardless of the frequency they access the FANING platform.

2024 average user base: ~26.6 million

Monthly Active User Accounts (“MAUs”)

MAUs is defined by the Company as unique user accounts that access the FANING app during the prior 30 days of the period. The number of MAUs does not correspond to the number of unique individuals who actively utilize the FANING platform or the number of devices associated with an account. For example, a single account may be used by more than one individual, such as a family, and one account may use multiple devices. We believe that the number of MAUs is a relevant measure to gauge the size of our user base and the opportunity to increase the FANING platform’s revenue and gross profit. The table below sets forth the number of users compared to MAUs, and the respective percentage of MAUs to the entire FANING user base. The number of MAUs grew significantly in 2022, but both the number of MAUs and their ratio to the user base did not increase following the year ended December 31, 2023. This is because the Company focused on R&D and infrastructure investments to stabilize and monetize the FANING app. It is also due to a reduction in the Company’s marketing budget; however, the Company expects that the number of MAUs and the percentage of MAUs to user base will increase once the company has more capital and is able to increase marketing spend and invest in more technological developments.

Average Revenue Per User (“ARPU”)

We use ARPU to evaluate and monitor the amount of revenue generated by FANING platform users and analyze growth patterns. ARPU is defined as total revenue generated from the FANING platform during the period, divided by the average of the number of MAUs at the beginning and end. The average number of MAUs, for purposes of our calculation, is the sum of MAUs for the first month of a year and the MAUs for the last month of the same year divided by two. We measure progress in our platform using ARPU because it helps us understand the rate at which we are monetizing our user base.

We believe ARPU is useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance and, more specifically, evaluating the monetization of the FANING platform. ARPU and similar measures with similar titles are common measures used by investors, analysts and peers to compare performance in our industry, although our measure of ARPU may not be directly comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies.

ARPU was zero for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2024, consistent with the Company’s pre-monetization development phase. ARPU will remain a key performance indicator as FANING’s monetization strategies launch in 2025. Management expects future growth to be driven by organic user expansion, improved marketing efficiency, and the commercial rollout of the upgraded FANING platform beginning in April 2025.

User Acquisition Cost (“UAC”)

UAC is the total cost to acquire a new user, and is calculated by dividing sales and marketing expense by the number of new users. The Company believes UAC is important in understanding the Company’s effectiveness at acquiring each of its users. UAC was $0.18 for the year ended December 31, 2024. and, for the year ended December 31, 2023 was $0.17 respectively. These efficiencies are expected to improve following the release of the upgraded FANING platform in April 2025.

We are a smaller reporting company as defined in Item 10(f)(1) of Regulation S-K and are not required to provide the information otherwise required under this item.

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Our management has evaluated the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), as of December 31, 2024. Based on such evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer have concluded that as of December 31, 2024, our disclosure controls and procedures were ineffective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act (a) is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified by Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) rules and forms and (b) is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding any required disclosure.

Management has identified control deficiencies regarding inadequate accounting resources, the lack of segregation of duties and the need for a stronger internal control environment. Management of the Company believes that these material weaknesses are due to the small size of the Company’s accounting staff. The small size of the Company’s accounting outsourced staff may prevent adequate controls in the future due to the cost/benefit of such remediation.

To mitigate the current limited resources and limited employees, we rely heavily on direct management oversight of transactions, along with the use of external legal and accounting professionals. As we grow, we expect to increase our number of employees, which will enable us to implement adequate segregation of duties within the internal control framework.

These control deficiencies could result in a misstatement of account balances that would result in a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement to our financial statements may not be prevented or detected on a timely basis. In light of this material weakness, we performed additional analyses and procedures in order to conclude that our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K were fairly stated in accordance with GAAP. Accordingly, management believes that despite our material weaknesses, our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023 are fairly stated, in all material respects, in accordance with GAAP.

Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act. Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the effectiveness, as of December 31, 2024, of our internal control over financial reporting based on the framework in 2013 Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on our evaluation under this framework, our management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was not effective as of December 31, 2024 due to material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting described above.

Changes in Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Except for the material weaknesses identified above, there were no other changes in our system of internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended December 31, 2024 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Limitations on Effectiveness of Controls and Procedures

In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting, management recognizes that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurance of achieving the desired control objectives. In addition, the design of disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and that management is required to apply judgment in evaluating the benefits of possible controls and procedures relative to their costs.