CULT WINES LAUNCHES CULTX, THE FUTURE OF WINE TRADING POWERED BY WINE-SEARCHER

The consumer first, leading-edge platform, makes it easy to buy, sell, collect and invest in fine wine with a global community of wine buyers

LONDON, May 16, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cult Wines has today introduced CultX, a next generation trading platform for fine wine verified by advanced blockchain technology with extensive data, analytics, 100k live markets and over £200m of the world's most prestigious investment grade wines to bid on. Users can build, track and manage a fine wine portfolio with real-time data and live markets at their fingertips, instantly and easily.

Despite being a multi-billion-pound industry, the wine sector has not benefitted from innovation or the emergence of new technologies at the same rate as other industries. Plagued by a lack of accurate pricing and exorbitantly high trading fees (typically 10-20%) it has been difficult for consumers to make informed decisions or get fair prices within the market.

Poised to revolutionise trading, CultX has been created to lower the barrier to entry and eradicate inefficiencies that have historically stifled industry growth. The all-in-one self-directed app utilises the Algorand blockchain, providing a reassuring layer of authenticity and provenance to every bottle of wine traded. One of the most powerful features of the blockchain technology allows for immediate transfer of ownership. Once a trade is executed, funds are transferred from the buyer to the seller, resulting in an instant settlement. In most cases with existing platforms, consumers must wait up to three weeks before transfer of funds and ownership is complete. 

Cult Wines CEO and CultX Founder Tom Gearing noted, "The unique combination of CultX's global custodial warehousing and blockchain technology allows users a frictionless and hassle-free way to build a physical collection of the world's most prestigious fine wine."

Fuelled by the world's most comprehensive source of powerful wine pricing data from Wine-Searcher, the next gen platform will provide 'always on' access to the world of fine wine, boasting a breadth and depth of data not available on any other platform, as well as intuitive data analytics underpinned by sophisticated AI models. "Our data science team has worked closely with Wine-Searcher's team over the past six months, building pricing models which aim to tackle issues around price transparency, improving accuracy and helping users value even the rarest, illiquid wines in their collection." Gearing added.

"CultX is a super-charged buying and selling platform that will play an integral part in the continued evolution of the fine wine industry," said Gearing. "Our revolutionary wine trading experience and unmatched low trading fees will lead to a better experience and more transparency in trading for users. The platform's built-in global storage solution reduces friction in the buying and selling process by eliminating the inconvenience of shipping, complex logistics and authenticity checks, which will provide peace of mind and drive down transactional costs."

Ten years of historical and current market data from Wine-Searcher provide the most accurate price record for more than 100,000 of the world's top investment grade wines available to search on the CultX platform. Leveraging the best global data on the market gives users full control of their wine to inform, predict, and level up buying and selling decisions. CultX will make it easy to spot an opportunity or react quickly to market trends, being able to liquidate or grow their portfolio from the palm of a hand.

CultX benefits from Cult Wines' 15-year history, performance, relationships, and expertise in the fine wine market. Over a decade in the making, the new venture was born of Gearing's first-hand experience witnessing the inefficiencies, fragmentation and opacity involved with the trading of fine wine. Drawing on Cult Wines' experience in the market, the new platform brings together a team of preeminent talent across key disciplines – like tech, operations, analytics and data – together with integral partnerships to bring the idea to fruition.

CultX will be available to download on iOS, Android and on the web globally in the second half of 2022. Users can sign up for early access by joining the wait list, with public beta opening in Q3 2022. For more information, and to nab your spot on the wait list, visit www.CultX.com.

ABOUT CULTX

CultX is the leading-edge digital trading platform for buying, selling and collecting investment grade fine wine with over £200m of the world's most prestigious wines available to bid on. The mobile and web-based trading app provides users with all the tools they need to build, track and manage a fine wine portfolio with real-time data and live markets at their fingertips, instantly and easily. Boasting ten years of historical data and current pricing information from Wine-Searcher, the platform provides the most accurate price record for each of the hundred thousand wines available to search on the platform.  CultX brings together a global community of tech savvy traders and fine wine enthusiasts, offering unmatched liquidity opportunities, with immediate ownership, total transparency and assured authenticity through the Algorand blockchain ledger. For more information, please visit www.cultx.com/ or find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.

ABOUT CULT WINES

Founded in 2007, Cult Wines is forging the future foundations of the fine wine market by creating products and experiences that unlock opportunities for producers and consumers. Empowering people through technology, data and access to a global community, Cult Wines endeavours to re-define the fine wine market – making it accessible, secure and rewarding. Headquartered in the UK, Cult Wines has offices in Canada, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the US. For more information, please visit www.cultwines.com/ or find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. 

ABOUT WINE-SEARCHER

The pre-eminent global source of data for 'online, off-trade' spirits, wine and beer pricing and availability. Enabling huge, market leading volumes of high-quality data transactions over 20 years has established Wine-Searcher (WS) as the pre-eminent global source of data for 'online, off-trade' wine & spirits pricing and availability. The innovative combination of technology and expert resources is fundamental to WS' reputation for the long-term accuracy, reliability and quality of its data. Headquartered in New Zealand with a regional office in London, WS aggregates approximately 13 million wine, beer and spirit listings from around 24,500 active stores and businesses, across at least 130 countries. The full data set for all products involves billions of data points. The website and its associated apps attract 5 to 8 million active users each month depending on seasonality, and 240 million user product Searches are made around the world each year. Visit www.wine-searcher.com or find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.