NUKKW Nukkleus Inc

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

☒ ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended September 30, 2024

or

☐ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _________ to _________

001-39341

Commission file number

Nukkleus Inc.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

212-791-4663

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code

Brilliant Acquisition Corporation

(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered under Section 12(g) of the Exchange Act: None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. ☐ Yes ☒ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such fi les). ☒ Yes ☐ No

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

The aggregate market value of the voting and non-voting common equity held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $71,326,000 as of January 23, 2025, based upon the closing stock price $28.50 per share reported for such date.

State the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common equity, as of the latest practicable date.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This report contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Although our forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of our management, these statements can be based only on facts and factors of which we are currently aware. Consequently, forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results and outcomes may differ materially from results and outcomes discussed in the forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “plan,” “future,” “intend,” “could,” “estimate,” “predict,” “hope,” “potential,” “continue,” or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements under the captions “Risk Factors,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis or Plan of Operation” and “Description of Business,” as well as other sections in this report. Such forward-looking statements are based on our management’s current plans and expectations and are subject to risks, uncertainties and changes in plans that may cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. You should be aware that, as a result of any of these factors materializing, the trading price of our common stock may decline. These factors include, but are not limited to, the following:

The cautionary statements made in this annual report are intended to be applicable to all related forward-looking statements wherever they may appear in this report.

We urge you not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this report. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward looking-statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

All references in this Form 10-K that refer to the “Company”, “Nukkleus”, “we,” “us” or “our” refer to Nukkleus Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I

Item 1. Business.

Nukkleus Inc. (formerly known as, Brilliant Acquisition Corporation) (the “Company” or “Nukkleus”) was formed on May 24, 2019. The Company was formed for the purpose of acquiring, engaging in a share exchange, share reconstruction and amalgamation with, purchasing all or substantially all of the assets of, entering into contractual arrangements with, or engaging in any other similar business combination with one or more businesses or entities. On June 23, 2023, Brilliant Acquisition Corporation, a British Virgin Islands company (prior to the Merger “Brilliant”, and following the Merger, a Delaware corporation “Nukkleus”), entered into an Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger (as amended by the First Amendment to the Amended and Restated Agreement and Plan of Merger on November 1, 2023, the “Merger Agreement”), by and among Brilliant BRIL Merger Sub, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Brilliant (“Merger Sub”), and Nukkleus Inc., a Delaware corporation (“Old Nukk”). Old Nukk (f/k/a Compliance & Risk Management Solutions Inc.) was formed on July 29, 2013 in the State of Delaware as a for-profit Company and established a fiscal year end of September 30.

The Merger Agreement provided that, among other things, at the closing (the “Closing”) of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement, Merger Sub merged with and into Old Nukk (the “Merger”), with Old Nukk surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brilliant. In connection with the Merger, Brilliant changed its name to “Nukkleus Inc.” (“Nukkleus” or “Combined Company”). The Merger and other transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement are hereinafter referred to as the “Business Combination.”

In connection with the Business Combination, Brilliant changed its name to “Nukkleus Inc.” The Business Combination was completed on December 22, 2023.

Overview

As a result of Business Combination, we had become a financial technology company with the aim of providing blockchain-enabled technology solutions. Since the Business Combination, we have operated in the technology business as a full-service transactions technology and advisory business providing end-to-end transactions technology solutions. We offer an advanced transactions platform for dealing and risk management with global liquidity and customizable leverage, where users have control over quote and liquidity strategies.

On December 15, 2024, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement and Call Option between Nukkleus Inc., Star 26 Capital Inc. (“Star”), the shareholders of Star 26 Capital Inc. (“Star Equity Holders”) and Menachem Shalom, the representative of such shareholders (the “Star Agreement”) to acquire a controlling 51% interest in Star, a defense acquisition company.

Historically, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, provided software and technology solutions for the worldwide retail foreign exchange trading industry. The Company’s primary customer was Triton Capital Markets Ltd. (“TCM”) (formerly known as FXDD Malta Limited). Emil Assentato, the former CEO and a former director of the Company, is also the majority member of Max Q Investments LLC (“Max Q”), which is managed by Derivative Marketing Associates Inc. (“DMA”). Mr. Assentato is the sole owner and manager of DMA. Max Q owns 79% of Currency Mountain Malta LLC, which in turn is the sole shareholder of TCM. In order to define the services rendered to TCM, Nukkleus Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into a General Services Agreement (“GSA”) with TCM in May 2016. The GSA provides that TCM will pay Nukkleus Limited a minimum of $1,600,000 per month. Due to non-payment by TCM under the GSA, the Company has advised TCM that the GSA has been terminated. The Company has historically generated substantially most of its revenue through the services rendered under the GSA. On September 30, 2024, the Company, TCM and FXDirectDealer LLC (“FXDD”) entered into a Release Agreement pursuant to which the parties confirmed that the GSA between the Company and TCM and the General Services Agreement dated May 24, 2016, as amended (“FXDD GSA”) between the Company and FXDD were terminated effective January 1, 2024. The parties further confirmed that there are no obligations or liabilities outstanding or owed between the parties as of September 30, 2024 and each party released and forever discharged the other party from any and all claims, demands, damages, actions, causes of action, or suits of any kind or nature whatsoever, both known and unknown, which have arisen or may arise from the GSA or the FXDD GSA

The Company has historically operated its blockchain payment solutions through Digital RFQ Limited (“DRFQ”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Match Financial Ltd (“Match”), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into a Settlement Agreement and Release with Jamal Khurshid and Match providing that Match agreed to sell DRFQ, to Mr. Khurshid or his nominee subject to the Company obtaining shareholder approval (the “Settlement Agreement”). As required by the Settlement Agreement, the Company, Match and Mr. Khurshid entered into a Share Purchase Agreement dated December 27, 2024 providing that the Company, subject to it obtaining shareholder approval, will sell DRFQ to Mr. Khurshid in consideration of £1,000. The Company believes the sale of DRFQ is in the best interest of the Company due to continuing net loss generated by DRFQ.

As a result of the above transaction and subject to the closing of the acquisition of Star and the sale of DRFQ, the Company’s business will be focused on the defense sector.

Recent Developments

X Group – June 2024

On June 11, 2024 (the “Effective Date”), the Company issued a Senior Unsecured Promissory Note (the “X Group Note 1”) in the principal amount of $312,500 to X Group Fund of Funds, a Michigan limited partnership (“X Group”) in consideration of cash proceeds in the amount of $250,000. As an additional inducement to provide the X Group Note 1, the Company issued X Group a Stock Purchase Warrant (“X Group Warrant 1”) to acquire 150,000 shares of common stock at a per share price of $2.00 for a term of five years that may be exercised on a cash or cashless basis. X Group was initially convertible at a per share conversion price of $2.00. The number of shares and exercise prices for the X Group Note and X Group Warrant 1 reflect the October 2024 reverse stock split.

The Company and X Group also entered into a Restructuring Agreement providing that, among other items, X Group, in its sole discretion, will have the right for a period for six months from the Effective Date (the “Investment Period”), to lend the Company an additional $500,000 in consideration of a convertible promissory note that will have a term of two years, bear interest at 12% and will convert into shares of common stock at a per share price of $2.00. During the Investment Period, the Company may not incur additional debt or enter into any equity financing arrangement without the written consent of the X Group.

In order to induce X Group to provide the loan contemplated pursuant to the Note, Emil Assentato, a former director and executive officer of the Company, entered into a Voting Agreement with the Company and X Group agreeing to vote his shares in support of any transaction provided by X Group. The Company and X Group have agreed that 100% of all loan balances including loans payable to Emil Assentato by the Company will be recorded on the books of the Company as a bona fide debt of the Company, of which 30% of such debt will be paid within nine (9) months of the Effective Date and the balance to be repaid within twenty-four (24) months of the Effective Date.

On September 10, 2024, the Company issued an additional Senior Unsecured Promissory Note (the “X Group Note 2”) in the principal amount of $125,000 to X Group in consideration of cash proceeds in the amount of $100,000, which was funded on September 4, 2024.

On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into a Conversion Agreement (the “Conversion Agreement”) with X Group to convert outstanding principal and interest totaling of $771,085 payable under the X Group Note 1 and the X Group Note 2 (the “X Group Debt”) into shares of common stock of the Company. Pursuant to the Conversion Agreement, the Company issued 385,542 shares of its common stock and an additional warrant to purchase 351,424 shares of common stock exercisable for a period of five years at an exercise price of $2.00 per share (“X Group Warrant 2”) in exchange for the cancellation of the X Group Debt. Further, the Company and X Group entered into a letter agreement providing that X Group may not exercise the X Group Warrant 1 in the event such exercise would result in X Group holding in excess of 19.9% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock as of November 8, 2024. On November 14, 2024, the Company and X Group entered into a letter agreement pursuant to which it amended the terms of the Conversion Agreement and the X Group Warrant 2 issued in connection with the Conversion Agreement. Pursuant to the letter agreement, the shares of common stock to be issued under the Conversion Agreement were amended to be 319,952 shares of common stock of the Company and the exercise price of the X Group Warrant 2 was amended to be $2.41.

East Asia

On August 1, 2024, the Company issued a Senior Unsecured Promissory Note (the “East Asia Note”) in the principal amount of $515,000 to East Asia Technology Investments Limited (“East Asia”) in consideration of cash proceeds in the amount of $412,075. The East Asia Note bears interest of 12.0% per annum and is due and payable six months after issuance. As an additional inducement to provide the loan as outlined under East Asia Note, the Company issued East Asia a Stock Purchase Warrant (“East Asia Warrant”) to acquire 175,000 shares of common stock at a per share price of $2.00 for a term of five years that may be exercised on a cash or cashless basis. East Asia shall have the right to convert the principal and interest payable under the East Asia Note into shares of common stock of the Company at a per share conversion price of $2.00. The number of shares and exercise prices for the East Asia Note and East Asia Warrant reflect the October 2024 reverse stock split.

Reverse Split

The Board of Directors (the “Board”) of the Company unanimously approved a reverse stock split of the Company’s common stock at a ratio of one-for-eight (the “Reverse Stock Split”). The Company’s shareholders approved a reverse stock split at a ratio of not less than one-for-two and not greater than one-for-thirty at the Company’s annual meeting on October 11, 2024.

On October 11, 2024, the Company filed a Certificate of Amendment to the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation with the Delaware Secretary of State as corrected on October 16, 2024 to effect the Reverse Stock Split (the “Reverse Certificate of Amendment”), which became effective 12:01 am eastern time on October 24, 2024. As a result of the Reverse Stock Split, every eight shares of the Company’s common stock issued and outstanding on the effective were consolidated into one issued and outstanding share. All stockholders who would be entitled to receive fractional shares as a result of the Reverse Stock Split received one whole share for their fractional share interest. On October 31, 2024, the Company received notice from DTCC on behalf of the brokerage firms that hold the shares of Company common stock held in “street name” that in connection with the foregoing rounding of shares the Company would need to issue 182,004 shares of common stock. The Company does not believe the number of shares being requested is correct based on the historical number of shareholders of its common stock and is aware of similar occurrences in recent months for other companies completing a reverse stock split. As such, the Company has begun an inquiry into the calculations set forth in the request. During the pendency of this inquiry, the Company does not intend to issue any shares in connection with the fractional shares being requested. The Company may face potential liability for its failure to issue the shares of common stock if it is determined that it is required to issue such shares. There was no change in the par value of our common stock.

In addition, proportionate adjustments will be made to the exercise prices of the Company’s outstanding stock options and warrants and to the number of shares issued and issuable under the Company’s existing stock incentive plans. All amounts reflected herein have been adjusted to reflect the Reverse Stock Split.

DRFQ

On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into the Settlement Agreement Match, providing that Match agreed to sell DRFQ, to Mr. Khurshid or his nominee subject to the Company obtaining shareholder approval (the “Settlement Agreement”). As required by the Settlement Agreement, the Company, Match and Mr. Khurshid entered into a Share Purchase Agreement dated December 23, 2024 providing that the Company, subject to it obtaining shareholder approval, will sell DRFQ to Mr. Khurshid in consideration of £1,000. The Company believes the sale of DRFQ is in the best interest of the Company due to continuing net loss generated by DRFQ.

Vallis/Worsley

On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into Settlement Agreement and Release with each of Craig Vallis and Oliver Worsley providing that the Company will issue 125,000 and 75,000 shares of common stock, respectively, in consideration of each party releasing the Company for compensation owed for services.

Standby Equity Purchase Agreement

On December 3, 2024, the Company entered into the Standby Equity Purchase Agreement (“SEPA”) with YA II PN, LTD, a Cayman Islands exempt limited partnership (the “Investor”) pursuant to which the Company has the right to sell to the Investor up to $10 million of shares of its common stock, subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the SEPA, from time to time during the term of the SEPA. Sales of the shares of common stock to the Investor under the SEPA, and the timing of any such sales, are at the Company’s option, and the Company is under no obligation to sell any shares of common stock to the Investor under the SEPA except in connection with notices that may be submitted by the Investor, in certain circumstances as described below.

In connection with the SEPA, and subject to the conditions set forth therein, the Investor has agreed to advance to the Company in the form of convertible promissory notes (the “Convertible Notes”) an aggregate principal amount of $2.0 million (the “Pre-Paid Advance”), which was to be advanced to the Company in three tranches. The first tranche of the Pre-Paid Advance, in the amount of $0.50 million, was disbursed to the Company on December 3, 2024 (the “YA Note”). On December 19, 2024, the Company and YA II PN Ltd. (the “Investor”) entered into a Termination Agreement pursuant to which the SEPA and the Registration Rights Agreement were terminated provided that such termination had no effect or bearing on, and shall in no way alter in any way the YA Note or any portion of the SEPA or the Registration Rights Agreement related to the Note, or any rights of the Investor or obligations of the Company related to the Note.

Star 26 Capital, Inc.

On December 15, 2024, the Company entered into the Star Agreement with Star, the Star Equity Holders and Mr. Shalom as the representative of the Star Equity Holders. Star holds 95% of Rimon, an Israeli corporation engaged as a supplier of generators for “iron dome” launchers and other defense products. Mr. Shalom, who is the Chief Executive Officer and a director of the Company, is a controlling shareholder, Chief Executive Officer and a director of Star. Pursuant to the Star Agreement, the Company at closing will acquire 51% of the issued and outstanding capital of Star in consideration of (i) $15,000,000 in a combination of cash in the minimum amount of $5,000,000 and a promissory note for the remaining balance maturing in 12 months following the closing (the “Investment Note”), (ii) the Company issuing the Seller 2,385,170 shares of common stock of the Company and (iii) the Company issuing Star a five-year warrant to purchase an aggregate of 6,907,859 shares of the Company’s common stock for an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The Star Equity Holders granted the Company an option (the “Option”) to purchase the balance of their equity in Star (49%) for an aggregate of $16,084,250 (the “Option Exercise Price”) in consideration for the issuance to the Star Equity Holders five-year warrants to purchase an aggregate of 720,000 shares of the Company’s common stock for an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The Option Exercise Price to be paid by the Company to the Star Equity Holders will consist of $3,000,000 in cash, a promissory note in the principal amount of $3,000,000, which shall accrue interest at the rate of 8% and be due and payable six (6) months after the issuance thereof, 2,385,170 shares of common stock of the Company and a five-year warrant to purchase 5,109,789 shares of the Company’s common stock for an exercise price of $1.50 per share.

If, for a period of 12 months after the closing, the Company’s shares of common stock are delisted from Nasdaq, Star shall have the right, at its own discretion, to require the Company to exchange the Investment Note for all the shares of Star then held by the Company, provided, however, the Option shall be automatically cancelled and Star shall retain any cash payments made by the Company to Star and the Company shall retain an equity interest in Star equivalent to all cash payments. The closing of the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, third-party consents, fairness opinion, and approval by the Company’s shareholders as required under applicable Nasdaq listing rules.

Rimon operates two primary lines of business: (i) the purchase and sale of generators, masts, and lightning products and solutions, which it acquires through exclusive distributorship agreements with key third-party suppliers; and (ii) the engineering, design, production, integration, and maintenance of special tactical vehicles and trailers, including reconnaissance vehicles, mobile command and control vehicles, firefighting trailers, energy and lighting trailers, and satellite broadcast mobility platforms which are primarily sold to special defense forces, intelligence agencies and the Israeli Defense Forces.

The acquisition comes at a time of what the Company believes will be growth and transformation within the global defense sector. The Company will integrate Star operations into its existing business structure while continuing to explore additional opportunities for growth.

Private Placement - December 2024

On December 18, 2024, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with an accredited investor (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”) for a private placement (the “Private Placement”) pursuant to which the investor (the “Purchaser”) agreed to purchase from the Company 1,666,666 units for an aggregate purchase price of $10,000,000 or a per unit price of $6.00 with each unit consisting of (i) one share (the “Shares”) of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (the “Common Stock”) and (ii) a common stock purchase warrant to purchase up to one and one half shares of Common Stock (the “Common Warrant”). At the discretion of the Purchaser, it may elect to acquire one pre-funded common stock purchase warrant in lieu of one Share (the “Pre-Funded Warrant”). Each Share and accompanying Common Warrant is being sold together at a combined offering price of $6.00 per Share and Common Warrant. The Pre-Funded Warrant is immediately exercisable, at a nominal exercise price of $0.0001 per share, and may be exercised at any time until the Pre-Funded Warrant is fully exercised. The Common Warrant will have an exercise price of $6.00 per share, are immediately exercisable on a cash or cashless basis and will expire five (5) years from the date of issuance. The Units were priced in excess of the average Nasdaq Official Closing Price of the Company’s common stock (as reflected on Nasdaq.com) for the five trading days immediately preceding the signing of the Securities Purchase Agreement. The Private Placement closed on December 20, 2024.

The Securities Purchase Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and agreements of the Company and the Purchaser and customary indemnification rights and obligations of the parties thereto. Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company is required to register the resale of the Shares and the shares issuable upon exercise of the Common Warrant and the Pre-Funded Warrant. The Company is required to prepare and file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 15 days of the date of the Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Filing Deadline”) and to use commercially reasonable efforts to have the registration statement declared effective within 45 days of the closing of the Private Placement or 75 days in the event of a full review (the “Effectiveness Deadline”). In certain circumstances including, but not limited to, if the Company misses the Filing Deadline or the Effectiveness Deadline, then the Company will be required to pay to the Purchasers an amount in cash, as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, equal to the product of 5.0% multiplied by the aggregate purchase price.

Pursuant to a Placement Agency Agreement, dated December 18, 2024, between the Company and Dawson James Securities Inc. (the “Placement Agent”) entered into in connection with the Private Offering, the Placement Agent acted as the sole placement agent for the Private Placement and the Company has paid customary placement fees to the Placement Agent, including a cash fee equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds raised in the Private Placement and 4.0% on all proceeds from the exercise of the Common Warrants. Pursuant to the Placement Agency Agreement, the Company has also agreed to reimburse certain expenses of the Placement Agent incurred in connection with the Private Placement.

Equity Compensation

In order to compensate various executive officers, directors and consultants of the Company who have provided services to the Company for an extended period of time with limited compensation, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,337,500 restricted stock grants consisting of restricted shares of common stock under its stock incentive plans on December 16, 2024 prior to the market opened on such date of which Menachem Shalom received 500,000 shares of common stock, Anastasiia Kotaieva received 150,000 shares of common stock and each of the directors of the Company received 10,000 shares of common stock. To date, prior to the restricted stock grant, the directors of the Company have not received any compensation for their service and Mr. Shalom has not received an equity award for his service. The shares of common stock were issued without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The sale of the shares of common stock did not involve any public offering and each participant either received or had access to adequate information the Company. No advertising or general solicitation was made in connection with the issuance of the shares of common stock.

Star Business Description

Star Business Overview

Star is an acquisition holding company focused on locating undervalued and undercapitalized companies, primarily in the defense, industrial machinery and application, manufacturing, transportation, information technology, and aerospace industries, and providing them capitalization and leadership to maximize their value and the potential of their private enterprises while also promoting diversification and risk mitigation for our stockholders. Our acquisition strategy focuses on small and medium businesses, which we characterize as those that have an enterprise value of less than $200 million, in a variety of different industries, with a preference for multinational businesses. To date, we have completed a single acquisition of a defense technology company. Star has not identified any specific business as a target for its next acquisition, and it has not entered into any letters of intent, nor has anyone on its behalf, initiated any substantive acquisition discussions, directly or indirectly, with any such target.

Star completed its first acquisition on February 15, 2024, in connection with our operating subsidiary in the Israeli defense industry, B. Rimon Agencies Ltd. Rimon is a defense technology company and has been in business since 1992 serving the country of Israel and acting as an exclusive distributor in Israel of tier-1 generators, masts, and lighting solutions, as well as a wide range of defense, homeland security and commercial systems.

Through its structure, Star intends to offer investors an opportunity to participate in the ownership and growth of a portfolio of businesses that will continue to expand, which have traditionally been owned and managed by private equity firms, private individuals or families, financial institutions, or large conglomerates. The Company seeks to acquire controlling interests in small and medium businesses that it believes operate in industries with long-term growth opportunities, which continue to have positive and stable earnings and cash flows, face minimal threats from technological or competitive obsolescence, and have strong management teams largely in place. Star’s mission is to make these businesses its majority-owned subsidiaries and actively manage and grow such businesses. Star expects to improve its business over the long term through organic growth opportunities, add-on acquisitions, and operational improvements.

For the avoidance of doubt, as of the date hereof, Star has not identified any target businesses which it intends to acquire, nor has it made any material or significant steps towards acquiring any such businesses. Further, it does not expect to engage in any such negotiations prior the date of the Special Meeting.

Star’s Corporate History and Structure

Star was incorporated by its founder, Menachem Shalom, on January 17, 2024, as Star 26 Capital Inc., a Nevada corporation. Our founder is the owner of all 9,250,000 shares of its class B common stock which are issued and outstanding. Mr. Shalom’s class B common stock ownership entitles him to 100 votes per share of class B common stock, or 925,000,000 total votes on any matter which its class A common stockholders are entitled to approve as a single class.

Zero One Capital LLC, Star’s Manager, is a New York limited liability company formed by Mr. Shalom on January 19, 2024, as a management services company. Zero One became our manager upon the execution of a management services agreement by and between the same on June 28, 2024. The Manager is also the manager of Rimon, Star’s indirect wholly owned subsidiary operating in the defense industry, pursuant to the offsetting management services agreement dated August 12, 2024, by and between Zero One, Rimon, and the Company as a third-party beneficiary.

Billio Inc., Star’s wholly owned subsidiary, is a Delaware corporation formed by Mr. Shalom on February 12, 2021, to act as an intermediate holding company for Rimon.

Star’s Acquisition of Rimon

On February 15, 2024, Star executed an assignment and assumption agreement with Mr. Shalom, pursuant to which Star, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Billio, acquired all of the issued and outstanding capital stock of Rimon. Under the terms of that agreement, Star agreed to assume all of Mr. Shalom’s rights and obligations toward the sellers of Rimon, as outlined in earlier agreements by and between the same, dated December 22, 2023, and February 15, 2024. Additionally, Star agreed to reimburse Mr. Shalom for his out-of-pocket costs related to the acquisition of Rimon, and for operating loans which he made to Rimon thereafter. To do so, Star issued him a demand grid promissory note with an initial principal of $155,405, which increased to $280,857 by August 28, 2024, with the initial principal being advanced to cover Mr. Shalom’s out-of-pocket costs, and the increase therein related to the advance for operations. The grid note bears interest at 8% per annum and matures 60 days after the earlier of one year from the issuance date or upon the closing of a private placement or public offering of at least $5,000,000.

Star’s Market Opportunity and Growth Strategy

Star believes there is a significant opportunity for organic growth via the acquisition of small and medium size businesses with an enterprise value of less than $200 million (based on the opinion of our management team and advisory board), that may be operating in highly fragmented markets throughout the world, including the U.S. and Israel, which are owned and operated by persons within isolated networks of family offices, entrepreneurs, and intermediaries, each of which with the potential to generate attractive returns for our stockholders and investors. Star’s core operational principles focus on managing our acquired enterprises to ensure recurring cash flow and lasting terminal value, while fostering long-term sustainability in our investments. To do so, Star aims to invest in and/or buy controlling stakes in operating, revenue-generating businesses. Controlling stakes would allow us to lead the companies into operational efficiencies, growth in revenues, improved financial reporting and operational procedures, hire talented employees and managers and increase the overall enterprise value of these companies. Star’s search for future acquisition targets focuses on companies located in the U.S. or Israel, or both, that provide products and or services to large defense and aerospace companies and or governments. Notwithstanding the forgoing, we may target and acquire companies for acquisition that are located outside the U.S. and Israel if such acquisitions fit within our overall acquisition philosophy and strategy.

Star also believe that the economic and market dislocations resulting from the conflict in Israel, as well as other conflicts worldwide, provide an opportunity for companies in the defense industry to see higher-than-average demand for their products and services. Such market conditions, if they persist, would allow us to focus on acquiring profitable businesses in the defense sector, with the opportunity to take advantage of their potential future growth. Within the Israeli defense market in particular, Star expects to see a significant number of businesses struggling to satisfy growing demand for their products and services due to a lack of access to capital and experienced executive level leadership among other factors. Star believes it will be able to provide these needed resources to any Israeli target company that it acquires. It is confident that the expertise of our management team and the relationships that they can bring to an acquisition represent a compelling value proposition for any potential acquisition target looking to add working capital, a pathway to exit, and a solid leadership base, to assist such a company to grow and expand and to be able to take advantage of market opportunities as they arise.

Star’s Acquisition Process and Strategy

Star’s current acquisition strategy involves the acquisition of small and medium size businesses in various industries, with an initial focus on industries associated with the defense sector, including but not limited to industrial machinery and application, manufacturing, transportation, information technology, and aerospace, that we expect will produce positive, stable earnings, and provide attractive returns on our invested capital. As part of its evaluation of whether it will acquire a particular business, it will perform a comprehensive due diligence review to determine the quality and intrinsic value of the targeted company. Star will also seek to identify operational inefficiencies which it would expect to resolve, post-closing, by implementing streamlined processes, optimizing resource allocation, and leveraging innovative solutions with the objective of enhancing overall productivity and effectiveness of such companies. Its due diligence typically includes an analysis of the target Company’s financial statements, detailed document reviews, meetings with current management, consultations with relevant industry experts, competitors, suppliers, and customers, and any other information gathering that we deem appropriate in conducting a comprehensive analysis.

Star believes that the defense sector is poised to experience significant growth in the next few years due to the increasing number of violent conflicts in the world, which may cause an increase in direct demand for defense solutions from conflict participants and their allies. Star also anticipate seeing indirect, additional defense industry growth for, as we have observed, countries not involved in or participating in conflicts tend to increase their defense budgets and spending in anticipation of additional future conflicts in which they may become involved. It is Star’s belief that acquiring companies in the defense sector will help us establish a unique marketing network and build expertise in the greater defense sector, thus enabling us to cross-sell products to our large customers and facilitate higher success rates in our sales efforts.

According to Star’s industry specific market research and analysis, and the network and knowledge of its management team, it is Star’s expectation that attractive opportunities are likely to emerge as private sector owners aim to grow their businesses through scaling or by forming outside partnerships to add value. Star’s value-add proposition involves partnering with exceptional entrepreneurs, acquiring their companies, and guiding them by providing the funding and resources they will need to become global enterprises. Star believes that through this approach Star will be more likely to identify and attract potential and appropriate targets for acquisition. Star also believe that the greatest opportunities for consistent annual returns and residual returns on capital from its acquisitions lie in targeting businesses in niche geographical markets with a competitive edge in the defense, government, and military sectors, especially in the U.S. and Israel. While Star expects its management team will be most effective working with the types of businesses described above, Star will also consider acquiring businesses outside of these industries and sectors as long as any such businesses are congruent with our acquisition strategy.

Pursuant to the acquisition strategy, Star will seek to structure its transactions such that each of the businesses it acquires will become its wholly owned or controlled subsidiary. However, Star may also close acquisitions that result in its ownership of an entity being less than 100%, to meet certain objectives of the target management team or their then-existing stockholders, or for other strategic reasons; provided that Star will always acquire more than 50% of the outstanding voting control of any target, or otherwise obtain a controlling interest in such target.

Star intends to finance acquisitions primarily through the public or private sale of our equity and debt securities. While the success of this financing strategy cannot be guaranteed, the ability to finance future acquisitions through its general capital resources, rather than through acquisition-specific financing, will allow Star to minimize delays and closing conditions, thereby enhancing its ability to acquire attractive businesses. Because the timing and size of future acquisitions cannot be readily predicted, we may need access to funding on short notice to be able to benefit fully from attractive acquisition opportunities.

As part of the acquisition strategy, Star will seek to evaluate each potential target’s management team and operational and financial strengths and weaknesses. It will review and compare identified targets to comparable businesses and conduct in-depth research on each potential target’s industry to enhance our assessment of their financial and operational performance and their growth and success potential. Star will thoroughly negotiate appropriate terms and conditions of any acquisition of a target company that satisfies its acquisition criteria. Some of the future acquisition targets may be financially unstable or in the early stages of development or growth. Even if pre-existing conditions do not negatively impact its decision to acquire a target company, such target may also be subject to numerous other risks inherent in its business and industry, as well as the risks faced by generally by capital markets participants. Although its management team will endeavor to comprehensively evaluate the risks associated with any particular acquisition target, Star cannot assure you that it will properly ascertain, assess, or protect against all significant risk factors.

Valuation and Due Diligence

Star will perform rigorous business operations and financial evaluations of any target businesses (or assets) that it may acquire. During such due diligence, Star intends to evaluate the financial aspects of its acquisition targets using the following metrics:

Star expects its target review process will yield two outcomes, (1) an accurate projection of expected cash flows, and (2) an understanding of the types and levels of risk associated with those projections. While future performance and projections are always uncertain, Star believes that its detailed target company review process will enable us to effectively evaluate the prospects and upside of any given acquisition opportunity. Additionally, to assist Star in identifying material risks and validating key assumptions in our financial and operational analysis, Star will engage third-party experts to review key risk areas, including legal, tax, regulatory, accounting, insurance and environmental. Star may also engage technical, operational or industry consultants, as necessary.

Star also engages in an extensive evaluation of each target’s existing management team, including a focus on recent performance, expertise, experience, culture, and performance incentives. Where necessary, and consistent with our management strategy, following the acquisition of a target company, we will actively seek to augment, supplement, or replace existing members of target company management who we believe are not likely to properly execute our business plan for the target. Star also analyzes and evaluates the operational and financial systems of each target business and, when necessary, post-acquisition, we will actively seek to enhance and improve those existing systems that are deemed to be inadequate or insufficient to support our business plan for the target business.

Financing

Star expects to finance acquisitions primarily through additional equity and debt offerings. Although Star cannot guarantee that it will be successful with this strategy, Star believes that having the ability to finance particular future acquisitions with the general capital resources raised by the company will provide us with an advantage in acquiring attractive businesses by minimizing delay and closing conditions that are often related to acquisition-specific financings. In this respect, Star believes that, in the future, it will need to pursue access to additional capital via debt or equity offerings to successfully fund and execute our business and acquisition strategy.

Competition

In identifying, evaluating, and selecting potential target businesses for its acquisition strategy, Star may encounter intense competition from other entities that have business objectives similar to Star, including blank check companies such as SPACs, leveraged buyout funds, operating businesses seeking strategic acquisitions, and private equity groups. Many of these entities are well-established and well-financed and may have greater experience identifying and effecting acquisitions directly or indirectly. These competitors may possess greater financial, technical, human, and other resources than we do. Star’s ability to acquire larger target businesses in our target sectors will be limited by its available financial resources. Star’s inherent financial limitations may provide others with an advantage to pursue the acquisition of one or more of its identified target businesses. Any of these factors may place Star at a competitive disadvantage in successfully negotiating acquisitions.

Competitive Advantages

Star believes that its Manager’s collective investment experience and approach to executing its investment strategy will enable it to have several competitive advantages. Star’s competitive strengths that differentiate Star from other acquisition holding companies include:

Human Capital

Star has one full-time employee. As indicated below, Star’s operating subsidiary Rimon employs 14 people: three technicians, two engineers, two assembly workers, three sales employees, one customer support employee, one financial bookkeeper, and two management employees. None of our employees or any of our subsidiary’s employees are represented by labor unions, and we believe that we have an excellent relationship with such employees.

Sales and Marketing

Star markets its generators, masts, lightning and utility vehicles through our websites and by working with our internal sales team that offers relevant off-the-shelf or tailor-made solutions based on specific client needs and requests. In the future, Star intends to utilize numerous avenues to promote its business, including digital marketing across social media channels, Web3 reservation systems, and various modes of advertisements.

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, Star and its subsidiaries may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings which arise in the ordinary course of business. However, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may harm our business. We are not currently aware of any such legal proceedings or claims that we believe will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.

Government Regulation

The following is a list of government regulations which may apply to Star now or in the future as it continues to carry out its business:

B. Rimon Agencies Ltd., Star’s Israeli Defense Business

Star’s defense military technology business is operated by B. Rimon Agencies Ltd., an Israeli limited liability company and our indirect, wholly owned operating subsidiary that it acquired on February 15, 2024.

Through Rimon, Star operates in two primary lines of business:(i) the purchase and sale of generators, masts, and lightning products and solutions, which it acquires through exclusive distributorship agreements with key third-party suppliers. Most of these products are sold to defense, security, and military clients in Israel, including Refeal, the manufacturer of anti-rocket systems like Iron Dome, Israel Aviation Industries and Elbit Systems, two major Israeli defense companies with global reach, the Israeli Ministry of Defense, the Israeli Police, and other security-related entities; and (ii) the engineering, design, production, integration, and maintenance of special tactical vehicles and trailers, including reconnaissance vehicles, mobile command and control vehicles, firefighting trailers, energy and lighting trailers, mobile bank branches, and satellite broadcast mobility platforms which are primarily sold to special defense forces, intelligence agencies, the Israeli Defense Forces, municipalities, and other governmental and security-focused clients.

The Defense Industry

The primary geographic market focus as of the date hereof is Israel where the majority of its customers are located and operate. Star believes that Israel is a heavyweight in the global defense market, primarily due to its advanced military industries, with the country specifically accounting for 2.3% of global military exports (Observer Research Foundation, the strategic and military-technological significance of Israel). Israel was the 10^th largest defense exporter from 2018 to 2022, with the U.S. and United Kingdom being among those customers that implemented Israeli defense systems such as the ‘Trophy’ Active Protection system, which creates a neutralization bubble around military vehicles and rapidly detects, classifies and engages all known chemical energy (CE) threats including recoilless rifles, ATGMs, AT rockets, HEAT tank rounds, and RPGs. Israel has a strong missile defense system and is one of few countries with successful experience in a multi-tiered missile defense system. There have also been multiple sales between Israel and national providers of defense technologies. For example, the U.S. approved the sale of David’s Sling, a complete air defense system designed to defeat the full spectrum of long range air and missile threats, by Israel and the private company Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., manufacturer of the David’s sling system, to Finland on August 2, 2023, a project that was valued at more than 300 million euros, marking a key development in Israel’s medium-tier missile defense offerings.

Further, the market size for the defense industry was approximately $76.1 billion in the U.S. in 2022 and is estimated to grow to $184.7 billion by 2027. Further, it is estimated that the compound annual growth rate for the defense technology market will be approximately 15.9% from 2022 to 2027 (PitchBook, Emerging Tech Research). It has also been estimated that approximately $135.3 billion was invested in the defense industry from 2016 to 2022. While we do not currently have any United States operations or customers, and do not have any current plans to enter the United States defense industry, we may and intend to do so in the future via directed sales and marketing efforts, or via the acquisition of complimentary United States defense industry businesses.

Digital RFQ

Through our Digital RFQ subsidiary, we currently aim to provide cross-border payment and transactions solutions to institutional investors, and offer blockchain-enabled financial services solutions to institutional investors in a secure, compliant and globally accessible manner. The blockchain-enabled payment gateway we have developed has the capability to deliver global cross-border transfers of fiat currencies using blockchain rails. Digital RFQ currently offers payment and settlement services, including those utilizing blockchain networks, but does not provide custody or wallet services with respect to digital assets, and does not hold digital assets, reducing the risks and regulatory burden on its business. In future, Digital RFQ plans to offer a white-labelled digital bank with end-to-end digital banking solutions for international business. We are uncertain as to when we will be able to offer these products and intend to evaluate potential strategic opportunities for DigiClear which may include the sale of the assets or a joint venture, of which there is no guarantee. Our competitors in this product category are banks and other financial institutions, and we intend to compete by offering faster and more reliable products using more advanced technology. Products and services offered by Digital RFQ are distributed through our website.

Digital RFQ is regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and is in good standing and is and has been in the past in material compliance with the applicable laws, rules and regulations promulgated thereby. Digital RFQ is subject to Anti Money Laundering (“AML”) and Counter Terrorist Finance (“CTF”) regulations consistent with our authorization by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Directive Agent, among others. For a discussion of the various laws and regulations Digital RFQ is subject.

The “blockchain technology” used by Digital RFQ in its payment processing business includes only advanced-stage and fully tested, well-established and fully collateralized stablecoins operated on the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron networks. However, in future, we will be free to use other blockchain networks if we determine that they offer more sophisticated or secure technology. Based on our risk assessments, we determine the appropriate network to use for a particular transaction or customer. We do not use stablecoins of an algorithmic nature, and in the event that we determine any particular stablecoin presents a threat or risk to the security of our business, customers or the transactions we process, we promptly move to another stablecoin network. We do not accept payment in digital assets and do not hold digital assets for investment or offer digital wallet services. For a description of the risks associated with the use of blockchain technology in financial services generally, and payment processing specifically.

DigiClear

Through DigiClear, we plan to develop technology that offers a custody and settlement utility operating system aiming to deliver value and a high-functioning automated post-trade solution. DigiClear aims to provide clients with the means to transfer underlying assets to alternative custodians at any time. We intend for DigiClear to use hardware security modules to offer technology that can secure client assets to block any unwanted modification of client settlement instructions or transfers. We expect that the transfer process that DigiClear’s technology will offer will be fully automated, monitored and can be processed within milliseconds. We are uncertain as to when we will be able to offer these products and intend to evaluate potential strategic opportunities for DigiClear which may include the sale of the assets or a joint venture, of which there is no guarantee. Our competitors in this product category are banks and other financial institutions and smaller financial technology companies, and we intend to compete by offering faster and more reliable products using more advanced technology. Assuming we are offering DigiClear products and services once commercially developed these will be distributed through our website.

GSA Agreements

On May 24, 2016, Nukkleus Limited entered into a General Service Agreement to provide its software, technology, customer sales and marketing and risk management technology hardware and software solutions package to FML Malta Ltd. In December 2017, Nukkleus Limited, FML Malta Ltd. and TCM entered into a letter agreement providing that there was an error in drafting the General Service Agreement and acknowledging that the correct counter-party to Nukkleus Limited in the General Service Agreement is TCM. Accordingly, all references to FML Malta Ltd. have been replaced with TCM. TCM is a private limited liability company formed under the laws of Malta. The General Service Agreement entered with TCM provides that TCM will pay Nukkleus Limited at minimum $2,000,000 per month. On October 17, 2017, Nukkleus Limited entered into an amendment of the General Service Agreement with TCM. In accordance with the amendment, which was effective as of October 1, 2017, the minimum amount payable by TCM to Nukkleus Limited for services was reduced from $2,000,000 per month to $1,600,000 per month. Emil Assentato is also the majority member of Max Q Investments LLC (“Max Q”), which is managed by Derivative Marketing Associates Inc. (“DMA”). Mr. Assentato is the sole owner and manager of DMA. Max Q owns 79% of Currency Mountain Malta LLC, which in turn is the sole shareholder of TCM.

In addition, on May 24, 2016, in order to appropriately service TCM, Nukkleus Limited entered into a General Service Agreement with FXDIRECT, which provides that Nukkleus Limited will pay FXDIRECT a minimum of $1,975,000 per month in consideration of providing personnel engaged in operational and technical support, marketing, sales support, accounting, risk monitoring, documentation processing and customer care and support. FXDIRECT may terminate this agreement upon providing 90 days’ written notice. On October 17, 2017, Nukkleus Limited entered into an amendment of the General Service Agreement with FXDIRECT. Pursuant to the amendment, which was effective as of October 1, 2017, the minimum amount payable by Nukkleus Limited to FXDIRECT for services was reduced from $1,975,000 per month to $1,575,000 per month. Currency Mountain Holdings LLC is the sole shareholder of FXDIRECT. Max Q is the majority shareholder of Currency Mountain Holdings LLC. Due to non-payment by TCM under the GSA, the Company has advised TCM that the GSA has been terminated. The Company has historically generated substantially most of its revenue through the services rendered under the GSA.

Due to non-payment by TCM under the GSA, the Company has advised TCM that the GSA has been terminated. The Company has historically generated substantially most of its revenue through the services rendered under the GSA. On September 30, 2024, the Company, TCM and FXDirectDealer LLC (“FXDD”) entered into a Release Agreement pursuant to which the parties confirmed that the GSA between the Company and TCM and the General Services Agreement dated May 24, 2016, as amended (“FXDD GSA”) between the Company and FDDD were terminated effective January 1, 2024. The parties further confirmed that there are no obligations or liabilities outstanding or owed between the parties as of September 30, 2024 and each party released and forever discharged the other party from any and all claims, demands, damages, actions, causes of action, or suits of any kind or nature whatsoever, both known and unknown, which have arisen or may arise from the GSA or the FXDD GSA.

The foregoing descriptions of the terms and conditions of the General Services Agreement with FML Malta Ltd, the amendment to such General Services Agreement, and the General Services Agreement with FXDIRECT are not complete and are qualified in their entirety by the full text of the applicable agreement, which are filed herewith as Exhibit and incorporated herein by reference.

In addition to the revenues from our General Services Agreement with TCM, Nukkleus received revenue from financial services through Digital RFQ.

Corporate Office

Nukkleus’s principal executive office is 575 Fifth Ave, 14th Floor, New York, New York 10017. Our main telephone number is 212-791-4663.

Employees

We have the equivalent to approximately 12 employees, of which 11 employees work for Digital RFQ and one employee works for Nukkleus.

Item 1A. Risk Factors.

Risks Related to Nukkleus’s Business

Failure to complete the acquisition of Star may result in paying a termination fee to Star and could harm our common stock price and future business and operations.

If the acquisition of Star is not completed, we are subject to the following risks:

If the Star Agreement is terminated and the board of directors of the Company determines to seek another business combination, there can be no assurance that we will be able to find another third party to transact a business combination with, yielding comparable or greater benefits.

If the conditions to the Star Agreement are not satisfied or waived, the acquisition may not occur.

Even if the Star acquisition is approved by the stockholders of the Company, specified conditions must be satisfied or, to the extent permitted by applicable law, waived to complete the acquisition. These conditions are set forth in the Star Agreement. We cannot assure you that all of the conditions to the consummation of the acquisition will be satisfied or waived. If the conditions are not satisfied or waived, the acquisition may not occur or the closing may be delayed.

We have a limited operating history in an evolving and highly volatile industry, which makes it difficult to evaluate our future prospects and may increase the risk that we will not be successful.

Nukkleus, the wholly owned operating subsidiary, was formed in 2013 and since then our business model has continued to evolve. In 2021, we acquired a controlling interest in Match. In 2019, our Digital RFQ indirect subsidiary, and wholly owned subsidiary of Match, began to operate a payment processing business partly using blockchain technology. The comparability of our results in prior quarterly or annual periods should not be viewed as an indication of future performance. The “blockchain technology” used by Digital RFQ in its payment processing business and referred to throughout this annual report is intended to refer to stablecoins operated on the Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tron networks, or such other blockchain networks as Digital RFQ may determine to be reliable and well established in the financial services industry, at an advanced stage and fully tested and collaterialized based on certain criteria summarized below. The blockchain networks used by Digital RFQ in its payment processing business are maintained and operated by third parties.

Because Digital RFQ makes use of blockchain technology only to process payments and does not hold digital assets, the criteria for the adoption and use of any blockchain network may differ from those of investors in stablecoins. Digital RFQ evaluates each blockchain and/or stablecoin on a daily and transaction-by-transaction basis, to minimize any risk associated with the blockchain or stablecoin and to ensure that Digital RFQ can reliably complete the transaction in and out of the stablecoin quickly to minimize such risk. Digital RFQ determines that a blockchain or stablecoin is suitable for use in its payment processing services by assessing the following criteria:

To determine whether any blockchain technology meets Digital RFQ’s requirements and is a suitable candidate for use in Digital RFQ’s payment processing business, we assess the following criteria. We monitor these criteria for each blockchain or stablecoin we use regularly on an ongoing basis:

However, because Digital RFQ makes use of blockchain technology only to process payments, and does not hold digital assets, we are able to constantly monitor the status of any blockchain network or stablecoin before, during and after a payment is processed, and determine which of the available blockchain networks is suitable for a particular transaction. We therefore do not believe we are exposed to material risks associated with holding stablecoins or other digital assets. Furthermore, we do not use stablecoins of an algorithmic nature, and in the event that we determine any particular stablecoin presents a threat or risk to the security of our business, customers or the transactions we process, we promptly move to another stablecoin network. We do not accept payment in digital assets and do not hold digital assets for investment or offer digital wallet services.

Because we have a limited history operating our business at its current scale and scope, it is difficult to evaluate our current business and future prospects, including our ability to plan for and model future growth. For example, recently launched services require substantial resources and there is no guarantee that such expenditures will result in profit or growth of our business. The rapidly evolving nature of the market in which we operate, substantial uncertainty concerning how these markets may develop, and other economic factors beyond our control, reduces our ability to accurately forecast quarterly or annual revenue. Failure to manage our current and future growth effectively could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

If we do not effectively manage our growth and the associated demands on our operational, risk management, sales and marketing, technology, compliance and finance and accounting resources, our business may be adversely impacted.

In our recent acquisitions, including our acquisition of Match and our proposed acqisition of Star, our business has become increasingly complex by expanding the services we offer to include financial services and payment processing services. To effectively manage and capitalize on our growth, we must continue to expand our information technology and financial, operating, and administrative systems and controls, and continue to manage headcount, capital, and processes efficiently. Our continued growth could strain our existing resources, and we could experience ongoing operating difficulties in managing our business as it expands across numerous jurisdictions, including difficulties in hiring, training, and managing an employee base. Failure to scale and preserve our company culture with growth could harm our future success, including our ability to retain and recruit personnel and to effectively focus on and pursue our corporate objectives. If we do not adapt to meet these evolving challenges, or if our management team does not effectively scale with our growth, we may experience erosion to our brand, the quality of our products and services may suffer, and our company culture may be harmed. Moreover, the failure of our systems and processes could undermine our ability to provide accurate, timely, and reliable reports on our financial and operating results, including the financial statements provided herein, and could impact the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. In addition, our systems and processes may not prevent or detect all errors, omissions, or fraud, though we have experienced no such material errors, omissions or fraud in the past. For example, our employees may fail to identify transaction errors or fraudulent information provided by our customers. Any of the foregoing operational failures could lead to noncompliance with laws, loss of operating licenses or other authorizations, or loss of bank relationships that could substantially impair or even suspend company operations.

We intend to continue to develop our technology, in particular our blockchain-enabled payment processing offering. Successful implementation of this strategy may require significant expenditures before any substantial associated revenue is generated and we cannot guarantee that these increased investments will result in corresponding and offsetting revenue growth. Our growth may not be sustainable and depends on our ability to retain existing customers, attract new customers, expand product offerings, and increase processed volumes and revenue from both new and existing customers.

The future growth of our business depends on its ability to retain existing customers, attract new customers as well as getting existing customers and new customers to increase the volumes processed through our payments platform and therefore grow revenue. Our customers are not subject to any minimum volume commitments and they have no obligation to continue to use our services, and we cannot be sure that customers will continue to use our services or that we will be able to continue to attract new volumes at the same rate as we have in the past.

A customer’s use of our services may decrease for a variety of reasons, including the customer’s level of satisfaction with our products and services, the expansion of business to offer new products and services, the effectiveness of our support services, the pricing of our products and services, the pricing, range and quality of competing products or services, the effects of global economic conditions, regulatory or financial institution limitations, trust, perception and interest in foreign exchange and payment processing services and in our products and services, or reductions in the customer’s payment and transfer activity. Furthermore, the complexity and costs associated with switching to a competitor may not be significant enough to prevent a customer from switching service providers, especially for larger customers who commonly engage more than one payment service provider at any one time.

Any failure by us to retain existing customers, attract new customers, and increase revenue from both new and existing customers could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. These efforts may require substantial financial expenditures, commitments of resources, developments of our processes, and other investments and innovations.

We face intense and increasing competition and, if we do not compete effectively, our competitive positioning and our operating results will be harmed.

We operate in a rapidly changing and highly competitive industry, and our results of operations and future prospects depend on, among other things:

Despite the regulatory barriers to enter the markets we serve, we expect our competition to continue to increase. In addition to established enterprises, we may also face competition from early-stage companies attempting to capitalize on the same, or similar, opportunities as we are. Some of our current and potential competitors have longer operating histories, particularly with respect to our digital financial services products, significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources, and a larger customer base than we do. This allows them, among others, to potentially offer more competitive pricing or other terms or features, a broader range of digital financial products, or a more specialized set of specific products or services, as well as respond more quickly than we can to new or emerging technologies and changes in customer preferences.

Our existing or future competitors may develop products or services that are similar to our products and services or that achieve greater market acceptance than our products and services. This could attract new customers away from our services and reduce our market share in the future. Additionally, when new competitors seek to enter our markets, or when existing market participants seek to increase their market share, these competitors sometimes undercut, or otherwise exert pressure on, the pricing terms prevalent in that market, which could adversely affect our market share and/or ability to capitalize on new market opportunities.

We currently compete at multiple levels with a variety of competitors, including:

Because we do not currently control a bank or a bank holding company, we may be subject to regulation by a variety of state, federal and international regulators across our products and services and we rely on third-party banks to provide payment-processing services to our customers. This regulation by federal, state and international authorities increases our compliance costs, as we navigate multiple regimes with different examination schedules and processes and varying disclosure requirements.

We believe that our ability to compete depends upon many factors, both within and beyond our control, including the following:

Our current and future business prospects demand that we act to meet these competitive challenges but, in doing so, our revenue and results of operations could be adversely affected if we, for example, increase marketing expenditures or make other expenditures. All of the foregoing factors and events could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows and future prospects.

Cyberattacks and security breaches of our systems, or those impacting our customers or third parties, could adversely impact our brand and reputation and our business, operating results and financial condition.

Our business involves the collection, storage, processing and transmission of confidential information, customer, employee, service provider and other personal data, as well as information required to access customer assets. We have built our reputation on the premise that our products and services offer customers a secure way to accept and make payments and store value. As a result, any actual or perceived security breach of us or our third-party partners may:

Further, any actual or perceived breach or cybersecurity attack directed at other financial institutions or blockchain companies, whether or not we are directly impacted, could lead to a general loss of customer confidence in the use of technology to conduct financial transactions, which could negatively impact us including the market perception of the effectiveness of our security measures and technology infrastructure.

An increasing number of organizations, including large businesses, technology companies and financial institutions, as well as government institutions, have disclosed breaches of their information security systems, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks, including on their websites, mobile applications, and infrastructure. Attacks upon systems across a variety of industries, including the payment processing, forex and CFD industry, are increasing in their frequency, persistence, and sophistication, and, in many cases, are being conducted by sophisticated, well-funded, and organized groups and individuals, including state actors. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized, improper, or illegal access to systems and information (including customers’ personal data and digital assets), disable or degrade services, or sabotage systems are constantly evolving, may be difficult to detect quickly, and often are not recognized or detected until after they have been launched against a target. These attacks may occur on our systems or those of our third-party service providers or partners. Certain types of cyberattacks could harm us even if our systems are left undisturbed. For example, attacks may be designed to deceive employees and service providers into releasing control of our systems to a hacker, while others may aim to introduce computer viruses or malware into our systems with a view to stealing confidential or proprietary data. Additionally, certain threats are designed to remain dormant or undetectable until launched against a target and we may not be able to implement adequate preventative measures.

Although we do not have a past history of material security breaches or cyberattacks, and do not believe we are a target of such breaches or attacks, we have developed systems and processes designed to protect the data we manage, prevent data loss and other security breaches, effectively respond to known and potential risks. We expect to continue to expend significant resources to bolster these protections, but there can be no assurance that these security measures will provide absolute security or prevent breaches or attacks. Threats can come from a variety of sources, including criminal hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored intrusions, industrial espionage, and insiders. Certain threat actors may be supported by significant financial and technological resources, making them even more sophisticated and difficult to detect. As a result, our costs and the resources we devote to protecting against these advanced threats and their consequences may increase over time.

Although we maintain insurance coverage that we believe is adequate for our business, it may be insufficient to protect us against all losses and costs stemming from security breaches, cyberattacks, and other types of unlawful activity, or any resulting disruptions from such events. Outages and disruptions of our systems, including any caused by cyberattacks, may harm our reputation and our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Any significant disruption in our technology could adversely impact our brand and reputation and our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Our reputation and ability to grow our business depends on our ability to operate our service at high levels of reliability, scalability, and performance, including the ability to process and monitor, on a daily basis, a large number of transactions that occur at high volume and frequencies across multiple systems. The proper functioning of our products and services, the ability of our customers to make and receive payments, and our ability to operate at a high level, are dependent on our ability to access the blockchain networks underlying our Platforms and other supported blockchain-based products and technology, for which access is dependent on our systems’ ability to access the internet. Further, the successful and continued operations of such blockchain networks will depend on a network of computers, miners, or validators, and their continued operations, all of which may be impacted by service interruptions.

Our systems, the systems of our third-party service providers and partners, and certain blockchain networks, have experienced from time to time and may experience in the future service interruptions or degradation because of hardware and software defects or malfunctions, distributed denial-of-service and other cyberattacks, insider threats, break-ins, sabotage, human error, vandalism, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, fires, and other natural disasters, power losses, disruptions in telecommunications services, fraud, military or political conflicts, terrorist attacks, computer viruses or other malware, or other events. In addition, extraordinary site usage could cause our computer systems to operate at an unacceptably slow speed or even fail. Some of our systems, including systems of companies we have acquired, or the systems of our third-party service providers and partners are not fully redundant, and our or their disaster recovery planning may not be sufficient for all possible outcomes or events.

If any of our systems, or those of our third-party service providers, are disrupted for any reason, our products and services may fail, resulting in unanticipated disruptions, slower response times and delays in our services, including our customers’ payments through our Platforms. This could lead to failed or unauthorized payments, incomplete or inaccurate accounting, loss of customer information, increased demand on limited customer support resources, customer claims, and complaints with regulatory organizations, lawsuits, or enforcement actions.

A prolonged interruption in the availability or reduction in the availability, speed, or functionality of our products and services could harm our business. Frequent or persistent interruptions in our services could cause current or potential customers or partners to believe that our systems are unreliable, leading them to switch to our competitors or to avoid or reduce the use of our products and services, and could permanently harm our reputation and brands.

Moreover, to the extent that any system failure or similar event results in damages to our customers or their business partners, these customers or partners could seek significant compensation or contractual penalties from us for their losses, and those claims, even if unsuccessful, are likely to be time-consuming and costly for us to address. Problems with the reliability or security of our systems would harm our reputation, and damage to our reputation and the cost of remedying these problems could negatively affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

In addition, we are continually improving and upgrading our information systems and technologies. Implementation of new systems and technologies is complex, expensive, time-consuming, and may not be successful. If we fail to timely and successfully implement new information systems and technologies, or improvements or upgrades to existing information systems and technologies, or if such systems and technologies do not operate as intended, it could have an adverse impact on our business, internal controls (including internal controls over financial reporting), operating results, and financial condition.

Because we are subject to regulation in certain jurisdictions, frequent or persistent interruptions could also lead to regulatory scrutiny, significant fines and penalties, and mandatory and costly changes to our business practices, and ultimately could cause us to lose existing licenses or banking relationships that we need to operate, or prevent or delay us from obtaining additional licenses that may be required for our business.

We rely on third parties in critical aspects of our business, which creates additional risk. Our ability to offer our services depends on relationships with other financial services institutions and entities, and our inability to maintain existing relationships or to enter into new such relationships could impact our ability to offer services to customers.

We depend on various third-party partners and payment systems. More specifically, our offering of payments and transfer services depends on our ability to offer blockchain transaction processing, Automated Clearing House network (“ACH”) transaction processing, wire transfer and other payment processing services to our customers.

In order to provide such transaction processing services, we have established relationships with financial institutions whereby such financial institutions provide us with access into the relevant payment networks (e.g., the card networks and the ACH). Our ability to offer our core services depends on our ability to maintain existing relationships with financial institutions and to seek out and obtain new such relationships.

Also, critical aspects of our technology rely on third-party technologies, including blockchain networks. Our regulatory status, the status of our Platforms and of blockchain technologies more generally, may be an impediment to our ability to receive or obtain services from financial institutions. Should our partners cease providing access to such technologies and networks, we would be at risk of being unable to provide the payment processing services that are core to our customer offering.

Third parties upon which we rely to process transactions may refuse to process transactions adequately, may breach their agreements with us, refuse to renew agreements on commercially reasonable terms, take actions that degrade the functionality of our services, impose additional costs or requirements on us, or give preferential treatment to competitive services or suffer outages in their systems, any of which could disrupt our operations and materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Some third parties that provide services to us may have or gain market power and be able to increase their prices to us without competitive constraint. In addition, there can be no assurance that third parties that provide services directly to us will continue to do so on acceptable terms, or at all, or will not suffer from outages to their systems. If any third parties were to stop providing services to us on acceptable terms, we may be unable to procure alternatives from other third parties in a timely and efficient manner and on acceptable terms, or at all, which may materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to credit risks in respect of counterparties, including financial institutions.

We are and will continue to be subject to the risk of actual or perceived deterioration of the commercial and financial soundness, or perceived soundness, of other financial institutions, in particular in relation to receivables from financial institutions regarding settled payment transactions, and cash and cash-equivalents held at financial institutions. One institution defaulting, failing a stress test or requiring mail-in by its shareholders and/or creditors and/or bail-out by a government could lead to significant liquidity problems and losses or defaults by other institutions. Even the perceived lack of creditworthiness of, or questions about, a counterparty or major financial institution may lead to market-wide liquidity problems and losses or defaults by financial institutions on which we have an exposure. This risk resulting from the interdependence on financial institutions is sometimes referred to as “systemic risk” and may adversely affect financial intermediaries, such as industry payment systems and banks, with whom we interact on a daily basis. Systemic risk, particularly within the United States, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to raise new funding and on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Our banking relationships for transaction processing are concentrated in a small number of partners.

We use a small number of banks and financial institutions as banking services providers. Should our relationships with such banks and financial institutions deteriorate, we may be limited in our ability to offer the payment processing services that are core to our offerings. While we have multiple such banking partners and are working to diversify these relationships further, we do not have written agreements with such banks and financial institutions and there remains some risk that, in the short term, our ability to provide payment processing services may be affected by any interruption in the banking services we receive. As such, should our relationships with our existing banking and financial institution partners deteriorate or if such banks and financial institutions make a decision to discontinue the services they provide us, we could lose our ability to process payments, financial transfers and other transactions. In such an event, the value of our services would be negatively impacted and our institutional investor clients could be forced to process smaller transaction volume with us or to cease transaction processing through us entirely.

Certain large customers provide a significant share of our revenue and the termination of such agreements or reduction in business with such customers could harm our business. If we lose or are unable to renew these and other marketplace and enterprise client contracts at favorable terms, our results of operations and financial condition may be adversely affected.

The largest customer of our FX operations which is no longer operating, TCM, provided significant contribution to our revenue. For the year ended September 30, 2024, our largest customer, TCM, represented 81.1% of our revenue. The agreement with TCM has been terminated which could potentially have an adverse affect on our operations.

Our products and services may be exploited to facilitate illegal activity such as fraud, money laundering, gambling, tax evasion, and scams. If any of our customers use our products or services to further such illegal activities, we could be subject to liability and our business could be adversely affected. Our efforts to detect and monitor such transactions for compliance with law may require significant costs, and our failure to effectively deal with bad, fraudulent or fictitious transactions and material internal or external fraud could negatively impact our business.

We may in the future be subject to liability for illegal transactions, including fraudulent payments initiated by our customers, money laundering, gambling, tax evasion, and scams. Examples of fraud include when a party knowingly uses stolen or otherwise illicitly acquired access information to a transaction. In addition, we are subject to the risk that our employees, counterparties or third-party service providers commit fraudulent activity against us or our customers.

Criminals are using increasingly sophisticated methods to engage in illegal activities such as counterfeiting, account takeover and fraud. It is possible that incidents of fraud could increase in the future. The use of our products or services for illegal or improper purposes could subject us to claims, individual and class action lawsuits, and government and regulatory investigations, prosecutions, enforcement actions, inquiries, or requests that could result in liability and reputational harm for us. In addition, our efforts to detect and monitor such transactions for compliance with law may require significant costs.

Moreover, certain activities that may be legal in one jurisdiction may be illegal in another jurisdiction, and certain activities that are at one time legal may in the future be deemed illegal in the same jurisdiction. As a result, there is significant uncertainty and cost associated with detecting and monitoring transactions for compliance with local laws. In the event that a customer is found responsible for intentionally or inadvertently violating the laws in any jurisdiction, we may be subject to governmental inquiries, enforcement actions, prosecuted, or otherwise held secondarily liable for aiding or facilitating such activities. Changes in law have also increased the penalties for money transmitters, e-money issuers, broker-dealers and alternative trading systems for certain illegal activities, and government authorities may consider increased or additional penalties from time to time. Owners of intellectual property rights or government authorities may seek to bring legal action against us for involvement in the sale of infringing or allegedly infringing items. Any threatened or resulting claims could result in reputational harm, and any resulting liabilities, loss of transaction volume, or increased costs could harm our business.

Moreover, while fiat currencies can be used to facilitate illegal activities, blockchain technologies, such those used in our Platforms are relatively new and, in many jurisdictions, may be lightly regulated or largely unregulated. Many blockchains have characteristics such as the speed with which digital asset transactions can be conducted, the ability to conduct transactions without the involvement of regulated intermediaries, the ability to engage in transactions across multiple jurisdictions, the irreversible nature of certain blockchain transactions, and encryption technology that anonymizes these transactions, which may make blockchain technology susceptible to use in illegal activity.

U.S. federal and state and foreign regulatory authorities and law enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Justice, the SEC, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, The Federal Trade Commission, the IRS and various state securities and financial regulators investigate, issue subpoenas and civil investigative demands, and take legal action against persons and entities alleged to be engaged in fraudulent schemes or other illicit activity involving blockchain technologies.

While we believe that our risk management and compliance framework is designed to detect significant illicit activities conducted by our potential or existing customers, we cannot ensure that we will be able to detect all illegal activity on our systems. If any of our customers use our products and services to further such illegal activities, our business could be adversely affected. We have not detected any material illicit activities in the past.

Our risk management and compliance framework is key to our operations and is designed to address Anti Money Laundering (“AML”) and Counter Terrorist Finance (“CTF”) considerations consistent with our authorization by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Directive Agent, among others. The key elements of the regulatory framework that impact us include, but are not limited to, the following U.K. legislation:

The primary objectives in establishing our AML/CTF policy are to:

DigitalRFQ’s risk-based approach to AML/CTF is driven by the clients risk rating. DigitalRFQ operates a three-tiered classification of a potential client relationship:

Standard customer due diligence is conducted on the majority of customers, who present a normal level of risk. Where enough low risk factors from the customer are identified, Digital RFQ employs simplified due diligence, which is a light touch approach involving less stringent checks. Conversely, if high risk factors are identified, then the firm employs enhanced due diligence, which involves a thorough ‘deep dive’ review of the customer. These customers, if approved, are then subject to ongoing monitoring.

Simplified due diligence is for customers who present a very low risk:

Enhanced due diligence is followed in all circumstances where a customer is identified as high-risk, and this involves seven specific tasks:

Digital RFQ performs a customer risk assessment to determine whether a specific customer is high, medium or low risk and will take into consideration the customer type, their geographic location and the product or service being provided. When assessing the risk, Digital RFQ considers the following risk factors:

Digital RFQ undertakes ongoing monitoring regardless of the customer risk level and whether the onboarding process involved simple, standard or enhanced due diligence. This is carried out using a risk-based approach that focuses on reviewing customer data and monitoring transactions:

The client risk rating reflects DRFQ’s assessment of the money laundering and terrorist financing risk the client poses and is determined by a combination of factors including:

The above factors have a cumulative effect on risk rating; multiple adverse factors will increase the risk rating of the client and must be referred to compliance for assessment. The client risk rating drives the frequency of periodic reviews. All due diligence is completed inline with our AML policy and procedures and is documented and stored for five years.

Digital RFQ performs an annual risk assessment covering the following risk categories:

Digital RFQ follows internal controls that are proportionate to its businesses size and nature and consist of a number of controls including senior management oversight, training and record keeping.

Our compliance and risk management methods might not be effective and may result in outcomes that could adversely affect our reputation, operating results, and financial condition. We rely on third parties for some of our KYC and other compliance obligations.

Our ability to comply with applicable complex and evolving laws, regulations, and rules is largely dependent on the establishment and maintenance of our compliance, audit, and reporting systems, as well as our ability to attract and retain qualified compliance and other risk management personnel. While we have devoted significant resources to develop policies and procedures to identify, monitor, and manage our risks, and expect to continue to do so in the future, we cannot assure that our policies and procedures will always be effective or that we will always be successful in monitoring or evaluating the risks to which we are or may be exposed in all market environments or against all types of risks, including unidentified or unanticipated risks. Our risk management policies and procedures rely on a combination of technical and human controls and supervision that are subject to error and failure.

Some of our methods for managing risk are discretionary by nature and are based on internally developed controls, observed historical market behavior, and standard industry practices. These methods may not adequately prevent losses, particularly as they relate to extreme market movements which may be significantly greater than historical fluctuations in the market. Our risk management policies and procedures also may not adequately prevent losses due to technical errors if our testing and quality control practices are not effective in preventing failures. In addition, we may elect to adjust our risk management policies and procedures to allow for an increased risk tolerance, which could expose us to the risk of greater losses.

Regulators periodically review our compliance with our own policies and procedures and with a variety of laws and regulations. Though we believe we have robust risk management and compliance procedures, and have received no findings from any applicable regulator of any violations of applicable laws and regulations, if we fail to comply with these in future, or do not adequately remediate certain findings, regulators could take a variety of actions that could impair our ability to conduct our business, including delaying, denying, withdrawing, or conditioning approval of our licenses, or certain products and services. In addition, regulators have broad enforcement powers to censure, fine, issue cease-and-desist orders or prohibit us from engaging in some of our business activities. In the case of non-compliance or alleged non-compliance, we could be subject to investigations and proceedings that may result in substantial penalties or civil lawsuits, including by customers, for damages, which can be significant. Any of these outcomes would adversely affect our reputation and brand and our business, operating results, and financial condition. Some of these outcomes could adversely affect our ability to conduct our business.

Furthermore, we rely on third parties for some of our KYC and other compliance obligations. If these third parties fail to effectively provide these services, we may be subject to adverse consequences as described above.

We rely on connectivity with blockchain networks for our Platforms.

Our connectivity with existing blockchain networks, including the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron and other stablecoin networks, will enable our customers to derive the benefit such networks may provide them in facilitating our payment processing services. Providing such connectivity presents a risk that we may, under derivative theories of liability, be held responsible for the bad acts, failures or violations of law of the blockchain networks.

Although we seek to minimize risks associated with any one blockchain network by electing which network to use for a given transaction and by determining which network is appropriate for such transaction, based on our assessment of whether such blockchain technology is at an advanced-stage, is fully tested, well-established and fully collateralized, we may be exposed to risks that affect blockchain networks generally, or we may not be aware of or be able to identify risks associated with any individual network (for a summary of Digital RFQ’s considerations in assessing which blockchain networks to use in its payment processing business. Each blockchain network has only been in existence for a limited number of years, and digital assets markets have a limited performance record, making them part of a new and rapidly evolving industry that is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. For example, the following are some of the risks could materially adversely affect Digital RFQ’s financial performance and results of operations:

If we fail to develop, maintain, and enhance our brand and reputation, our business, operating results, and financial condition may be adversely affected. Moreover, unfavorable media coverage could negatively affect our business.

We receive a high degree of media coverage. Unfavorable publicity regarding, for example, our product changes, product quality, litigation or regulatory activity, privacy practices, terms of service, employment matters, the use of our products, services, or supported blockchain technologies for illicit or objectionable ends, the actions of our customers, or the actions of other companies that provide similar services to ours, has in the past, and could in the future, adversely affect our reputation.

In addition, actions by, or unfavorable publicity about, Menachem Shalom, a director and Chief Executive Officer, or other officers and managers of Nukkleus and its subsidiaries may adversely impact our brand and reputation. Such negative publicity also could have an adverse effect on the size and engagement of our customers and could result in decreased revenue, which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Further may be the target of social-media campaigns criticizing actual or perceived actions or inactions that are disfavored by our customers, employees, or society at-large, which campaigns could materially impact our customers’ decisions to use our products and services. Any such negative publicity could have an adverse effect on the size, activity, and loyalty of our customers and result in a decrease in net revenue, which could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Concerns about the environmental impacts of blockchain technology could adversely impact usage and perceptions of Nukkleus, its subsidiaries and our Platforms.

The energy usage and environmental impact of blockchain technology, particularly in relation to proof of work mining, has attracted considerable recent attention. Government scrutiny related to restrictions on such energy consumption may increase, resulting in additional regulation that could adversely impact usage of our Platforms and harm our business. The considerable consumption of electricity by mining operators may also have a negative environmental impact, including contribution to climate change, which could create a negative consumer sentiment and perception of blockchain technology generally and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, and operating results.

As a remote-first company, we are subject to heightened operational and cybersecurity risks.

As a remote-first company, we are subject to heightened operational and cybersecurity risks. We are a remote-first company, meaning that for all existing roles many of our employees work from their homes or other non-company dwellings. For example, technologies in our employees’ and service providers’ homes and shared office spaces may not be as robust and could cause the networks, information systems, applications, and other tools available to employees and service providers to be more limited or less reliable. Further, the security systems in place at our employees’ and service providers’ homes and shared office spaces may be less secure than those used in corporate offices, and while we have implemented technical and administrative safeguards to help protect our systems as our employees and service providers work from home, we may be subject to increased cybersecurity risk which could expose us to risks of data or financial loss, and could disrupt our business operations. There is no guarantee that the data security and privacy safeguards we have put in place will be completely effective or that we will not encounter risks associated with employees and service providers accessing company data and systems remotely. We also face challenges due to the need to operate with a remote workforce and are addressing so to minimize the impact on our ability to operate.

Risks Related to Nukkleus’s Platforms

The future development and growth of our Platforms is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to predict and evaluate and may be in the hands of third parties to a substantial extent. If our Platforms do not grow as we expect, our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected.

We introduced fund transfer and payment processing using blockchain technologies only in 2019, and such technology remains in the early stages of development while continuing to evolve. The further growth and development of any such technology and the underlying networks and other cryptographic and algorithmic protocols governing such technology and products represent a new and evolving paradigm that is subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate, including:

These risks are fundamentally beyond our control and could materially and adversely affect our Platforms and our business, financial condition and operating results.

Due to unfamiliarity and some negative publicity associated with blockchain technology, our customer base may lose confidence in products and services that utilize blockchain technology.

Products and services that are based on blockchain technologies are relatively new. Many of our competitors are unlicensed, unregulated, operate without supervision by any governmental authorities, and do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management team, corporate practices, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. As a result, customers and the general public may lose confidence in blockchain technology, including regulated products and services like ours.

Since the inception of blockchain technologies, numerous blockchain-enabled businesses and platforms have been sued, investigated, or shut down due to fraud, illegal activities, the sale or issuance of unregistered securities, manipulative practices, business failure, and security breaches. In many of these instances, customers of these platforms, products and services were not compensated or made whole for their losses. We may be a target of hackers and malware and may also be more likely to be targets of regulatory enforcement actions.

Negative perception, a lack of stability and standardized regulation, and the closure or temporary shutdown of blockchain-enabled platforms, including our Platforms, due to fraud, business failure, hackers or malware, or government mandated regulation, and associated losses suffered by customers may reduce confidence in blockchain technologies and result in greater volatility of the prices of assets, including significant depreciation in value. Any of these events could have a material and adverse impact on our business.

Our Platforms and blockchain-enabled payment processing services are innovative and are difficult to analyze vis-à-vis existing financial services laws and regulations around the world. Our platforms involve certain risks, including reliance on third parties, which could limit or restrict our ability to offer the product in certain jurisdictions.

Our ability to offer our Platforms in jurisdictions around the world is unclear from a regulatory perspective. Further, our Platforms are dependent on certain partners who will provide liquidity and the regulatory requirements with respect to those partners are uncertain. Our dependency on the performance of those partners raises risk that turns upon their performance. If our partners fail to perform, both we and our customers could be subject to losses, and we may be required to cease offering such Platform.

Risks Related to Nukkleus’s Financial Condition

There is no assurance that we will maintain profitability or that our revenue and business models will be successful.

Our ability to achieve and maintain profitability is based on numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control. We may not be able to generate sufficient revenue to maintain profitability in the short or long-term. Our revenue growth may slow, or our revenue may decline for a number of other reasons, including reduced demand for our offerings, increased competition, a decrease in the usage of blockchain technologies generally, or any failure to capitalize on growth opportunities.

We are continually refining our revenue and business model and have shifted our focus to the development and commercialization of our Platforms. There is no assurance that these efforts will be successful or that we will generate revenues commensurate with our efforts and expectations or become or stay profitable. We may be forced to make significant changes to our revenue and business model to compete with our competitors’ offerings, and even if such changes are undertaken, there is no guarantee that they will be successful or profitable. Additionally, we will need to hire, train, and integrate qualified personnel to meet and further such changes to our business objectives at potentially significant additional expense. Failure to successfully implement revenue and business models or manage related expenses could cause us to be unprofitable and have an adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

Changes in U.S. and foreign tax laws, as well as the application of such laws, could adversely impact our financial position and operating results.

We are subject to complex income and non-income tax laws and regulations in the United States and a variety of foreign jurisdictions. Both the United States and foreign jurisdictions may revise corporate income tax and other non-income tax laws which could impact the amount of tax due in such jurisdiction.

Our determination of our corporate income tax liability is subject to review and may be challenged by applicable U.S. and foreign tax authorities. Any adverse outcome of such challenge could harm our operating results and financial condition. The determination of our worldwide provision for income taxes and other tax liabilities requires significant judgment and, in the ordinary course of business, there are many transactions and calculations where the ultimate tax determination is complex and uncertain. Moreover, as a multinational business, we have subsidiaries that engage in many intercompany transactions in a variety of tax jurisdictions where the ultimate tax determination is complex and uncertain. Our existing corporate structure and intercompany arrangements have been implemented in a manner we believe is in compliance with current prevailing tax laws. Furthermore, as we operate in multiple taxing jurisdictions, the application of tax laws can be subject to diverging and sometimes conflicting interpretations by tax authorities of these jurisdictions. It is not uncommon for taxing authorities in different countries to have conflicting views with respect to, among other things, the characterization and source of income or other tax items, the manner in which the arm’s-length standard is applied for transfer pricing purposes, or with respect to the valuation of intellectual property. The taxing authorities of the jurisdictions in which we operate may challenge our tax treatment of certain items or the methodologies we use for valuing developed technology or intercompany arrangements, which could impact our worldwide effective tax rate and harm our financial position and operating results.

We are also subject to non-income taxes, such as payroll, sales, use, value-added, net worth, property, and goods and services taxes in the United States and various foreign jurisdictions. A change in the tax law could impact tax positions which could result in an increased exposure related to such tax liabilities. Such changes could have an adverse effect on our operating results and financial condition.

In addition, under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), a corporation that undergoes an “ownership change” (as defined under Sections 382 and 383 of the Code and applicable Treasury Regulations) is subject to limitations on its ability to utilize its pre-change NOLs and certain other tax attributes to offset post-change taxable income or taxes.

We have not performed a study to determine whether our NOLs are currently subject to Section 382 limitations. We may also experience a future ownership change under Section 382 of the Code that could affect our ability to utilize our NOLs to offset our income.

If our estimates or judgment relating to our critical accounting policies prove to be incorrect, our operating results could be adversely affected.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, as provided in the section titled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations of Nukkleus — Critical Accounting Policies”. The results of these estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets, liabilities, and equity, and the amount of revenue and expenses that are not readily apparent from other sources. Significant estimates and judgments involve the identification of performance obligations in revenue recognition, evaluation of tax positions, inter-company transactions, and the valuation of stock-based awards and the fiat reserves we hold, among others. Our operating results may be adversely affected if our assumptions change or if actual circumstances differ from those in our assumptions, which could cause our operating results to fall below the expectations of analysts and investors, resulting in a decline in the trading price of Nukkleus Common Stock.

The nature of our business requires the application of complex financial accounting rules, and there is limited guidance from accounting standard setting bodies. If financial accounting standards undergo significant changes, our operating results could be adversely affected.

The accounting rules and regulations that we must comply with are complex and subject to interpretation by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, the SEC, and various bodies formed to promulgate and interpret appropriate accounting principles. A change in these principles or interpretations could have a significant effect on our reported financial results and may even affect the reporting of transactions completed before the announcement or effectiveness of a change. Recent actions and public comments from the FASB and the SEC have focused on the integrity of financial reporting and internal controls. In addition, many companies’ accounting policies are being subject to heightened scrutiny by regulators and the public.

For example, on March 31, 2022, the staff of the SEC issued Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 121, or SAB 121, which represents a significant change regarding how a company safeguarding digital assets held for its platform users reports such digital assets on its balance sheet and requires retrospective application as of January 1, 2022. Moreover, recent actions and public comments from the FASB and the SEC have focused on the integrity of financial reporting and internal controls. In addition, many companies’ accounting policies are being subjected to heightened scrutiny by regulators and the public. Further, there has been limited precedent for the financial accounting of digital assets and related valuation and revenue recognition, and no official guidance has been provided by the FASB or the SEC, with the exception of SAB 121. In May 2022, the FASB added a project to its technical agenda to improve the accounting for and disclosure of certain digital assets. In October 2022, the FASB decided to require fair value measurement of digital assets that fall within the scope of this project. While the FASB has begun deliberating on the scope of this project, there has been no formal proposal or guidance issued related to the project and no timeline has been publicly communicated for the issuance of such guidance.

At certain times, the funds of customers of Digital RFQ that we use to make payments on behalf of our customers, remain in the form of digital assets in our customers’ wallets at our licensed trust companies awaiting final conversion and/or transfer to the customer’s payment final destination. These indirectly held digital assets, may consist of USDT (Stablecoin), Bitcoin, and Ethereum (collectively, “our customers’ digital assets”). We engage third parties, which are licensed trust companies, to provide certain custodial services, including holding our customers’ digital token identifiers, securing our customers’ digital assets, and protecting them from loss or theft, including indemnification against certain types of losses such as theft. Our third-party custodian holds the digital assets in a custodial account in Digital RFQ’s name for the benefit of Digital RFQ’s customers. We maintain the internal recordkeeping of our customers’ digital assets, including the amount and type of digital asset owned by each of our customers and digital token identifiers in that custodial account. Given that we currently utilize one third-party custodian, there is concentration risk in the event the custodian is not able to perform in accordance with our agreement.

There remains uncertainty on how companies can account for blockchain transactions, value, and related revenue. Uncertainties in or changes to regulatory or financial accounting standards could result in the need to change our accounting methods, restate our financial statements or impair our ability to provide timely and accurate financial information, which could adversely affect our financial statements, result in a loss of investor confidence, and more generally impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Business metrics and other estimates are subject to inherent challenges in measurement, and our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely affected by real or perceived inaccuracies in those metrics.

We regularly review business metrics and other measures to evaluate growth trends, measure our performance, and make strategic decisions. For example, we measure transaction volumes and concentration. These metrics are calculated using internal company data and have not been validated by an independent third party. While these numbers are based on what we currently believe to be reasonable estimates for the applicable period of measurement, there are inherent challenges in such measurements. If we fail to maintain an effective analytics platform, our calculations may be inaccurate, and we may not be able to identify those inaccuracies.

Our business metrics may also be impacted by compliance or fraud-related bans, technical incidents, or false or spam accounts in existence on our platform. Our customers are primarily institutional and, though we believe there is no reason for them to establish multiple accounts with us unless such accounts serve a different business purpose for them, we permit our customers to hold and access multiple accounts, which could overstate the number of customers we serve. Though we rely predominantly on transaction volumes to make projections about our business, such customer metrics may also be used in our models. If our metrics provide us with incorrect or incomplete information about customers and their behavior, we may make inaccurate conclusions about our business.

We are subject to changes in financial reporting standards or policies, including as a result of choices made by us, which could materially adversely affect our reported results of operations and financial condition and may have a corresponding material adverse impact on capital ratios.

Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP, which are periodically revised or expanded. Accordingly, from time to time we are required to adopt new or revised accounting standards issued by recognized bodies. It is possible that future accounting standards and financial reporting standards or policies, including as a result of choices made by us, which we are required to adopt, could change the current accounting treatment that applies to our consolidated financial statements and that such changes could have a material adverse effect on our reported results of operations and financial condition, and may have a corresponding material adverse effect on capital ratios.

As a public company, we are required to develop and maintain proper and effective internal controls over financial reporting, and any failure to maintain the adequacy of these internal controls may adversely affect investor confidence in our company and, as a result, the value of our stock.

We are required to furnish a report by management on, among other things, the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. This assessment includes disclosure of any material weaknesses identified by our management in our internal control over financial reporting. During the evaluation and testing process of our internal controls, if we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting, we will be unable to certify that our internal control over financial reporting is effective. We cannot assure that there will not be material weaknesses or significant deficiencies in our internal control over financial reporting in the future. Any failure to maintain internal control over financial reporting could severely inhibit our ability to accurately report our financial condition or results of operations. If we are unable to conclude that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm determines we have a material weakness or significant deficiency in our internal control over financial reporting, we could lose investor confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports, the market price of our stock could decline, and we could be subject to sanctions or investigations by the exchange on which shares of our stock are listed, the SEC or other regulatory authorities. Failure to remedy any material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting, or to implement or maintain other effective control systems required of public companies, could also restrict our future access to the capital markets.

We might require additional capital to support business growth, and this capital might not be available or may require stockholder approval to obtain.

We have funded our operations since inception primarily through equity financings, convertible notes, and revenue generated by our products and services. We intend to continue to make investments in our business to respond to business challenges, including developing new products and services, enhancing our operating infrastructure, expanding our international operations, and acquiring complementary businesses and technologies, all of which may require us to secure additional funds.

Additional financing may not be available on terms favorable to us, if at all. If we incur additional debt, the debt holders would have rights senior to holders of Nukkleus’s commons stock to make claims on our assets, and the terms of any debt could restrict our operations.

We may be affected by fluctuations in currency exchange rates

We are potentially exposed to adverse as well as beneficial movements in currency exchange rates. An increase in the value of the dollar could increase the real cost to our customers of our products in those markets outside the U.S. where we sell in dollars, and a weakened dollar could increase the cost of local operating expenses from sources outside the United States, and overseas capital expenditures. We also conduct certain investing and financing activities in local currencies. Therefore, changes in exchange rates could harm our financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Related to Nukkleus’s Employees and Other Service Providers

In the event of employee or service provider misconduct or error, our business may be adversely impacted.

Employee or service provider misconduct or error could subject us to legal liability, financial losses, and regulatory sanctions, and could seriously harm our reputation and negatively affect our business. Such misconduct could include engaging in improper or unauthorized transactions or activities, misappropriation of customer funds, and misappropriation of information, failing to supervise other employees or service providers, or improperly using confidential information.

Employee or service provider errors, including mistakes in executing, recording, or processing transactions for customers, could expose us to the risk of material losses even if the errors are detected. Although we have implemented processes and procedures and provide trainings to our employees and service providers to reduce the likelihood of misconduct and error, these efforts may not be successful. Moreover, the risk of employee or service provider error or misconduct may be even greater for novel products and services, and is compounded by the fact that many of our employees and service providers are accustomed to working at tech companies which generally do not maintain the same compliance customs and rules as financial services firms.

This can lead to high risk of confusion among employees and service providers, particularly in a fast growth company like ours, with respect to compliance obligations particularly including confidentiality, data access, trading, and conflicts. It is not always possible to deter misconduct and the precautions we take to prevent and detect this activity may not be effective in all cases. If we were found not to have met our regulatory oversight and compliance and other obligations, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions, financial penalties and restrictions on our activities for failure to properly identify, monitor and respond to potentially problematic activity, which could seriously damage our reputation. Our employees, contractors, and agents could also commit errors that subject us to financial claims for negligence, as well as regulatory actions, or result in financial liability. Further, allegations by regulatory or criminal authorities of improper transactions could affect our brand and reputation.

The loss of one or more of our key personnel, or our failure to attract and retain other highly qualified personnel in the future, could adversely impact our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We operate in a relatively new industry that is not widely understood and requires highly skilled and technical personnel. We believe that our future success is highly dependent on the talents and contributions of our senior management team, including Menachem Shalom, our Chief Executive Officer and a director and other key service providers across finance, compliance, legal, talent and marketing.

Our future success depends on our ability to attract, develop, motivate, and retain highly qualified and skilled employees and service providers. The pool of qualified talent is extremely limited, particularly with respect to executive talent, engineering, risk management, and financial regulatory expertise. We face intense competition for qualified individuals from numerous software and other technology companies. To attract and retain key personnel, we incur significant costs, including salaries and benefits and equity incentives. Even so, these measures may not be enough to attract and retain the personnel we require to operate our business effectively. The loss of even a few qualified employees, or an inability to attract, retain and motivate additional highly skilled employees required for the planned expansion of our business, could adversely impact our operating results and impair our ability to grow.

Our culture emphasizes innovation, and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, our business and operating results could be adversely impacted.

We believe that our entrepreneurial and innovative corporate culture has been a key contributor to our success. We encourage and empower our employees and service providers to develop and launch new and innovative products and services, which we believe is essential to attracting high quality talent, partners, and developers, as well as serving the best, long-term interests of our company. If we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, we could lose the innovation, creativity and teamwork that has been integral to our business, in which case our products and services may suffer and our business, operating results, and financial condition could be adversely impacted.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

We are subject to various laws and regulations, and any adverse changes to, or our failure to comply with, any laws and regulations could adversely affect our brand, reputation, business, operating results, and financial condition.

Our business is subject to laws, rules, regulations, policies, orders, determinations, directives, treaties, and legal and regulatory interpretations and guidance in the markets in which we operate, which may include those governing financial services and banking, securities, broker-dealers, cross-border and domestic money transmission, blockchain technologies, privacy, data governance, data protection, cybersecurity, fraud detection, payment services, escheatment, antitrust and competition, bankruptcy, tax, anti-bribery, economic and trade sanctions, anti-money laundering, and counter-terrorist financing.

The key elements of the regulatory framework that impact us include, but are not limited to, the following U.K. legislation:

These legal and regulatory regimes, including the laws, rules, and regulations thereunder, evolve frequently and may be modified, interpreted, and applied in an inconsistent manner from one jurisdiction to another, and may conflict with one another. For a discussion of our risk management framework and more detailed descriptions of the legislation and regulations applicable to Digital RFQ’s business.

We are currently regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority. We plan to expand our operations to other countries in future, including Dubai and Lithuania, in which case we would be subject to regulation in those jurisdictions. From our UK operations, we currently offer cross-border payment processing services, in numerous countries in Europe, Dubai, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. We offer payment processing services using blockchain technologies in the United Kingdom, the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa, and intend to develop such products and services across other regions. As a business, we do not differentiate between cross-border and domestic payment processing, so generally offer cross-border services in the countries in which we operate. While we believe our risk management and compliance frameworks are sufficient to ensure we remain in material compliance with the applicable laws, and regulations of the jurisdictions in which we operate, to the extent we do not comply with such laws, rules, and regulations, we could be subject to fines, revocation of licenses, limitations on our products and services, reputational harm, and other regulatory consequences, each of which may be significant and could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

In addition to existing laws and regulations, various governmental and regulatory bodies, including legislative and executive bodies in the United States, United Kingdom and in other countries, may adopt new laws and regulations, or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations may be issued by such bodies or the judiciary, which may adversely impact the development of blockchain as a whole and our legal and regulatory status in particular by changing how we operate our business, how our products and services are regulated, and what products or services we and our competitors can offer, requiring changes to our compliance and risk mitigation measures, imposing new licensing requirements, or imposing a total ban on transactions using blockchain technologies.

Legislative and regulatory actions taken now or in the future may increase our costs and impact our business, governance structure, financial condition or results of operations.

Federal, state and international regulatory agencies frequently adopt changes to their regulations or change the way existing regulations are applied. Regulatory or legislative changes to laws applicable to the financial industry, if enacted or adopted, may impact the profitability of our business activities, require more oversight or change certain of our business practices, including the ability to offer new products and to continue offering our current products, and could expose us to additional costs, including increased compliance costs. These changes also may require us to invest significant management attention and resources to make any necessary changes to operations to comply and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Various U.S. federal, state, and local and foreign governmental organizations and public advocacy groups have been examining the operations of businesses using blockchain technologies and networks, and the safety and soundness of platforms and other service providers that hold use such networks and technologies on behalf of users. Many of these entities have called for heightened regulatory oversight and have issued advisories describing the risks posed by blockchain technologies to users and investors. Use of blockchain technologies is novel and there is limited access to policymakers and lobbying organizations in many jurisdictions. Competitors from other, more established industries, including traditional financial services, may have greater access to lobbyists or governmental officials, and regulators that are concerned about the potential for stablecoins for illicit usage may affect statutory and regulatory changes. As a result, new laws and regulations may be proposed and adopted in the United States and internationally, or existing laws and regulations may be interpreted in new ways that harm the stablecoin and blockchain industry, which could adversely impact our business.

The regulatory environment to which we are subject gives rise to various licensing requirements, legal and financial compliance costs and management time, and non-compliance could result in monetary and reputational damages, all of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain our existing, or obtain additional, required regulatory licenses, certifications and regulatory approvals in the countries where we provide services or want to expand to. Furthermore, where we have obtained such regulatory licenses, certifications and regulatory approvals, there are costs and potential product changes involved in maintaining such regulatory licenses, certifications, and approvals, and we could be subject to fines or other enforcement action if we are found to violate disclosure, reporting, anti-money laundering, capitalization, corporate governance or other requirements of such licenses. These factors could impose substantial additional costs and involve considerable delay to the development or provision of our products or services, or could require significant and costly operational changes or prevent us from providing any products or services in a given market.

These laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations, in many cases due to their lack of specificity or unclear application to the business of non-traditional financial services. As a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by supervisory authorities and the interpretation of requirements by supervisory authorities and courts may be further clarified over time. If our efforts to comply with new laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory bodies or supervisory authorities due to ambiguities related to their interpretation, application and practice, supervisory authorities may initiate legal and regulatory proceedings against us and our business, reputation, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow could be materially and adversely affected.

In certain countries, it may not be clear whether we are required to be licensed as a money transmitter, payment services provider, bank, financial institution, custodian, broker-dealer, exchange, or otherwise. Local regulators may use their power to slow or halt payments or otherwise prohibit us from doing business in a country. We and our local businesses do not only need to comply with the local laws and regulations, but also with certain laws and regulations with worldwide application. Further, because our services are accessible worldwide, one or more jurisdictions may claim that we or our customers or partners are required to comply with their laws. Laws regulating the internet, mobile and related technologies outside the United States may impose different, more specific, or even conflicting obligations on us, as well as broader liability.

If we are unable to commit sufficient resources to regulatory compliance, this could lead to delays and errors and may force us to choose between prioritizing compliance matters over administrative support for business activities, or may ultimately force us to cease offering certain products or services globally or in certain jurisdictions. Any delays or errors in implementing regulatory compliance could lead to substantial monetary damages and fines, public reprimands, a material adverse effect on our reputation, regulatory measures in the form of cease and desists orders, increased regulatory compliance requirements or other potential regulatory restrictions on our business, enforced suspension of operations and in extreme cases, withdrawal of regulatory licenses or authorizations to operate particular businesses, or criminal prosecution in certain circumstances.

In addition to non-compliance by us ourselves, we may in the future suffer negative consequences of non-compliance by third parties that use our payments and transfer infrastructure. We may also suffer negative consequences of customers operating businesses or schemes in violation of applicable rules and regulations whose activities we could be held responsible for monitoring and, where applicable, to denounce, interrupt or terminate the extension of services to such customers. We may be required to incur greater expenditures and devote additional resources and management time to addressing these liabilities and requirements, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial position and results of operations.

The financial services industry is subject to intensive regulation. Major changes in laws and regulations, as well as enforcement actions, could adversely affect our business, financial position, results of operations and prospects.

In pursuit of a broad reform and restructuring of financial services regulation, national and supra-national legislatures and supervisory authorities, predominantly in the United States and Europe but also elsewhere, continue to introduce and implement a wide range of proposals that could result in major changes to the way our global operations are regulated and could have adverse consequences for our business, business model, financial position, results of operations, reputation and prospects. These changes could materially impact the profitability of our businesses or the value of our assets, require changes to business practices or force us to discontinue businesses and expose us to additional costs, taxes, liabilities, enforcement actions and reputational risk and are likely to have a material impact on us.

The timing and full impact of new laws and regulations cannot be determined and are beyond our control. The introduction of these and other new rules and requirements could significantly impact the manner in which we operate, particularly in situations where regulatory legislation can interfere with or even set aside national private law. New requirements may adversely affect our business, capital and risk management strategies and may result in us deciding to modify our legal entity structure, capital and funding structures and business mix or exit certain business activities altogether, or determine not to expand in certain business areas despite their otherwise attractive potential.

The large number of legislative initiatives, in particular with respect to the financial services industry, requires constant attention from our senior management and consumes significant levels of resources to identify and analyze the implications of these initiatives. We may have to adapt our strategy, operations and businesses, including policies, procedures and documentation, to comply with these new legal requirements. Based on the volume of existing initiatives, it cannot be excluded that certain new requirements will not be implemented in a timely fashion or implemented without errors, or in a manner satisfactory to the applicable supervisory authority, resulting in non-compliance and possible associated negative consequences such as administrative fine or public reprimands. Additionally, we may be forced to cease to serve certain types of customers or cease to offer certain services or products as a result of new requirements. Any of the other above factors, events or developments may materially adversely affect our businesses, financial position and results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to laws, regulations, and executive orders regarding economic and trade sanctions, anti-bribery, anti-money laundering, and counter-terror financing that could impair our ability to compete in international markets or subject us to criminal or civil liability if we violate them. As we continue to expand and localize our international activities, our obligations to comply with the laws, rules, regulations, and policies of a variety of jurisdictions will increase and we may be subject to investigations and enforcement actions by U.S. and non-U.S. regulators and governmental authorities.

As we expand and localize our international activities, we have and will become increasingly obligated to comply with the laws, rules, regulations, policies, and legal interpretations both of the jurisdictions in which we operate and those into which we offer services on a cross-border basis. Laws regulating financial services, the internet, mobile technologies, blockchain technologies, and related technologies outside the United States often impose different, more specific, or even conflicting obligations on us, as well as broader liability.

We are subject to various anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing laws and regulations around the world that prohibit, among other things, our involvement in transferring the proceeds of criminal activities. In the United States, most of our services are subject to anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, as amended by the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001, and its implementing regulations (collectively, the “BSA”) and other similar laws and regulations. The BSA, among other things, requires money transmitters to develop and implement risk-based anti-money laundering programs, to report large cash transactions and suspicious activity, and, in some cases, to collect and maintain information about customers who use their services and maintain other transaction records. Regulators in the United States and globally continue to increase their scrutiny of compliance with these obligations, which may require us to further revise or expand our compliance program including the procedures we use to verify the identity of our customers and to monitor transactions on our system, including payments to persons outside of the United States. Regulators regularly re-examine the transaction volume thresholds at which we must obtain and keep applicable records or verify identities of customers, and any change in such thresholds could result in greater costs for compliance. We could be subject to potentially significant fines, penalties, inquiries, audits, investigations, enforcement actions, and criminal and civil liability if regulators or third-party auditors identify gaps in our anti-money laundering program and such gaps are not sufficiently remediated, or if our anti-money laundering program is found to violate the BSA by a regulator.

Despite our efforts to comply with the applicable laws, rules, and regulations, there can be no guarantee that these measures will be viewed as compliant. If we were to be found to have violated sanctions, or become involved in government investigations, that could result in negative consequences for us, including costs related to government investigations, financial penalties, and harm to our reputation. The impact on us related to these matters could be substantial. Although we have implemented controls and screening tools designed to prevent similar activity, there is no guarantee that we will not inadvertently provide our products and services to individuals, entities, or governments prohibited by U.S. sanctions or those of another jurisdiction to whose laws and regulations we may be subject.

Regulators worldwide frequently study each other’s approaches to the regulation of any novel or developing industry, including those using blockchain-enabled technologies. Consequently, developments in any jurisdiction may influence other jurisdictions. New developments in one jurisdiction may be extended to additional services and other jurisdictions. The European Commission, for example, has proposed revisions to the Anti-Money Laundering Directives, which could make compliance more costly and operationally difficult to manage. As a result, the risks created by any new law or regulation in one jurisdiction are magnified by the potential that they may be replicated, affecting our business in another place or involving another service. Conversely, if regulations diverge worldwide, we may face difficulty adjusting our products, services, and other aspects of our business with the same effect. These risks are heightened as we face increased competitive pressure from other similarly situated businesses that engage in regulatory arbitrage to avoid the compliance costs associated with regulatory changes.

We may operate our business in foreign countries where companies often engage in business practices that are prohibited by regulations applicable to us. We are subject to anti-corruption laws and regulations, including the FCPA and other laws that prohibit the making or offering of improper payments to foreign government officials and political figures. We have implemented policies, procedures, systems, and controls designed to identify and address potentially impermissible transactions under such laws and regulations; however, there can be no assurance that all of our employees, consultants and agents, including those that may be based in or from countries where practices that violate U.S. or other laws may be customary, will not take actions in violation of our policies, for which we may be ultimately responsible.

Our consolidated balance sheets may not contain sufficient amounts or types of regulatory capital to meet the changing requirements of our various regulators worldwide, which could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Effective management of our capital and liquidity is critical to our ability to operate our businesses, to grow organically and to pursue our strategy. As a regulated and licensed entity in various jurisdictions, we may be required to possess sufficient financial soundness and strength to adequately support our regulated affiliate entities. The maintenance of adequate capital and liquidity is also necessary for our financial flexibility in the face of turbulence and uncertainty in the global economy. We may from time to time incur indebtedness and other obligations which could make it more difficult to meet applicable regulatory requirements.

In addition, although we are not a bank holding company for purposes of United States law or the law of any other jurisdiction, as a global provider of financial services and in light of the changing regulatory environment in various jurisdictions, we could become subject to new capital requirements introduced or imposed by U.S. federal, state or international regulators. The changes to applicable current or future capital and liquidity requirements may require us to raise additional regulatory capital or hold additional liquidity buffers, for example because of different interpretations of or methods for calculating risk exposure amounts or liquidity outflows or inflows, or because we do not comply with ratios and levels, or instruments and collateral requirements that currently qualify as capital or capital risk mitigating techniques no longer do so in the future because of changes to the requirements or interpretations thereof. Any change or increase in these regulatory requirements could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

If we are unable to raise the requisite regulatory capital, we may be required to reduce the amount of our risk exposure amount or business levels, restrict certain activities or engage in the disposition of core and other non-core businesses, which may not occur on a timely basis or at prices which would otherwise be attractive to us, and such inability to raise sufficient regulatory capital could have an adverse effect on the market’s trust in respect of the long-term viability of our products and services, which could, for example, result in customers transferring to use our competitors’ platforms for financial transfer and payment infrastructure. As a result of stricter liquidity requirements or higher liquidity buffers, we may be required to optimize our funding composition which may result in higher funding costs for us, and in having to maintain buffers of liquid assets which may result in lower returns than less liquid assets. Furthermore, if we are unable to adequately manage our liquidity position, this may prevent us from meeting our short-term financial obligations. It is possible we may experience errors in currency handling, accounting, and regulatory reporting that leads us to be out of compliance with those requirements.

The above changes and any other changes that limit our ability to manage effectively our balance sheet, liquidity position and capital resources going forward, or to access funding sources, could have a material adverse impact on our financial position, regulatory capital position and liquidity provision.

We obtain and process a large amount of sensitive customer data. Any real or perceived improper use of, disclosure of, or access to such data could harm our reputation, as well as have an adverse effect on our business.

Our operations involve the storage and/or transmission of sensitive information, including highly personal data of our customers. Consequently, we are subject to complex and evolving UK, European, and other jurisdictions’ laws, rules, regulations, orders and directives (referred to as “privacy laws”) relating to the collection, use, retention, security, processing and transfer (referred to as “process”) of personally identifiable information (referred to as “personal data”) in the countries where we operate. Much of the personal data that we process, especially financial information, is regulated by multiple privacy laws and, in some cases, the privacy laws of multiple jurisdictions. In many cases, these laws apply not only to third-party transactions, but also to transfers of information between or among us and our subsidiaries. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with our privacy policies or with any applicable privacy laws in one or more jurisdictions could result in proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others, including class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, significant fines, penalties, judgments and reputational damages to us, requiring us to change our business practices, increasing the costs and complexity of compliance, any of which could materially and adversely affect its business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

Data protection, privacy and information security have become the subject of increasing public, media and legislative concern. If our customers were to reduce their use of our products and services as a result of these concerns, our business could be materially harmed. In addition, we are also subject to the possibility of security breaches, which themselves may result in a violation of these privacy laws. Any failure of us or our partners or others who use our services to adequately protect sensitive data could have a material and adverse effect on its reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We are subject to complex and evolving laws, regulations, and industry requirements related to data privacy, data protection and information security across different markets where we conduct our business, including in the European Economic Area, such laws, regulations, and industry requirements are constantly evolving and changing. Our actual or perceived failure to comply with such laws, regulations, and industry requirements, or our privacy policies/notices could harm our business by impairing customer trust and could subject us to fines and reputational harm.

Various local, state, federal, and international laws, directives, and regulations apply to our collection, use, retention, protection, disclosure, transfer, and any other processing of personal data. There is uncertainty and inconsistency in how these data protection and privacy laws and regulations are interpreted and applied, and they continue to evolve in ways that could adversely impact our business. These laws have a substantial impact on our operations directly as a data controller/business and as a data processor/service provider and handler for various offshore entities.

In the United States, state and federal lawmakers and regulatory authorities have increased their attention on the collection and use of consumer data. While our current product offering does not target retail consumers, some of our prior products have been offered to retail consumers. In the United States, non-sensitive consumer data generally may be used under current rules and regulations, subject to certain restrictions, so long as the consumer does not affirmatively “opt out” of the collection or use of such data. If an “opt-in” model or additional required “opt-outs” were to be adopted in the United States, less data could be available, and the cost of data would be higher.

California has enacted the California Consumer Privacy Act, or the CCPA, along with related regulations, in 2020 and the California Privacy Rights Act, or the CPRA, which has been passed and became effective on January 1, 2023. The CCPA gives California residents new rights to access and request deletion of their personal data, opt out of the sale of personal data, and receive detailed information about how their personal data is processed. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for data breaches that involving the loss of personal data. This private right of action may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. The CPRA significantly modifies the CCPA, including by expanding consumers’ rights with respect to certain personal data and creating a new state agency to oversee implementation and enforcement efforts. The CCPA and CPRA may increase our compliance costs and potential liability, particularly in the event of a data breach, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, including how we use personal data, our financial condition, and our operating results.

Additionally, the CCPA has prompted a number of proposals for new federal and state-level privacy legislation, such as in Nevada, Virginia, Colorado, and others. Virginia’s legislation, the Consumer Data Protection Act, or CDPA, passed and becomes effective January 1, 2023. On June 8, 2021, the state of Colorado passed its bill, which is pending signature by the state governor. As of June 11, 2021, five states have proposed legislation under consideration in the local legislatures. As each new state law is passed, it could add increasing complexity to and significantly expand the scope of our compliance efforts, impact our business strategies, increase our potential liability, increase our compliance costs, and adversely affect our business.

As a result of our presence in Europe and our service offering in the European Union, we are subject to the European General Data Protection Regulation, which imposes stringent EU data protection requirements, and could increase the risk of non-compliance and the costs of providing our products and services in a compliant manner. A breach of the GDPR could result in regulatory investigations, reputational damage, fines and sanctions, orders to cease or change our processing of our data, enforcement notices, or assessment notices (for a compulsory audit). We may also face civil claims including representative actions and other class action type litigation (where individuals have suffered harm), potentially amounting to significant compensation or damages liabilities, as well as associated costs, diversion of internal resources, and reputational harm.

Additionally, the UK Data Protection Act contains provisions, including its own derogations, for how GDPR is applied in the UK. We have to continue to comply with the GDPR and also the Data Protection Act, with each regime having the ability to fine up to the greater of €20 million (£17 million) or 4% of annual global turnover. The relationship between the UK and the EU remains uncertain, for example how data transfers between the UK and the EU and other jurisdictions will be treated and the role of the UK’s supervisory authority. On June 28, 2021, the European Commission issued the UK with an “adequacy decision” to facilitate the continued free flow of personal data from EU member states to the UK. However, this adequacy decision has a limited duration of four years in case there is a future divergence between EU and UK data protection laws. In the event that the UK maintains an equivalent standard.at the end of the four year period, it is open to the European Commission to renew its finding. In the event that the adequacy decisions is not renewed after this time, the adjustments required to facilitate data transfers from EU member states to the UK will lead to additional costs as we try to ensure compliance with new privacy legislation and will increase our overall risk exposure.

In addition, the GDPR imposes strict rules on the transfer of personal data out of the EU to a “third country”, including the United Kingdom or the United States. These obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other requirements or our practices. On July 16, 2020, the Court of Justice of the European Union invalidated the European Union-United States “Privacy Shield” (under which personal data could be transferred from the EU to U.S. entities that had self-certified under the Privacy Shield scheme) on the grounds that the Privacy Shield failed to offer adequate protections to EU personal data transferred to the United States. In addition, while the ECJ upheld the adequacy of the standard contractual clauses (a standard form of contract approved by the European Commission as an adequate personal data transfer mechanism, and potential alternative to the Privacy Shield), it made clear that reliance on them alone may not necessarily be sufficient in all circumstances.

Use of the standard contractual clauses must now be assessed on a case by case basis taking into account the legal regime applicable in the destination country, in particular applicable surveillance laws and rights of individuals. The use of standard contractual clauses for the transfer of personal data specifically to the United States remains under review by a number of European data protection supervisory authorities, along with those of some other E.U. member states.

German and Irish supervisory authorities have indicated, and enforced in recent rulings, that the standard contractual clauses alone provide inadequate protection for E.U.-U.S. data transfers. As supervisory authorities continue to issue further guidance on personal data, we could suffer additional costs, complaints, or regulatory investigations or fines, and if we are otherwise unable to transfer personal data between and among countries and regions in which we operate, it could affect the manner in which we provide our services, the geographical location or segregation of our relevant systems and operations, and could adversely affect our financial results.

We are also subject to evolving EU privacy laws on cookies and e-marketing. In the European Union, regulators are increasingly focusing on compliance with requirements in the online behavioral advertising ecosystem, and an EU regulation known as the ePrivacy Regulation will significantly increase fines for non-compliance once in effect. In the European Union informed consent, including a prohibition on pre-checked consents and a requirement to ensure separate consents for each cookie, is required for the placement of a cookie or similar technologies on a user’s device and for direct electronic marketing. As regulators start to enforce the strict approach in recent guidance, this could lead to substantial costs, require significant systems changes, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, divert the attention of our technology personnel, negatively impact our efforts to understand customers, adversely affect our margins, increase costs, and subject us to additional liabilities.

As these and other laws and regulations may continue to evolve and be enacted, or new interpretations of existing laws and regulations apply, it may require us to modify our data-processing practices, agreements and policies and to incur substantial costs in order to comply with this evolving regulatory landscape. Restrictions on the collection, use, sharing or disclosure of personal information or additional requirements and liability for security and data integrity could require us to materially modify our solutions and features, could limit our ability to develop new services and features and could subject us to increased compliance obligations and regulatory scrutiny. We use a variety of technical and organizational security measures and other measures to protect the data we process, in particular personal data pertaining to our customers, employees and business partners. Despite measures we put in place, we may be unable to anticipate or prevent unauthorized access to such personal data.

There is a risk that as we expand, we may assume liabilities for breaches experienced by the companies we acquire. Despite our efforts to comply with applicable laws, regulations and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security, it is possible that our practices or technology could fail, or be alleged to fail to meet applicable requirements. For instance, the overall regulatory framework governing the application of privacy laws to blockchain technology is still highly undeveloped and likely to evolve. Despite our efforts to choose vendors that meet applicable laws, regulations and other obligations relating to privacy, data protection, and information security and maintain robust security controls, it is possible that a vendor could fail to comply or experience a data breach impacting our data and our business. Our failure, or the failure by our third-party providers or partners, to comply with applicable laws or regulations and to prevent unauthorized access to, or use or release of personal data, or the perception that any of the foregoing types of failure has occurred, could damage our reputation or result in fines or proceedings by governmental agencies and private claims and litigation, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We are and may continue to be subject to litigation, including individual and class action lawsuits, as well as regulatory audits, disputes, inquiries, investigations and enforcement actions by regulators and governmental authorities.

We have been and may from time to time become subject to material claims, arbitrations, individual and class action lawsuits, government and regulatory investigations, inquiries, actions or requests and other proceedings alleging violations of laws, rules, and regulations, both foreign and domestic, involving competition and antitrust law, intellectual property, privacy, data protection, information security, anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing, sanctions, anti-corruption, accessibility claims, securities, tax, labor and employment, payment network rules, commercial disputes, services, and other matters.

The laws, rules and regulations affecting our business, including those pertaining to blockchain technologies, payment processing and financial transaction services, and other financial services, are subject to ongoing interpretation by the courts and governmental and supervisory authorities, and the resulting uncertainty in the scope and application of these laws, rules and regulations increases the risk that we will be subject to private claims, governmental and regulatory actions alleging violations of those laws, rules, and regulations.

The scope, determination, and impact of claims, lawsuits, government and regulatory investigations, enforcement actions, disputes, and proceedings to which we are subject cannot be predicted with certainty, and may result in:

Any such matters can have an adverse impact, which may be material, on our business, operating results, or financial condition because of legal costs, diversion of management resources, reputational damage, and other factors.

Risks Related to Nukkleus’s Intellectual Property

In the future we may be sued by third parties for alleged infringement of their proprietary rights.

In recent years, there has been considerable patent, copyright, trademark, domain name, trade secret and other intellectual property development activity, as well as litigation, based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property, including by large financial institutions. Furthermore, individuals and groups can purchase patents and other intellectual property assets for the purpose of making claims of infringement to extract settlements from companies like ours. Our use of third-party intellectual property rights also may be subject to claims of infringement or misappropriation.

We cannot guarantee that our internally developed or acquired technologies and content do not or will not infringe the intellectual property rights of others. From time to time, our competitors or other third parties may claim that we are infringing upon or misappropriating their intellectual property rights, and we may be found to be infringing upon such rights. Any claims or litigation could cause us to incur significant expenses and, if successfully asserted against us, could require that we pay substantial damages or ongoing royalty payments, prevent us from offering our products or services or using certain technologies, force us to implement expensive work-arounds, or impose other unfavorable terms. Our exposure to damages resulting from infringement claims could increase and this could further exhaust our financial and management resources. Further, during the course of any litigation, we may make announcements regarding the results of hearings and motions, and other interim developments. If securities analysts and investors regard these announcements as negative, the market price of Nukkleus Common Stock may decline. Even if intellectual property claims do not result in litigation or are resolved in our favor, these claims, and the time and resources necessary to resolve them, could divert the resources of our management and require significant expenditures. Any of the foregoing could prevent us from competing effectively and could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Our and our ecosystem partners’ products and services, including the blockchain technologies on which our Platforms are built, contain third-party open source software components, and failure to comply with the terms of the underlying open source software licenses could harm our business.

Our products and services contains software modules licensed to us by third-party authors under “open source” licenses. Also, the blockchain technologies on which our Platforms are built rely on open source licenses to operate. We also make certain of our own software available to customers for free under various open source licenses. Use and distribution of open source software may entail greater risks than use of third-party commercial software, as open source licensors generally do not provide support, warranties, indemnification or other contractual protections regarding infringement claims or the quality of the code. In addition, the public availability of such software may make it easier for others to compromise our products and services.

Some open-source licenses contain requirements that we make available source code for modifications or derivative works we create based upon the type of open source software we use, or grant other licenses to our intellectual property. If we combine our proprietary software with open source software in a certain manner, we could, under certain open source licenses, be required to release the source code of our proprietary software to the public. This would allow our competitors to create similar offerings with lower development effort and time and ultimately could result in a loss of our competitive advantages. Alternatively, to avoid the public release of the affected portions of our source code, we could be required to expend substantial time and resources to re-engineer some or all of our software.

Although we monitor our use of open-source software to avoid subjecting our products and services to conditions we do not intend, we have not recently conducted an extensive audit of our use of open source software and, as a result, we cannot assure you that our processes for controlling our use of open source software in our products and services are, or will be, effective. If we are held to have breached or failed to fully comply with all the terms and conditions of an open source software license, we could face litigation or infringement or other liability, or be required to seek costly licenses from third parties to continue providing our offerings on terms that are not economically feasible, to re-engineer our products or services, to discontinue or delay the provision of our offerings if re-engineering could not be accomplished on a timely basis or to make generally available, in source code form, our proprietary code, any of which could adversely affect our business, operating results, and financial condition.

Moreover, the terms of many open-source licenses have not been interpreted by U.S. or foreign courts. As a result, there is a risk that these licenses could be construed in a way that could impose unanticipated conditions or restrictions on our ability to provide or distribute our products and services. From time to time, there have been claims challenging the ownership of open source software against companies that incorporate open source software into their solutions. As a result, we could be subject to lawsuits by parties claiming ownership of what we believe to be open-source software.

General Risk Factors

Adverse economic conditions may adversely affect our business.

Our performance is subject to general economic conditions, and their impact on the foreign exchange transfer and payments markets, as well as our customers. The United States and other key European and other international economies have experienced cyclical downturns from time to time in which economic activity declined resulting in lower consumption rates, restricted credit, reduced profitability, weaknesses in financial markets, bankruptcies, and overall uncertainty with respect to the economy. The impact of general economic conditions on our business is highly uncertain and dependent on a variety of factors, including market activity, global trends in the blockchain economy, central bank monetary policies, and other events beyond our control. Geopolitical developments, such as trade wars and foreign exchange limitations can also increase the severity and levels of unpredictability globally and increase the volatility of global financial markets. To the extent that conditions in the general economic and digital asset markets materially deteriorate, our ability to attract and retain customers may suffer.

We may be adversely affected by natural disasters, pandemics, and other catastrophic events, and by man-made problems such as war or terrorism, that could disrupt our business operations, and our business continuity and disaster recovery plans may not adequately protect us from a serious disaster.

Natural disasters or other catastrophic events may also cause damage or disruption to our operations, international commerce, and the global economy, and could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition. Our business operations are subject to interruption by natural disasters, fire, power shortages, and other events beyond our control.

In addition, our global operations expose us to risks associated with public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, which could harm our business and cause our operating results to suffer. For example, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in difficulties and changes to our customer support, and created operational challenges, which have in the past, adversely impacted our business and operating results.

Further, war, acts of terrorism, labor activism and other geopolitical unrest could cause disruptions in our business or the businesses of our partners or the economy as a whole. In the event of a natural disaster, including a major earthquake, blizzard, or hurricane, or a catastrophic event such as a fire, power loss, or telecommunications failure, we may be unable to continue our operations and may endure system interruptions, reputational harm, delays in development of our products and services, lengthy interruptions in service, breaches of data security, and loss of critical data, all of which could have an adverse effect on our future operating results.

Acquisitions, joint ventures or other strategic transactions create certain risks and may adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Acquisitions, partnerships and joint ventures are part of our growth strategy. We evaluate and expect in the future to evaluate potential strategic acquisitions of, and partnerships or joint ventures with, complementary businesses, services or technologies. We may not be successful in identifying acquisition, partnership and joint venture targets. In addition, we may not be able to successfully finance or integrate any businesses, services or technologies that we acquire or with which we form a partnership or joint venture.

We may not be able to identify suitable acquisition candidates or complete acquisitions in the future, which could adversely affect our future growth; or businesses that we acquire may not perform as well as expected or may be more difficult or expensive to integrate and manage than expected, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations. In addition, the process of integrating these acquisitions may disrupt our business and divert our resources.

In addition, acquisitions outside our current operating jurisdictions often involve additional or increased risks including, for example:

These risks may arise for a number of reasons: we may not be able to find suitable businesses to acquire at affordable valuations or on other acceptable terms; we may face competition for acquisitions from other potential acquirers; we may need to borrow money or sell equity or debt securities to the public to finance acquisitions and the terms of these financings may be adverse to us; changes in accounting, tax, securities or other regulations could increase the difficulty or cost for us to complete acquisitions; we may incur unforeseen obligations or liabilities in connection with acquisitions; we may need to devote unanticipated financial and management resources to an acquired business; we may not realize expected operating efficiencies or product integration benefits from an acquisition; we could enter markets where we have minimal prior experience; and we may experience decreases in earnings as a result of non-cash impairment charges.

We cannot ensure that any acquisition, partnership or joint venture we make will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Delaware law and our Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws will contain certain provisions, including anti-takeover provisions that limit the ability of stockholders to take certain actions and could delay or discourage takeover attempts that stockholders may consider favorable.

Nukkleus’s Certificate of Incorporation and bylaws contains provisions that could have the effect of rendering more difficult, delaying, or preventing an acquisition deemed undesirable by the Nukkleus Board and therefore depress the trading price of Nukkleus Common Stock. In addition, as a Delaware corporation, the Company will generally be subject to provisions of Delaware law, including the DGCL. These provisions could also make it difficult for stockholders to take certain actions, including electing directors who are not nominated by the current members of the Nukkleus Board or taking other corporate actions, including effecting changes in management.

Such provisions, alone or together, could delay or prevent hostile takeovers and changes in control or changes in the Nukkleus Board or management.

Any provision of Nukkleus’s Certificate of Incorporation or bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control could limit the opportunity for stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of the Company’s capital stock and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for Nukkleus Common Stock.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.

We are a smaller reporting company as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information under this item.

Item 1C. Cybersecurity.

At this time, the Company does not have formal processes in place for assessing, identifying, and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats. Our approach to cybersecurity is currently informal and primarily reactive, involving basic security measures such as:

However, we recognize the importance of cybersecurity and are in the process of developing more robust strategies. We plan to:

We acknowledge that the absence of comprehensive cybersecurity processes could potentially expose the company to risks, which might materially affect our operations, financial condition, or strategic decisions in the future. We are committed to improving our cybersecurity posture as our resources allow.

Governance

Material Effect from Cybersecurity Threats

To date, no known cybersecurity incidents have materially affected our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition. However, due to our limited cybersecurity measures, we acknowledge that our company could be at higher risk of material impact from cybersecurity threats. We are actively working to mitigate these risks.

Item 2. Properties.

The Company’s headquarters are located in Jersey City, New Jersey. The Company uses office space of FXDD, an affiliated company, free of rent, which is considered immaterial.

We believe our facilities are adequate for our current and planned business operations.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings.

From time to time, we are subject to ordinary routine litigation incidental to our normal business operations. We are not currently a party to any material legal proceedings.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.

Market Information

LIMITED PUBLIC MARKET FOR COMMON STOCK

Our units, ordinary shares, rights and warrants were initially traded on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbols “BRLIU,” BRLI,” “BRLIR,” and “BRLIW” respectively. Our units commenced public trading on June 24, 2020, and our ordinary shares, rights and warrants commenced separate public trading on July 22, 2020. Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, Nukkleus Common Stock and Nukkleus Warrants began trading on December 26, 2023 on the NASDAQ under the symbols “NUKK and “NUKKW” respectively. The Brilliant Common Stock, Brilliant Units, Brilliant Rights and Brilliant Warrants ceased trading under the symbols BRLI, BRLIU, BRLIR and BRLIW.

Holders of Our Common Stock

As of January 10, 2025, there were 59 holders of record   of our common stock. This number does not include shares held by brokerage clearing houses, depositories or others in unregistered form.

Stock Option Grants

The Company did not grant stock options during the year ended September 30, 2024.

Transfer Agent and Registrar

The transfer agent for our common stock is Continental Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 1 State St 30th floor, New York, NY 10004, telephone: (212) 509-4000.

Dividends

To date, we have not paid dividends on shares of our common stock and we do not expect to declare or pay dividends on shares of our common stock in the foreseeable future. The payment of any dividends will depend upon our future earnings, if any, our financial condition, and other factors deemed relevant by our Board of Directors.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

X Group – June 2024

On June 11, 2024 (the “Effective Date”), the Company issued a Senior Unsecured Promissory Note (the “Note”) in the principal amount of $312,500 to X Group Fund of Funds, a Michigan limited partnership (the “Lender”) in consideration of cash proceeds in the amount of $250,000. The Note bears interest of 12.0% per annum and is due and payable six months after issuance. As an additional inducement to provide the loan as outlined under the Note, the Company issued the Lender a Stock Purchase Warrant (“Warrant”) to acquire 1,200,000 shares of common stock at a per share price of $0.25 for a term of five years that may be exercised on a cash or cashless basis. The Lender shall have the right to convert the principal and interest payable under the Note into shares of common stock of the Company at a per share conversion price of $0.25.

The Company and the Lender also entered into a Restructuring Agreement providing that, among other items, the Lender, in its sole discretion, will have the right for a period for six months from the Effective Date (the “Investment Period”), to lend the Company an additional $500,000 in consideration of a convertible promissory note that will have a term of two years, bear interest at 12% and will convert into shares of common stock at a per share price of $0.25. During the Investment Period, the Company may not incur additional debt or enter into any equity financing arrangement without the written consent of the Lender. The Company has agreed, in its good faith, to negotiate the sale of its wholly owned subsidiary, Digital RFQ Ltd. (“Digital”) to Digital’s current management team led by Jamie Khurshid subject to approval of the Company’s Board of Directors and shareholders and subject to compliance with all federal, state and Nasdaq rules. The Lender provided an additional $50,000 following the initial closing, with such funds was disbursed as agreed between the Company and the Lender.

Further, during the Investment Period, the Lender, without any additional compensation, will be exclusive advisor to the Company with respect to potential acquisitions by the Company and the Company will use its reasonable best efforts to consider all proposals by the Lender. Any such acquisition proposal provided by the Lender will be subject to the Lender and such party entering a definitive binding agreement and the Board of Directors and shareholders of the Company approving such acquisition.

In order to induce the Lender to provide the loan contemplated pursuant to the Note, Emil Assentato entered into a Voting Agreement with the Company and the Lender agreeing to vote his shares in support of any transaction provided by the Lender. The Company and the Lender have agreed that 100% of all loan balances including loans payable to Emil Assentato by the Company will be recorded on the books of the Company as a bona fide debt of the Company, of which 30% of such debt will be paid within nine (9) months of the Effective Date and the balance to be repaid within twenty-four (24) months of the Effective Date.

East Asia

On August 1, 2024, the Company issued a Senior Unsecured Promissory Note (the “East Asia Note”) in the principal amount of $515,000 to East Asia Technology Investments Limited (“East Asia”) in consideration of cash proceeds in the amount of $412,075. The East Asia Note bears interest of 12.0% per annum and is due and payable six months after issuance. As an additional inducement to provide the loan as outlined under East Asia Note, the Company issued East Asia a Stock Purchase Warrant (“East Asia Warrant”) to acquire 175,000 shares of common stock at a per share price of $2.00 for a term of five years that may be exercised on a cash or cashless basis. East Asia shall have the right to convert the principal and interest payable under the East Asia Note into shares of common stock of the Company at a per share conversion price of $2.00.

Vallis/Worsley

On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into Settlement Agreement and Release with each of Craig Vallis and Oliver Worsley providing that the Company will issue 125,000 and 75,000 shares of common stock, respectively, in consideration of each party releasing the Company for compensation owed for services.

Standby Equity Purchase Agreement

On December 3, 2024, the Company entered into the Standby Equity Purchase Agreement (“SEPA”) with YA II PN, LTD, a Cayman Islands exempt limited partnership (the “Investor”) pursuant to which the Company has the right to sell to the Investor up to $10 million of shares of its common stock, subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the SEPA, from time to time during the term of the SEPA. Sales of the shares of common stock to the Investor under the SEPA, and the timing of any such sales, are at the Company’s option, and the Company is under no obligation to sell any shares of common stock to the Investor under the SEPA except in connection with notices that may be submitted by the Investor, in certain circumstances as described below.

In connection with the SEPA, and subject to the conditions set forth therein, the Investor has agreed to advance to the Company in the form of convertible promissory notes (the “Convertible Notes”) an aggregate principal amount of $2.0 million (the “Pre-Paid Advance”), which was to be advanced to the Company in three tranches. The first tranche of the Pre-Paid Advance, in the amount of $0.50 million, was disbursed to the Company on December 3, 2024 (the “YA Note”). On December 19, 2024, the Company and YA II PN Ltd. (the “Investor”) entered into a Termination Agreement pursuant to which the SEPA and the Registration Rights Agreement were terminated provided that such termination had no effect or bearing on, and shall in no way alter in any way the YA Note or any portion of the SEPA or the Registration Rights Agreement related to the Note, or any rights of the Investor or obligations of the Company related to the Note.

Private Placement - December 2024

On December 18, 2024, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with an accredited investor (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”) for a private placement (the “Private Placement”) pursuant to which the investor (the “Purchaser”) agreed to purchase from the Company 1,666,666 units for an aggregate purchase price of $10,000,000 or a per unit price of $6.00 with each unit consisting of (i) one share (the “Shares”) of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share, of the Company (the “Common Stock”) and (ii) a common stock purchase warrant to purchase up to one and one half shares of Common Stock (the “Common Warrant”). At the discretion of the Purchaser, it may elect to acquire one pre-funded common stock purchase warrant in lieu of one Share (the “Pre-Funded Warrant”). Each Share and accompanying Common Warrant is being sold together at a combined offering price of $6.00 per Share and Common Warrant. The Pre-Funded Warrant is immediately exercisable, at a nominal exercise price of $0.0001 per share, and may be exercised at any time until the Pre-Funded Warrant is fully exercised. The Common Warrant will have an exercise price of $6.00 per share, are immediately exercisable on a cash or cashless basis and will expire five (5) years from the date of issuance. The Units were priced in excess of the average Nasdaq Official Closing Price of the Company’s common stock (as reflected on Nasdaq.com) for the five trading days immediately preceding the signing of the Securities Purchase Agreement. The Private Placement closed on December 20, 2024.

The Securities Purchase Agreement contains customary representations, warranties and agreements of the Company and the Purchaser and customary indemnification rights and obligations of the parties thereto. Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company is required to register the resale of the Shares and the shares issuable upon exercise of the Common Warrant and the Pre-Funded Warrant. The Company is required to prepare and file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 15 days of the date of the Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Filing Deadline”) and to use commercially reasonable efforts to have the registration statement declared effective within 45 days of the closing of the Private Placement or 75 days in the event of a full review (the “Effectiveness Deadline”). In certain circumstances including, but not limited to, if the Company misses the Filing Deadline or the Effectiveness Deadline, then the Company will be required to pay to the Purchasers an amount in cash, as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, equal to the product of 5.0% multiplied by the aggregate purchase price.

Pursuant to a Placement Agency Agreement, dated December 18, 2024, between the Company and Dawson James Securities Inc. (the “Placement Agent”) entered into in connection with the Private Offering, the Placement Agent acted as the sole placement agent for the Private Placement and the Company has paid customary placement fees to the Placement Agent, including a cash fee equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds raised in the Private Placement and 4.0% on all proceeds from the exercise of the Common Warrants. Pursuant to the Placement Agency Agreement, the Company has also agreed to reimburse certain expenses of the Placement Agent incurred in connection with the Private Placement.

Equity Compensation

In order to compensate various executive officers, directors and consultants of the Company who have provided services to the Company for an extended period of time with limited compensation, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,337,500 restricted stock grants consisting of restricted shares of common stock under its stock incentive plans on December 16, 2024 prior to the market opened on such date of which Menachem Shalom received 500,000 shares of common stock, Anastasiia Kotaieva received 150,000 shares of common stock and each of the directors of the Company received 10,000 shares of common stock. To date, prior to the restricted stock grant, the directors of the Company have not received any compensation for their service and Mr. Shalom has not received an equity award for his service. The shares of common stock were issued without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) pursuant to the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act. The sale of the shares of common stock did not involve any public offering and each participant either received or had access to adequate information the Company. No advertising or general solicitation was made in connection with the issuance of the shares of common stock.

Item 6. [Reserved]

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion and analysis summarizes the significant factors affecting our financial condition, operating results, liquidity and cash flows as of and for the periods presented below. The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and related notes thereto included elsewhere in this report. The discussion contains forward-looking statements that are based on the beliefs of management, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed in or implied by forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed below and elsewhere in this report, particularly in the sections titled “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements.”

Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this “Management’s Discussion and Anlalysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” to “Nukkleus”, “we”, “us”, “our”, and the “Company” are intended to refer to (i) following the Business Combination (as defined below), the business and operations of Nukkleus, Inc and its consolidated subsidiaries, and (ii) prior to the Business Combination, Old Nukk (the predecessor entity in existence prior to the consummation of the Business Combination) and its consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a financial technology company was historically focused on providing software, technology solutions, customer sales and marketing, and risk management technology hardware and software solutions packages for the worldwide retail foreign exchange (“FX”) trading industry and payment services from one fiat currency to another or to digital assets.

In January 2024, we ceased providing our general support services to customers, terminating our existing customer and supplier contracts with a related party, and shifted our focus to our payment services business. In November 2024, we entered into a Settlement Agreement and Release (the “Settlement Agreement”) with a shareholder and one of our subsidiaries to sell the subsidiary that operates the payment services business to the shareholder in consideration of GBP 1,000 (approximately $1,338 at September 30, 2024).

In December 2024, we entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement and Call Option (the “Star Agreement”) with Star 26 Capital Inc. (“Star”), the shareholders of Star (“Star Equity Holders”) and an officer of Nukkleus, acting in his capacity as the representative of the Star Equity Holders, to acquire a controlling 51% interest in Star, an Israeli corporation engaged as a supplier of generators for “iron dome” launchers and other defense products.

As a result of the Settlement Agreement and subject to the closing of the acquisition of Star, our business will be focused on the defense sector.

Recent Developments

Executive Change: On July 24, 2024, The Company’s Chief Executive Officer (the “Original CEO”) resigned from his management position at the Company and from the Board. The Chief Operating Officer, and a director of the Company, was appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer (the “New CEO”) effective July 24, 2024. Effective September 4, 2024, the New CEO resigned from his position as Chief Executive Officer and from the Board, and another individual was appointed as Chief Executive Officer (the “Current CEO”) as well as being appointed to the Board.  

Reverse stock split: Effective October 24, 2024, the Company amended its amended and restated certificate of incorporation to implement a one-for-eight reverse stock split of its common stock (the “2024 Reverse Stock Split”) and increase the number of authorized shares of the Company’s common stock from 40,000,000 to 150,000,000.

Conversion Agreement: On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into a Conversion Agreement (the “Conversion Agreement”) with the Lender, as later amended on November 14, 2024, to convert outstanding principal and interest totaling $771,085 payable under the Lender’s convertible notes payable into 319,952 shares of the Company’s common stock. Pursuant to the Conversion Agreement, the Company issued an additional warrant to purchase 351,424 shares of the Company’s common stock exercisable for a period of five years at an exercise price of $2.41 per share (the “November 2024 Warrant”) in exchange for the cancellation of the Lender’s convertible notes payable. Further, the Company and the Lender entered into a letter agreement providing that the Lender may not exercise the June 2024 Warrant in the event such exercise would result in the Lender holding in excess of 19.9% of the Company’s outstanding shares of common stock as of November 8, 2024.

Sales of Securities: On November 8, 2024 and November 18, 2024, the Company entered into securities purchase agreements pursuant to which the Company sold 110,707 and 138,556 shares of the Company’s common stock at a purchase price of $2.09456 and 1.7765 per share, respectively, for aggregate gross proceeds of $231,882 and $246,145, respectively. The purchase price per share includes a 5.0% discount from the closing price of the Company as listed on Nasdaq as of the business day immediately prior to the closing date of each securities purchase agreement.

Disposition of Subsidiary: On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into a Settlement Agreement and Release (the “Settlement Agreement”) with a shareholder of the Company and a subsidiary of the Company to sell the subsidiary to the shareholder or his nominee subject to the Company obtaining shareholder approval (the “Settlement Agreement”). The Settlement Agreement requires the Company to pay $61,000 to the shareholder of the Company by November 15, 2024. As required by the Settlement Agreement, a Share Purchase Agreement was entered into between the same parties dated December 23, 2024 providing that the Company, subject to it obtaining shareholder approval, will sell the subsidiary to the officer of the Company in consideration of GBP 1,000 (approximately $1,338 at September 30, 2024). In accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement, separate settlement agreements were entered into with two shareholders of the Company, pursuant to which the Company will issue an aggregate 200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock in consideration of each party releasing the Company for compensation owed for services.

Exit and Settlement Agreement: On November 8, 2024, the Company entered into an exit and settlement agreement (the “Exit and Settlement Agreement”) with three directors of the Board, under which each director resigned effective immediately. As required by the Exit and Settlement Agreement, the Company issued 46,700 fully vested shares of the Company common stock to each former direct in exchange for past services rendered.

Bylaws Amendment: On November 8, 2024, the Board approved an amendment to the Company’s Bylaws to decrease the quorum requirement from a majority to one-third of the voting power that was effective immediately.

Standby Equity Purchase Agreement: On December 3, 2024, the Company entered into the Standby Equity Purchase Agreement (“SEPA”) with an investor (the “Investor”) pursuant to which the Company has the right, at its option, to sell to the Investor up to $10 million of shares of the Company’s common stock, subject to certain limitations and conditions set forth in the SEPA, during the term of the SEPA. In connection with the SEPA, the Investor agreed to advance to the Company in the form of convertible promissory notes (the “SEPA Convertible Notes”) an aggregate principal amount of $2.0 million, which was to be advanced to the Company in three tranches. The first tranche of $500,000, was disbursed to the Company on December 3, 2024 (the “December 2024 Note”).

On December 19, 2024, the Company and the Investor entered into a Termination Agreement pursuant to which the SEPA and the Registration Rights Agreement were terminated. Accordingly, the Investor’s obligation to advance the Company additional amounts ceased.

Securities Purchase Agreement: On December 15, 2024, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement and Call Option with Star 26 Capital Inc. (“Star”), the shareholders of Star (“Star Equity Holders”) and an officer of the Company acting in his capacity as the representative of the Star Equity Holders, (the “Star Agreement”) to acquire a controlling 51% interest in Star, an Israeli corporation engaged as a supplier of generators for “iron dome” launchers and other defense products, in exchange for an aggregate investment of $15,000,000 that consists of:

The Star Equity Holders granted the Company an option (the “Option”) to purchase the balance of their equity in Star (49.0%) for an aggregate $16,084,250 (the “Option Exercise Price”) in consideration for the issuance to the Star Equity Holders five-year stock purchase warrants to purchase an aggregate of 720,000 shares of the Company’s common stock with an exercise price of $1.50 per share. The Option Exercise Price to be paid by the Company to the Star Equity Holders consists of

If, for a period of 12 months after the closing of the Star Agreement, the Company’s shares of common stock are delisted from Nasdaq, Star shall have the right, at its own discretion, to require the Company to exchange the Investment Note for all the shares of Star then held by the Company, provided, however, the Option shall be automatically cancelled and Star shall retain any cash payments made by the Company to Star and the Company shall retain an equity interest in Star equivalent to all cash payments. The closing of the Transaction is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, third-party consents, fairness opinion, and approval by the Company’s shareholders as required under applicable Nasdaq listing rules.

If the Star Agreement is canceled because stockholder approval was not obtained within 90-days after the date of the Star Agreement and the failure was a result of the Company failing to perform or observe the covenants or agreements of the Company provided for in the terms of the Star Agreement, the Seller is entitled to damages of $1,000,000 from the Company.

As a result of the Settlement Agreement and subject to the closing of the acquisition of Star, the Company’s business will be focused on the defense sector.

Private Placement: On December 18, 2024, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with an accredited investor (the “Securities Purchase Agreement”) for a private placement (the “Private Placement”) pursuant to which the investor (the “Purchaser”) agreed to purchase from the Company 1,666,666 units for an aggregate purchase price of $10,000,000 or a per unit price of $6.00 with each unit consisting of (i) one share (the “Shares”) of the Company’s common stock and (ii) a stock purchase warrant to purchase up to one and one half shares of the Company’s common stock (the “December 2024 PIPE Warrant”). At the discretion of the Purchaser, it may elect to acquire one pre-funded common stock purchase warrant in lieu of one Share (the “Pre-Funded Warrant”). Each Share and accompanying December 2024 PIPE Warrant is being sold together at a combined offering price of $6.00 per Share and December 2024 PIPE Warrant. The Pre-Funded Warrant is immediately exercisable, at a nominal exercise price of $0.0001 per share, and may be exercised at any time until the Pre-Funded Warrant is fully exercised. The December 2024 PIPE Warrant will have an exercise price of $6.00 per share, are immediately exercisable on a cash or cashless basis and will expire five years from the date of issuance. The Units were priced in excess of the average Nasdaq Official Closing Price of the Company’s common stock for the five trading days immediately preceding the signing of the Securities Purchase Agreement. The Private Placement closed on December 20, 2024.

The Company is required to prepare and file a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 15 days of the date of the Securities Purchase Agreement (the “Filing Deadline”) and to use commercially reasonable efforts to have the registration statement declared effective within 45 days of the closing of the Private Placement or 75 days in the event of a full review (the “Effectiveness Deadline”). In certain circumstances including, but not limited to, if the Company misses the Filing Deadline or the Effectiveness Deadline, then the Company will be required to pay to the Purchasers an amount in cash, as partial liquidated damages and not as a penalty, equal to the product of 5.0% multiplied by the aggregate purchase price.

Pursuant to a Placement Agency Agreement (the “PAA”), dated December 18, 2024, between the Company the placement agent entered into in connection with the Private Offering, the Company has paid customary placement fees to the placement agent, including a cash fee equal to 7.0% of the gross proceeds raised in the Private Placement and 4.0% on all proceeds from the exercise of the December 2024 PIPE Warrants. Pursuant to the PAA, the Company has also agreed to reimburse certain expenses of the placement agent incurred in connection with the Private Placement.

Incentive Equity Grants: On December 16, 2024, the Company issued an aggregate of 1,337,500 restricted stock grants consisting of restricted shares of common stock under its stock incentive plans to various executive officers, directors and consultants of the Company who have provided services to the Company for an extended period of time with limited compensation.

Comparability of Financial Information

Our historical operations and statements of assets and liabilities may not be comparable to our operations and statements of assets and liabilities as a result of the Business Combination and becomes a public company.

Business Combination and Public Company Costs

On December 22, 2023, we consummated the merger contemplated by the Business Combination, with Old Nukk surviving the merger as a wholly-owned subsidiary or Brilliant.

Upon the closing of the Business Combination, Brilliant’s certificate of incorporation was amended and restated to, among other things, set the total number of authorized shares of capital to 55,000,000 shares, of which 40,000,000 shares were designated common stock, $0.0001 par value per share, and of which 15,000,000 shares were designated preferred stock, $0.0001 par value per share.

Upon the consummation of the Business Combination, each share of Old Nukk common stock issued and outstanding was cancelled and converted into the right to receive a pro-rata portion of 1,312,494 shares of the Company’s common stock. Additionally, a backstop pool of 26,668, 40% of the aggregate number of Brilliant Ordinary shares and Brilliant Rights in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement, was issued to certain holders of Brilliant Ordinary Shares, Brilliant Rights, and Brilliant Warrants.

Old Nukk was deemed the accounting acquirer in the Business Combination based on an analysis of the criteria outlined in Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 805. The determination was primarily based on Old Nukk’s shareholders prior to the Business Combination having a majority of the voting interests in the combined company, Old Nukk’s ability to exert control over the majority of the board of directors of the combined company, and given the board of directors election and retention provisions, Old Nukk’s ability to maintain control of the board of directors on a go-forward basis, Old Nukk’s senior management comprising the senior management of the combined company; and old Nukk’s operations prior to the Business Combination comprising the ongoing operations of the combined company. Accordingly, for accounting purposes, the Business Combination was treated as the equivalent of Old Nukk issuing stock for the net assets of Brilliant, accompanied by a recapitalization. The net assets of Brilliant are stated at historical cost, with no goodwill or other intangible assets recorded.

As a result of the Business Combination, we became a Nasdaq listed company, which will require us to hire additional personnel and implement procedures to address public company regulatory requirements and customary practices. We expect to incur annual expenses as a public company for, among other things, directors’ and officers’ liability insurance, director fees and additional internal and external accounting, legal and administrative resources, including increased audit, compliance and legal fees.

Key Business Metrics

The key performance indicators outlined below are our financial services metrics that provide management with the most immediate understanding of the drivers of business performance and tracking of financial targets.

Trading volume. We define trading volume as the total U.S. dollar equivalent value of spot matched trades transacted between a buyer and seller through our platform during the period of measurement. Trading Volume represents the product of the quantity of assets transacted and the trade price at the time the transaction was executed. As trading activity directly impacts transaction revenue, we believe this measure is a reflection of liquidity on our order books, trading health, and the underlying growth of the digital assets economy.

Generally, Trading Volume on our platform is primarily influenced by the price of digital assets, digital asset volatility, and macroeconomic conditions. In periods of high digital asset prices and digital asset volatility, we have experienced correspondingly high levels of Trading Volumes on our platform.

Financial services revenue represents the top-line revenue generated from trades, before considering the costs associated with the generation of financial services revenue.

Financial services profit (loss) is measured as financial services revenue, less costs which include amortization of intangible assets   which consist of license and banking infrastructure acquired on Match acquisition, introducing broker fees, banking, and trading fees incurred associated with delivery of our services. These intangible assets have been fully amortized as of September 30, 2023. For the year ended September 30, 2024, we saw a 50.0% decrease in trading volume over the year ended September 30, 2023. The decrease in trading volume had a similar effect on all other KPIs.

Average cost per trade is driven by financial services costs. Our average cost per trade decreased significantly as a direct result of zero amortization of intangible assets included in direct costs for the year ended September 30, 2024, as these assets have been fully amortized as of prior year.   

Active clients represents the total number of clients that transacted within our financial services segment throughout the report period. For the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, we had 88 and 217 active clients, respectively.

Gross trading margin is a metric that measures financial services revenue to trading volume.

Components of Results of Operations

Revenue consists of general support services revenue and financial services revenue.

General support services revenue represents general support services revenue earned from an affiliate who has engaged us to provide general support services, including operational reporting and technical support infrastructure, website hosting and marketing solutions, accounting maintenance, risk monitoring services, new account processing and customer care and continued support. Support services revenue is provided for in the contract with the affiliate and recognized over the period the general support services are rendered.

Financial services revenue represents transaction revenue earned from customers who submit requests to process a payment to a third party, often involving exchanging one fiat currency to another or to a digital asset as part of the transaction. Transaction revenue is generated primarily from transaction fees applied to the amount of the transaction requested by the customer. The transaction fee earned is based on the price and quantity of the fiat or digital asset that is converted. Financial services revenue is recognized at the time the transaction completes. Financial services revenue is directly correlated with Trading Volume, which is driven by the number of conversion transactions requested by customers.

Cost of revenues consists of cost of revenue – general support services and cost of revenue – financial services.

Cost of revenue - general support services consists of costs paid to an affiliate that performs the general support services for our customer.

Cost of revenue – financial services consists of costs of completing our payment processing transactions, including broker fees, banking, and trading fees incurred associated with our financial services revenue. Additionally, for the year ended September 30, 2023, cost of financial services also included amortization of intangible assets which consist of license and banking infrastructure from an acquisition.

Operating expenses consist of advertising, professional fees, compensation and related benefits, amortization of intangible assets, other general and administrative, and impairment loss.

Advertising consists of advertising program costs. Advertising costs are expensed as incurred.

Professional fees consists of professional services, such as audit fees, legal service fees, advisory fees, and consulting fees., and software subscriptions for support services.

Compensation and related benefits consists of personnel related expenses incurred in operating our business, including cash compensation and our benefit programs.

Amortization of intangible assets consists of amortization expense recorded on acquired intangible assets with a definite useful life.

Bad debt expense – related parties consists of affiliate receivable balances that were written off after we expended exhaustive efforts at collection and have determined the associated balance to be uncollectible. Because this component fluctuates with market conditions, bad debt expense can vary widely between periods.

Other general and administrative consists of personnel-related expenses incurred to support our business, including executive, customer support, compliance, finance, human resources, legal, and other support operations, and include rent, filing fee, platform fee, travel and entertainment, miscellaneous taxes, and other miscellaneous items.

Impairment loss consists of impairment losses recognized on long-lived assets where there was a triggering event that indicated a long-lived assets carrying amount may not be recoverable. The impairment loss represents the amount the carrying value exceeds the fair value. Because these components fluctuate with market conditions, impairment loss can vary widely between periods.

Other (expense) income, net consists of interest expense, gain (loss) on extinguishment of liabilities, and other income.

Interest expense on debt include fixed interest rates, as well as amortization of debt discounts and issuance costs.

Gain (loss) on extinguishment of liabilities consists of liabilities with unrelated parties, including accounts payable and debt, where the carrying value of the liability exceeded or were less than, respectively, the fair value of the consideration transferred. Additionally, certain liabilities with related parties based on the facts and circumstances of each transaction would also be recognized as a gain (loss) on extinguishment as a component of other (expense) income, net.

Because these components fluctuate with market conditions, other (expense) income, net can vary widely between periods.

Results of Operations

The following table summaries the historical consolidated statements of operations data:

Comparison For the Year Ended September 30, 2024 Versus the Year Ended September 30, 2023

Revenues

For the years ended September 30, 2024, we had revenue from general support services decreased $14,400,000, or 75.0%. The decrease was attributable to the customer contract being terminated January 1, 2024.

For the year ended September 30, 2024, financial services revenue decreased $984,181, or 46.9%. The decrease was attributable to a significant decrease in financial services revenue resulting from the closure of our primary USD Banking rails when Signature and Silvergate closed in March 2023.

Costs of Revenues

For the year ended September 30, 2024, our cost of general support services decreased $14,125,000, or 75.2%. The decrease was attributable to the supplier contract being terminated January 1, 2024.

For the year ended September 30, 2024, cost of financial services amounted to $264,945, as compared to $2,865,783 for the year ended September 30, 2023, a decrease of $2,600,838, or 90.8%. The decrease was primarily attributable to the $2,106,404 of amortization expense attributed to acquired intangible that were fully amortized during the year ended September 30, 2023. The remaining decrease of $494,434 was primarily attributable to the overall decrease in trading activity during the year ended September 30, 2024.

Gross Profit (Loss)

While our gross margin from general support services for the year ended September 30, 2024 decreased $275,000, or 64.7%, from the year ended September 30, 2023, our gross margin percentage increased to 3.1% for the year ended September 30, 2024 from 2.2% for the year ended September 30, 2023. The increase in our gross margin percentage for the general support services for the year ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023 was attributed to the $25,000 monthly decrease in our cost of general support services which took effect May 1, 2023.

Our gross margin from financial services for the year ended September 30, 2024 increased $1,616,657 from the year ended September 30, 2023, an improvement of 210.5%. Gross margin increased to 76.2% for the year ended September 30, 2024 from (36.6)% for the year ended September 30, 2023. The increase in our gross margin percentage for the financial services for the year ended September 30, 2024 as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023 was primarily attributed to the decrease in cost for financial services driven by the $2,106,404 of amortization expense of acquired intangible assets during the year ended September 30, 2023 that did not recur during the year ended September 30, 2023 as an impairment loss that was recorded during the year ended September 30, 2023 on the associated acquired intangible assets reduced the carrying value of the acquired intangible assets to zero. When this is excluded from the year ended September 30, 2023 results, the gross margin has decreased $489,747, or 36.6%, while our gross margin percentage has increased to 76.2% for the year ended September 30, 2024 from 63.8% for the year ended September 30, 2023. The resulting increase in our gross margin percentages was primarily attributable to a slight decrease in introducing broker fees during the year ended September 30, 2024.

Operating Expenses

Advertising

For the year ended September 30, 2024, advertising expense decreased by $11,401, or 20.4%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The decrease was primarily attributable to our decreased advertising activities within our financial services segment. We expect that our advertising expense will continue to decrease in future periods considering the pending disposal of our financial services segment.

Professional fees

For the year ended September 30, 2024, professional fees increased by $4,310,389, or 177.8%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The significant increase was primarily attributable to an increase in advisory service fees of $3,648,100, consulting fees of approximately $697,000, and legal fees of approximately $280,000 attributed to additional costs associated with the December 2023 business combination, offset by a decrease audit fees of approximately $206,000 attributed to one time costs attributed to transitioning from a private company to a public company. We expect that our professional fees will increase in the near future as consultancy agreements were entered into during the fourth quarter with outsourced executives and other personnel of the Company that we anticipate to be in place for the entire fiscal year 2025.

Compensation and related benefits

For the year ended September 30, 2024, our compensation and related benefits increased by $136,023, or 16.5%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The increase was mainly attributable to increased management and personnel in our financial services segment. We expect that our compensation and related benefits will decrease significantly considering the pending disposal of our financial services segment. However, we expect an overall increase in compensation expenses in the near future for certain executives, directors and other personnel outside of our financial services segment.

Amortization of intangible assets

For the year ended September 30, 2024, our amortization of intangible assets decreased by $259,898, or 95.0%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The decrease was mainly attributable to the impairment loss recorded on our acquired intangible assets during the year ended September 30, 2023 that reduced the carrying value of the acquired intangible assets to zero. We expect that our amortization of intangible assets will increase in the near future if the pending acquisition of Star completes during fiscal year 2025.

Bad debt expense – related parties

For the year ended September 30, 2024, our bad debt expense – related parties increased by $4,961,228, or 420.5%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The increase was mainly attributable to the write-off of a significant receivable in relation to the terminated GSA agreement. This increase in bad debt expense included $4,800,000 in revenues for the year ended September 30, 2024, as well as a portion of revenues recognized during the year ended September 30, 2023, which were never collected.

Other general and administrative expenses

For the year ended September 30, 2024, total other general and administrative expenses increased by $443,210, or 98.5%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The increase was mainly attributable to additional costs associated with operating as a public company, including an increase in D&O insurance of approximately $202,000, filing fees of approximately $265,000, and an increase in compliance fees of approximately $29,000, offset by a decrease in rent of approximately $10,000. We expect that other general and administrative expenses will increase in the near future if the pending acquisition of Star completes during fiscal year 2025.

Impairment loss

At each reporting period end, we assessed our long-lived assets for any impairment and concluded that there were indicators of impairment as of September 30, 2024 and 2023 and determined that the estimated undiscounted cash flows related to certain long-lived assets were less than their carrying amounts for both periods. For the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, we considered the investee’s series of operating losses and global economic environment, and recognized an impairment loss of $391,217 and $6,210,783 for the year ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. For the year ended September 30, 2023, we were not able to realize the financial projections provided by an entity acquired at the time of the intangible assets purchase and determined to recognize an impairment loss of $5,703,539, reducing the carrying value of the acquired intangible assets to zero. These impairment losses for the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 totaled $391,217 and $11,914,322, respectively, a decrease of $11,523,105, or 96.7%.

Other (Expense) Income

Other (expense) income includes loss from equity method investment and other miscellaneous income (expense).

For the year ended September 30, 2024, other income, net, increased $5,624,697, or 16,166.2%, as compared to the year ended September 30, 2023. The increase was attributable to a gain on termination of GSS GSA agreement – related parties of approximately $6,083,000, an increase in gain on settlement of due to affiliates of approximately $192,000, and a decrease in foreign currency exchange gains of approximately $24,000, offset by a net loss on settlement of vendor obligations of approximately $77,000, an increase in interest expense on debt-related parties of approximately $205,000, an increase in interest expense due to amortization of debt discounts on convertible and non-convertible notes of approximately $316,000, and an increase in interest expense on convertible and non-convertible notes of approximately $27,000.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We believe that our existing cash, exclusive of customer custodial cash, and the $10.0 million we raised through the sale of our common stock and stock purchase warrants to investors in December 2024 through a private placement will be sufficient in both the short and long term to meet our requirements and plans for cash, including meeting our working capital and capital expenditure requirements. Our ability to meet our requirements and plans for cash, including meeting our working capital and capital expenditure requirements, will depend on many factors, including completing the acquisition of a controlling interest of Star, the successful integration of Star into our operations, our growth, our ability to shift from financial services sector to defense sector, attracting and retaining key employees, and overall economic conditions. We anticipate satisfying our short-term cash requirements with our existing cash and the $10.0 million raised in the December 2024 private placement and may satisfy our long-term cash requirements with cash on hand or with proceeds from a future equity or debt financing.

To the extent that current and anticipated future sources of liquidity are insufficient to fund our future business activities and cash and other requirements, we may be required to seek additional equity or debt financing. The sale of additional equity would result in additional dilution to our stockholders. The incurrence of additional debt financing would result in debt service obligations and the instruments governing such debt could provide for operating and financing covenants that would restrict our operations. Even if debt financing is available, the cost of additional financing may be significantly higher than our current debt.

Cash Flows

The following summarizes the key components of our cash flows for the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023:

Operating activities

Net cash flow used in operating activities for the year ended September 30, 2024 was $3,818,474, which primarily reflected our consolidated net loss of approximately $8,519,000, adjusted for changes in working capital accounts and certain non-cash expense of approximately $894,000 (including a net loss on extinguishment of vendor obligations of approximately $77,000, a gain on extinguishment of due to affiliates of approximately $192,000, amortization of debt discount and issuance costs of approximately $316,000, amortization of intangible assets of approximately $14,000, bad debt expense – related parties of approximately $6,141,000 gain from termination of GSS GSA agreement – related parties of approximately $6,083,000, and impairment of long-lived assets of approximately $391,000).

Net cash flow used in operating activities for the year ended September 30, 2023 was $1,232,382, which primarily reflected our consolidated net loss of approximately $17,428,000, adjusted for changes in working capital accounts and certain non-cash expense of approximately $15,856,000 (including amortization of intangible assets of approximately $2,380,000, stock-based compensation of approximately $371,000, provision for bad debt – related party of approximately $1,180,000, and impairment of long-lived assets of approximately $11,922,000).

Investing activities

Net cash flow provided by investing activities was $132,826 for the year ended September 30, 2024 as compared to net cash flow used in investing activities of $1,109,936 for the year ended September 30, 2023. During the year ended September 30, 2024, we received approximately $133,000 of proceeds from a related party who repaid the outstanding balance of the note receivable. During the year ended September 30, 2023, we advanced monies to affiliates under note receivable – related parties of approximately $1,921,000 and acquired intangible asset of approximately $42,000, offset by repayments from related parties on the outstanding balance of the notes receivable of approximately $853,000.

Financing activities

Net cash flow provided by financing activities was $3,000,403 for the year ended September 30, 2024, as compared to $418,316 for the year ended September 30, 2023. During the year ended September 30, 2024, we received cash in relation to reverse recapitalization of approximately $150,000, cash in relation to proceeds from loan payable – related parties of approximately $2,094,000, cash in relation to proceeds from issuance of convertible debt and non-convertible debt of approximately $812,000 and $78,000, respectively, offset by repayments of loan payable – related parties of approximately $134,000. During the year ended September 30, 2023, we received proceeds from loan payable - related parties of approximately $418,000.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We had no outstanding derivative financial instruments, off-balance sheet guarantees, interest rate swap transactions or foreign currency contracts. We do not engage in trading activities involving non-exchange traded contracts.

Critical Accounting Estimates

Our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of consolidated financial statements also requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenue, costs, and expenses and related disclosures. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results could differ significantly from our estimates. To the extent that there are differences between our estimates and actual results, our future financial statement presentation, financial condition, operating results, and cash flows will be affected.

See Note 3. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies of the Notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a summary of significant accounting policies and significant estimates and assumptions and their effects on our financial statements. Below are the significant estimates and assumptions that we consider critical because they involve a significant amount of estimation uncertainty and have had or are reasonably likely to have a material impact on our financial condition or results of operations.

Acquired intangible assets

We determined that intangible assets represent critical accounting estimates, as they involve significant judgment, estimates, and assumptions and to the extent that our estimates and assumptions materially change or if actual circumstances differ from those in the assumptions, our financial statements could be materially impacted.

Acquired intangible assets are initially valued at fair value using generally accepted valuation methods appropriate for the type of intangible asset. Intangible assets with definite lives are amortized over their estimated useful lives and are reviewed for impairment if indicators of impairment arise. Intangible assets assessed as having indefinite lives are not amortized, but are assessed for indicators that the useful life is no longer indefinite or for indicators of impairment each period. Indicators we review, as applicable, include whether there has been a significant adverse change in the extent or manner in which our assets are being used, a significant adverse change in legal factors affecting our assets, customer attrition, and/or a cash flow loss. Due to the dynamic nature of our business and the regulatory environment in which we operate, it is not practicable to model sensitivity of the valuation of these assets to these factors. Each reporting period, we evaluate the estimated remaining useful life of our intangible assets and whether events or changes in circumstances warrant a revision to the remaining period of amortization. We did not identify indicators of impairment of our intangible assets during the year ended September 30, 2024. We identified indicators of impairment of our acquired intangible assets during the year ended September 30, 2023 and recorded an impairment loss for $5,703,539, the amount the carrying value of the associated acquired intangible assets exceeded the estimated undiscounted cash flows associated with the respective acquired intangible assets.

Investments

We hold two investments in privately held company in the form of equity securities without readily determinable fair values, one of which we do not have a controlling interest or significant influence in and one of which we do not have a controlling interest but we do have significant influence. The investment where we do not hold a controlling interest and do not have significant influence in is accounted for under the measurement alternative method (“the measurement alternative”) and are measured at cost, less impairment, subject to upward and downward adjustments resulting from observable price changes for identical or similar investments of the same issuer (“pricing adjustments”). The investment where we do not hold a controlling interest and do have significant influence in is measured at cost and adjusted for our share of operating results, capital contributions and distributions (referred to as the equity method).

We determined that valuation of privately-held strategic investments represents a critical accounting estimate because impairment evaluations and pricing adjustments involve significant judgment, estimates, and assumptions, and to the extent that these estimates and assumptions change materially or if actual circumstances differ from those in the assumptions, our financial statements could be materially impacted.

Pricing adjustments: Pricing adjustments require quantitative assessments of the fair value of our strategic investments, which may require the use of unobservable inputs. Pricing adjustments are determined by using various valuation methodologies and involve the use of estimates using the best information available, which may include cash flow projections or other available market data.

Impairment: Privately-held strategic investments are evaluated quarterly for impairment. Our qualitative analysis includes a review of indicators such as: operating results when available, business prospects of the investees, changes in the regulatory and macroeconomic environment, observable price changes in similar transactions, and general market conditions of the geographical area or industry in which our investees operate. If indicators of impairment exist, we prepare quantitative measurements of the fair value of our equity investments using an undiscounted cash flow model that uses unobservable inputs including expected volatility, expected time to liquidity, adjustments for other company-specific developments, and the rights and obligations of the securities we hold. When the quantitative remeasurements of fair value indicate an impairment exists, we write down the investment to its current fair value. We identified indicators of impairment of our investments during the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 and recorded an impairment loss of $391,217 and $6,210,783, respectively. The impairment loss recognized reduced the carrying value of all investments to zero as of September 30, 2024.

Revenue Recognition

We recognize revenue using the following five steps: 1) identification of a contract with a customer; 2) identification of the performance obligation(s) in the contract; 3) determination of the transaction price; 4) allocation of the transaction price to the performance obligation(s) in the contract; and 5) recognition of revenue when, or as, the performance obligation(s) are satisfied. The Company’s revenues are derived primarily from two sources: general support services and financial services. Thus, the Company disaggregates the revenue earned into these two segments. For additional segment disclosures, refer to Note 19 of our consolidated financial statements. We maintain written agreements that sets out the terms of the relationship, including payment terms.

For general support services, the Company generates revenue by providing general support services to an affiliate, which include operational reporting and technical support infrastructure, website hosting and marketing solutions, accounting maintenance, risk monitoring services, new account processing and customer care and continued support. Our written agreement for general support services is in the form of a written general services agreement (“GSA”), which specifies minimum monthly payments. We determined our general support services contain multiple performance obligations that are combined into one unit of accounting that is satisfied over time and recognizes the associated general support services revenue as services are rendered.

For financial services, the Company generates revenue by providing payment processing services, often involving exchanging one fiat currency to another or to a digital asset as part of the transaction. Our written agreement for financial services is in the form of a written service agreement that outlines the basis and flow of the various payment services we provide. The service agreement states that a transaction agreement, which sets out the services to be provided at the transaction level, detailing all transaction fees and payment settlement information, is to be issued to the client for each instance where the details of an over-the-counter trade to be executed during the conversion/payment settlement process, are confirmed by both parties. We determined our performance obligation is satisfied at a point in time as our payment services are delivered for at an individual transaction level, customer contracts are open ended, containing no termination penalty and the pricing for each transaction is set for each individual transaction based on the price and quantity of the fiat or digital asset that is converted.

In connection with our analysis of principal vs agent considerations, we evaluated the specified services that we provide based on the terms of our written agreements with customers and considered whether we control the services before they are provided to the customer, including the three indicators of control. Based upon this analysis and our specific facts and circumstances, we concluded that we are

Therefore, we report revenue on a gross basis inclusive of all supplier costs for our general support services and on a net basis for our financial services.

Stock-based Compensation

We account for share-based payments that involve the issuance of shares of our common stock to employees and nonemployees and meet the criteria for share-based awards as stock-based compensation expense based on the grant-date fair value of the award. The Company has elected to recognize the adjustment to stock-based compensation expense in the period in which forfeitures occur. We recognize compensation expense for awards with only service conditions on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period for the entire award.

If factors change, and we utilize different assumptions including the probability of achieving performance conditions, share-based compensation cost on future award grants may differ significantly from share-based compensation cost recognized on past award grants. If there are any modifications or cancellations of the underlying unvested securities, we may be required to accelerate any remaining unearned share-based compensation cost or incur incremental cost. Share-based compensation cost affects our compensation and benefits expenses.

Warrants

Classification: The Company determines the accounting classification of warrants it issues as either liability or equity classified by first assessing whether the warrants meet liability classification in accordance with ASC 480-10, Accounting for Certain Financial Instruments with Characteristics of both Liabilities and Equity (“ASC 480”), then in accordance with ASC 815-40 (“ASC 815”), Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments Indexed to, and Potentially Settled in, a Company’s Own Stock. Under ASC 480, warrants are considered liability classified if the warrants are mandatorily redeemable, obligate the Company to settle the warrants or the underlying shares by paying cash or other assets, or warrants that must or may require settlement by issuing variable number of shares. If warrants do not meet liability classification under ASC 480, the Company assesses the requirements under ASC 815, which states that contracts that require or may require the issuer to settle the contract for cash are liabilities recorded at fair value, irrespective of the likelihood of the transaction occurring that triggers the net cash settlement feature. If the warrants do not require liability classification under ASC 815, and in order to conclude equity classification, the Company also assesses whether the warrants are indexed to its Common Stock and whether the warrants are classified as equity under ASC 815 or other applicable GAAP. After all relevant assessments, the Company concludes whether the warrants are classified as liability or equity. Liability classified warrants require fair value accounting at issuance and subsequent to initial issuance with all changes in fair value after the issuance date recorded in the statements of operations. Equity classified warrants only require fair value accounting at issuance with no changes recognized subsequent to the issuance date.

Valuation: The fair value of our equity classified stock purchase warrants are valued utilizing Level 3 inputs. using a Black-Scholes-Merton option valuation model. The fair value of an award is affected by our stock price on the date of grant as well as other assumptions, including the estimated volatility of our stock price over the term of the stock purchase warrant and the estimated period of time that we expect third parties to hold the stock purchase warrants. The risk-free interest rate assumption we use is based upon United States Treasury interest rates appropriate for the expected life of the stock purchase warrant. We use the historical volatility of our common stock in order to estimate future stock price trends. We expect third parties to hold their stock purchase warrants for the contractual term as we do not have any history to support a shorter term and do not anticipate stock purchase warrants to be exercised prior to the end of the term. Our expected dividend rate is zero since we do not currently pay cash dividends on our common stock and do not anticipate doing so in the foreseeable future. The aforementioned inputs entered into the option valuation model we use to fair value our stock purchase warrants are subjective estimates and changes to these estimates will cause the fair value of our stock purchase warrants and related debt issuance discount we recognize to vary.

Income taxes

We determined that income taxes involve critical accounting estimates because management makes significant estimates, assumptions, and judgments to determine our provision for income taxes, deferred tax assets and liabilities, and any valuation allowance recorded against deferred tax assets, and to the extent that our estimates and assumptions materially change, or if actual circumstances differ materially from those in the assumptions, our financial statements could be materially impacted.

We utilize the asset and liability method for computing our income tax provision. Deferred tax assets and liabilities reflect the expected future consequences of temporary differences between the financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities as well as operating loss, capital loss, and tax credit carryforwards, using enacted tax rates. We assess the likelihood that our deferred tax assets will be recovered from future taxable income and, to the extent we believe that recovery is not likely, we establish a valuation allowance. Assessing the need for a valuation allowance requires a great deal of judgement and we consider all available evidence, both positive and negative, to determine whether it is more likely than not that our deferred tax assets are recoverable. We evaluate all available evidence including, but not limited to, history of earnings and losses, forecasts of future taxable income, and the weight of evidence that can be objectively verified. See Note 16. Income taxes of the Notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for details of changes in our valuation allowance for the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.

We recognize the tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized from such positions are then measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon settlement. Interest and penalties related to unrecognized tax benefits are recognized within provision for income taxes. See Note 16 - Income taxes of the Notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for details of changes in unrecognized tax benefits for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021.

For U.S. federal tax purposes, digital asset transactions are treated on the same tax principles as property transactions. We recognize a gain or loss when digital assets are exchanged for other property, in the amount of the difference between the fair market value of the property received and the tax basis of the exchanged digital assets. Receipts of digital assets in exchange for goods or services are included in taxable income at the fair market value on the date of receipt.

Legal and other contingencies

We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims that arise in the ordinary course of business, the outcomes of which are inherently uncertain, and such uncertainty may be enhanced due to the industry in which we operate. We record a liability when it is probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount is reasonably estimable, the determination of which requires significant judgment. In addition, we record recoveries of these losses when it is probable that they will be collected. These estimates are highly sensitive to change and involve variables that are not completely within our control nor practicable to model, including decisions made by regulators and settlement negotiations. Resolution of legal and other contingencies in a manner inconsistent with management’s expectations could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements

For information about recently issued accounting standards, refer to Note 3 to our Consolidated Financial Statements appearing elsewhere in this report.

Foreign Currency Risk

Foreign currency transaction risk

Revenues, expenses, and financial results of our foreign subsidiaries are recorded in the functional currency of these subsidiaries. Our foreign currency exposure is primarily related to transactions denominated in British Pounds attributable to cash, customer custodial funds and customer custodial cash liabilities and intercompany transactions where the transaction currency is different from a subsidiary’s functional currency. Changes in foreign exchange rates, and in particular a weakening of foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar may negatively affect our results of operations as expressed in U.S. dollars. We have experienced and will continue to experience fluctuations in our results of operations as a result of gains or losses on the settlement and the remeasurement of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies that are not the functional currency of the respective entity.

If an adverse 10% foreign currency exchange rate change was applied to the largest foreign currency exposure (e.g. British Pound) or to all foreign currency exposures in aggregate, of monetary assets, liabilities, and commitments denominated in currencies other than its functional currency as of September 30, 2024 and 2023, it would not have a material impact on our financial results.

From time to time, we may enter into derivatives or other financial instruments in an attempt to hedge our exposure to foreign currency exchange risk. It is difficult to predict the impact hedging activities would have on our results of operations. Additionally, the volatility of exchange rates depends on many factors that we cannot forecast with reliable accuracy. Our international operations increase our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations and, as a result, such fluctuations could have a material impact on our future results of operations and cash flows.

Foreign currency translation risk

Fluctuations in functional currencies from our net investment in international subsidiaries expose us to foreign currency translation risk, where changes in foreign currency exchange rates may adversely affect our results of operations upon translation into U.S. dollars. See the consolidated statements of comprehensive income (loss) in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for translation adjustments for the years ended September 30, 2024 and 2023. As of September 30, 2024 and 2023, a 10% increase or decrease in foreign currency exchange rates used in translating the financial statements of subsidiaries with functional currencies other than our reporting currency would not have a material impact on our financial results.

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

We are a smaller reporting company as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act and are not required to provide the information required under this item.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.

NUKKLEUS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

September 30, 2024 and 2023

NUKKLEUS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

September 30, 2024 and 2023

CONTENTS

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Board of Directors and Shareholders

of Nukkleus, Inc.

Going concern

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, the Company has suffered recurring losses from operations and has a working capital deficit that raises substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management's plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 2. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2023

Los Angeles, California

February 10, 2025

PCAOB ID Number 6580

NUKKLEUS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

The accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements are an integral part of these statements.

NUKKLEUS INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS