GigaStar Rings the Cboe Opening Bell in Its Hometown of Chicago
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On Tuesday, October 27, 2026, GigaStar rang the opening bell at The Floor at Cboe in Chicago. CEO and Co-founder Hazem Dawani, Chief Architect and Co-founder Jason Aubrey, VP of Technology Rudy Fasouliotis, and CMO Sarah McNabb stood at the podium with the GigaStar logo on the screens behind them as the trading day began. That morning, CNBC aired three opening bells from New York to Chicago. The Cboe bell was ours.
The moment went live on CNBC, putting GigaStar in front of millions of viewers as the markets opened. Even Jim Cramer took notice and commented on GigaStar on air, saying, “That’s one interesting piece of paper!”
For a Chicago-based fintech company, there's no better place to mark this moment. We came to celebrate something we've spent years building: a place where individuals can invest in and trade shares of YouTube Creators' future revenue.
Why we rang the bell
We rang the bell to celebrate building the first capital market for the Creator Economy, right here in our hometown.
Creators are building sustainable businesses that generate revenue. Until now, growing those businesses usually meant giving up equity or taking on debt. GigaStar offers another way: creators raise growth capital from their fans and investors without selling equity in their business. Fans and investors, in turn, get access to a new asset class at the intersection of markets, technology, and the Creator Economy.
We like to call it fan funding. Ringing the bell at one of the world's leading exchange operators is a reminder that this idea belongs in the same conversation as the rest of the capital markets.
Investment offerings are speculative, illiquid, and involve a high degree of risk, including the risk of loss of your entire investment.
A big morning in a big season
The Cboe bell caps a busy few weeks for GigaStar:
Nasdaq opening bell: we rang the Nasdaq opening bell just weeks earlier.
CNBC coverage: our Cboe bell aired on CNBC's opening bell broadcast.
Industry recognition: GigaStar was named the most innovative crowdfunding platform at the Crowdfunding Regulations Association Summit in Washington, D.C.
A live secondary market: more than 800 active traders on GigaStar Trading, with thousands of dollars traded each day.
Thanks to the whole team at The Floor at Cboe for hosting us. And thank you to the Creators, Investors, and fans who made this moment possible.
VIDEO: Watch the moment the bell was rung here.
There is no guarantee of an active or liquid secondary market, and investments are subject to market risk and will fluctuate in value. Investors may not be able to find a buyer, or the sale price could be much lower than the amount invested. Investment offerings are speculative, illiquid, and involve a high degree of risk, including the risk of loss of your entire investment.
What's next
Ringing the bell was a celebration, not a finish line. We're onboarding more Creators, growing the secondary market, and making it easier for fans to back the Creators they love. Want to be part of what comes next?
Investors: Explore Creator offerings at GigaStar Market. Explore trading opportunities on GigaStar Trading.
Creators: Learn how fan funding can grow your channel without giving up equity.
Community: Join the conversation on GigaStar's Discord.
This communication is provided by Creator Networks, Inc. (dba GigaStar). GigaStar is the parent company of GigaStar Portal, LLC (dba GigaStar Market), an SEC-registered funding portal member of FINRA, and GigaStar Technologies LLC, offering blockchain and smart contract solutions via GigaStar Portfolio. GigaStar Securities LLC (dba GigaStar Trading) is an SEC-registered broker-dealer and member of FINRA/SIPC. Secondary trading is conducted via GigaStar Securities’ SEC-registered ATS. The ATS will only trade Digital Asset Securities.
Investment offerings are speculative, illiquid, and involve a high degree of risk, including the risk of loss of your entire investment. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. There is no guarantee of an active or liquid secondary market, and investments are subject to market risk and will fluctuate in value. Investors may not be able to find a buyer, or the sale price could be much lower than the amount invested.
The transactions on blockchain or other related technologies may be vulnerable to attacks on the security, integrity or operation, including attacks using computing power sufficient to overwhelm the blockchain or other underlying technology. The nature of these technologies may lead to an increased risk of fraud or cyber-attack. Due to these related risks, there is a risk of loss due to network connectivity disruptions, data corruption, as well as system, hardware, or software failures.
Neither GigaStar nor any of its affiliated companies provides legal, regulatory, financial, or tax advice. Any opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) and are for informational purposes only. The information and opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice and do not take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situation, or needs of any specific investor(s).
Additionally, any factual content in this material was obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we do not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein and provide no assurance that this information is, in fact, accurate.
Projections are inherently subject to substantial and numerous uncertainties and to a wide variety of significant business, economic, and competitive risks, and the assumptions underlying the projections may be inaccurate. Forward‐looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and the reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward‐looking statements.
The content herein does not constitute a solicitation of an offer to buy security(ies).