Leases are accounted for under ASC Topic 842. The Company made an accounting policy election not to apply the recognition requirements to short-term leases. The Company recognizes the lease payments for short-term leases in the consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive loss on a straight-line basis over the lease term, and variable lease payments in the period in which the obligation for those payments is incurred. Therefore, the Company is not recognizing a lease liability or right-of-use asset for any lease that, at the commencement date, has a lease term of 12 months or less and does not include an option to extend the term or purchase the underlying asset that the Company is reasonably certain to exercise. The Company’s lease terms may include options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. The Company has entered into a lease agreement for the Company’s principal executive offices located in New York, New York. The lease does not include any restrictions or covenants that had to be accounted for under the lease guidance.

The Company entered into a lease for office space at 22 Cortlandt St, New York, NY consisting of the 16th floor effective August 1, 2020. In August 2022, the Company entered into an agreement to extend the lease of 22 Cortlandt Street through April 30, 2023.

Rent expense incurred during the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021 and 2020 was $1,255,165, $1,175,139, and $870,275.

Operating lease expenses recognized for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 was as follows:


	Year ended December 31,
	2022		2021		2020
Total operating lease expense	$	1,207,837	$	1,147,692	$	47,821

Future minimum lease payments of our operating leases as of December 31, 2022, were as follows:


2023		427,875
2024		—
2025		—
Thereafter		—
Total lease payments		427,875
Less imputed interest		(3,202	)
Present value of operating lease liabilities	$	424,673

As of December 31, 2022, the remaining lease term for our operating lease was 0.3 years with a discount rate of 6.0%. The interest rate implicit in lease contracts is typically not readily determinable and as such, the Company uses its incremental borrowing rate based on the information available at the lease commencement date, which represents an internally developed rate that would be incurred to borrow, on a collateralized basis, over a similar term, an amount equal to the lease payments in a similar economic environment.

In February 2023, the Company entered into a sub-lease agreement for new corporate and executive office space, commencing March 2023. See Note 18 - Subsequent Events for further information.