It’s Friday again and that means it’s time for the crypto roundup. So unless you’re down with Omicron, let’s get started. If you’re down with omicron you’re exempt. Go have a nap or something.
ESG
There’s a question about whether or not the recent blockchain company focus on environment, social and governance (ESG) metrics is intended to stir up buzz, or whether or not they actually give two shits about these things.
Typically, the question about motives is moot, but it can’t be relegated to flash-in-the-pan market sentiment if the issues they’re otherwise created to solve or treat are going to find a lasting resolution.
Let’s take Global Cannabis Applications (APP.C). They’ve produced some further developments to their Efixii software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution to help cannabis companies get the most out of their environmental, social and governance metrics with customers, the community and their investors.
“Blockchain truths are the core of Efixii, and this transformational technology allowed us to expand our patented software to capture ESG metrics in a transparent way. Efixii can now help cultivators with the challenges of implementing sustainability goals which not only helps our clients, but also makes a positive impact in the world,” according to Brad Moore, Global Cannabis’s chief executive officer.
According to KPMG Survey of Sustainability Reporting 2020, “80 per cent of companies worldwide now report on sustainability.” For example, on Ja. 5, 2022, Canopy Growth Corp. announced the release of its environmental, social and governance report that outlined its path toward responsible and sustainable growth.
ESG goals include waste and carbon footprints, incorporating recycled paper and plastics, water and power conservation, social equity, board diversity, and contributions to the community.
“The power of blockchain allows us to share ESG documentation and verification for each representation in a seamless way that enhances disclosure and prevents green washing,” said Moore.
But let’s not be fooled. What goes on the blockchain may stay there, but what doesn’t go on also stays off. What works in APP’s favour is that they’ve actually captured data regarding their ESG movements and will have them available within 30 days as regional launch plans go forward.
Hut 8 gets onboard with the search for renewables
Since we’re on the topic, Hut 8 Mining (HUT.T) is the first digital asset mining company to join the Business Renewables Centre Canada (BRC Canada).
The BRC Canada is a nonprofit community that works with companies and industry experts to expedite the adoption of renewable energy in Canada. Being a member gives Hut the opportunity to work with other companies and renewable energy developers, including the opportunity to network with companies and firms involved in renewable and low-emission sources of power in Canada.
That’s a strong incentive. Finding another energy source that gets a cryptocurrency miner the chance to keep both emissions and costs low for doing what they do would be a total coup.
“We are committed to building a business focused on driving industry awareness around sustainability practices in the digital asset mining and blockchain ecosystem. We are thrilled to be the first digital asset mining company to join the BRC Canada and look forward to the opportunity to be a part of an organization that is focused on driving change and renewable energy adoption in Canada,” said Jaime Leverton, chief executive officer of Hut 8 Mining.
Mining
With the exception of Hut 8 Mining named above, which didn’t really have a mining related story, there’s only one mining story this week. You’re welcome.
New miner Graystone Company lays out their first quarter
Graystone Company (GYST.OTC) is a bitcoin miner operating out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Technically, they’re not just a miner. They mine Bitcoin, yes, but they have a second vertical wherein they provide, sell and host mining equipment.
Their mining update looks a little like this:
They started with 1,100 terrahash per second (TH/s) for September and October and got a bump of another 1,000 TH/s in November. After which, they bought 41 S19j Pro machines, which are high powered ASICs for mining, and they should all be installed by the end of this month. They’ve generated 0.88595251 Bitcoin with revenue of $48,285.17 since they came online in September, which isn’t a lot when compared to other miners. But they’re new.
Regardless, they’ve managed to keep their overhead low—only $9,973.64 for a profit of $38,311.53—so that’s not nothing. They also started their second vertical in October, and have since sold a few S19j Pros and generated revenue of $138,800 at a cost of $114,450 for a profit of $24,350.
Again. Not nothing.
The problem is that the year before a halving has traditionally been soft for Bitcoin, and Bitcoin miners especially, but if they can stay the course and grow, then they can maybe they could be one to watch.
The NFT connection
More companies are getting into offering non-fungible tokens and making inroads into this hot revenue stream. It’s going to stay that way for the foreseeable future until something comes along to poke a reality-sized hole in this bubble.
Let’s take Blockchain Foundry’s (BCFN.C) NFT marketplace, which sold its first NFT of Chairman Ting’s Billion Buns NFT’s in less than a minute. That’s how ridiculously hot and frothy, like a big tall glass of bubblicious market-milk NFTs are right now.
“On Monday, for the whitelist, we sold over 64 per cent of the collection. Then, before I could catch my breath, the public sale sold out in 48 seconds flat. I’m super thankful for the success of my first NFT drop. I couldn’t have done it without the incredible help provided by the LastKnown.com team.” said Chairman Ting.
I know. Who or maybe what is a Chairman Ting?
He’s Carson Ting: artist and ex advertising art director with more than two decades in the biz. His career started in Toronto, pulling in a bachelors of design from the Ontario College of Art and Design, which presumably he leveraged into working with brands like Nike Jordan, Lexus, Sony, Vespa, Toyota and more.
His work’s been recognized as Cannes, One Show, London International Advertising Awards, New York Festivals, Communications Arts, Clios, the Webbys and apparently more.
Sure.
His work has been recognized internationally at Cannes, One Show, London International Advertising Awards, New York Festivals, Communications Arts, Clios, The Webbys and more.
As a former advertising director, Mr. Ting leverages his decades of experience in conceptual commercial creativity with his fun illustrative visual art styles to provide his clients with powerful and unique handcrafted work.
Mogo invests in NFT Trader
Mogo (MOGO.T) is pushing deeper into the world of NFT’s with their recent arrangement of a strategic investment in NFT Trader, which is a Canadian company operating a secure peer-to-peer over-the-counter trading protocol for NFTs.
NFT Trader has collaborated on many popular projects, including Bored Ape Yacht Club, Cool Cats, Gutter Cat Gang and CyberKongz. They’re centred around a decentralized Web 3.0 ecosystem for trading digital assets and offer support for interoperable swapping of a list of tokens.
“The world of finance is rapidly changing and nowhere is that more apparent than what we are seeing with the emergence of Web3, the metaverse and NFTs. Trading volume for NFTs in 2020 was estimated at less than $100-million and that grew an estimated 230 times last year to over $23-billion (U.S.). This is also clearly just the beginning as we’re just starting to see a whole new crop of play to earn video games where players are rewarded in native crypto currency and where their characters are NFTs that can be traded,” according to David Feller, CEO of Mogo.
The deal spells out like a foothold towards a potential acquisition:
Mogo’s investment is through a convertible note, which if they were to convert it would translate into 25% interest in NFT Trader. They also have an option to get another 25% through a secondary purchase of common shares from the founders within six months. They also get to appoint one direct to NFT Traders board of directors and have a pro rata right for any future securities offerings by NFT Trader, and right of first refusal over an transfers from NFT Trader’s founders.
Should be interesting to see how this one unfolds.
Graph Blockchain subsidiary drops Omicron Queen NFT
Apparently there’s this musician named Karl Wolf, and he’s got a new single out. For the sake of finding out what the kids are into nowadays, I gave it a few spins. It’s totally a Billy Ocean riff off of Caribbean Queen, and it’s actually pretty damn fun in the way Weird Al parodies are fun. The story behind it is pretty simple: dude got Omicron. Wrote a song about Omicron. Made bank.
Check it out.
Anyway—former Equity Guru client Graph Blockchain (GBLC.C) subsidiary New World will be dropping the NFT version of Karl Wolf’s song. The NFT collection came out this week after the release of his album, 2AM Vibes, which has his hit Get Away.
That one’s a bit more standard auto-in pop, but the video was pretty cool. The Get Away song kinda makes me nostalgic for the days when not every song had to be filtered through a a computer and all resemblance of humanity sucked away.
Right. Back to blockchain.
“After finding out I was positive with Omicron around the holidays, frustrated and not being able to spend time with my family on Christmas, I went to my home studio and recorded Omicron Queen as a parody to Caribbean Queen by Billy Ocean. Just like the Omicron variant went viral in real life (IRL), Omicron Queen has gone viral on TikTok and is one of the hottest songs on the short-video platform right now,” said Wolf.
I can dig it. If you’re going to make money from the music industry today, you gotta maintain your sense-of-humour. Like making fun of the government’s reaction to the omicron variant. I do so love some gallows humour.
Ex Miscellany
This part of the roundup is for those that don’t really belong anywhere else. Here we have the odds and ends—the fintechs and exchanges.
First, let’s chat about Intellabridge Technology (KASH.C). They’re a digital bank using blockchain technologies that gives retail and institutional investors alike access to decentralized financial applications.
They’ve recently been selected to join the Mastercard Start Path program, which was created to help tech companies scale and grow through access to Mastercard’s technological expertise and solutions. The start path program is there to help companies in the crypto-space, (including but not exclusive to digital assets, blockchain, and crypto-companies) grow. The deal is expected to help boost Kash’s market expansion and growth by connecting the company with Mastercard’s partners and enterprises.
Which seems like kind of a big deal for a nascent company trying to get the rust off the tires.
“We believe that 2022 is going to be the year for blockchain banking and payments, and together with Mastercard’s market expertise and global thought leadership, we will be able to provide customers with solutions and services designed to meet their needs,” said John Eagleton, Intellabridge CEO.
Bigg Digital to roll out Pay To Crypto with BBTV
Bigg Digital Assets (BIGG.C) most recent partnership wtih BBTV Holdings is to launch a Pay to Crypto solution to help pay BBTV creators in crypto.
First, what’s BBTV? They’re a global media and tech company from Vancouver, Canada. Their mission statement involves helping content creators become more successful—and their range of creators goes from individuals to global media brands. They provide end-to-end solutions to increase viewership and drive revenue powered by its innovative tech, thereby giving content creators the opportunity to focus on what they do best—which is create content.
In January 2021, BBTV had the second most unique monthly viewers among digital platforms, with more than 600 million globally who consumed more than 50 billion minutes of video content, the most among media companies.
“We are thrilled to work with BBTV to enable this unique payment system, built on the Netcoins infrastructure and licensed offering. We see this as a first mover opportunity for BBTV, and utilizing our existing scale to offer excellent prices and seamless technology integration, sets BBTV up to be the leader in crypto payments to content creators,” Mark Binns, BIGG’s CEO said.
Netcoins is, of course, BIGG’s cryptocurrency exchange. They’ll be leveraging Netcoins’ Restricted Dealer License to pay their content creators in crypto, which is decent for everyone all around.
Including you if you’re in. Until next week, steer of clear of omicron. I’m out.
—Joseph Morton
