This year hasn’t been particularly good for the markets. The decline over the past year has been brutal, including volatility on major indexes, inflation hikes and of course the Russia-Ukraine crisis. Uncertainty seems to be the order of the day both domestically and globally. It also means there’s opportunity for investors. Volatility seems to be the order of the day. But there are a handful of companies looking to turn the steady dips and rises of the market and make something of a dance out of it.

Hut 8 Mining mines 309 bitcoin in May

First up on today’s dance card is Hut 8 Mining (HUT.T).

Hut 8 Mining is one of North America’s largest bitcoin miners. It’s led by a team of technologists who are making inroads in Bitcoin, blockchain, Web 3.0 and building bridges between the traditional high performance computing world and that of the future. It has two digital mining sites—two in southern Alberta and a third in North Bay, Ontario—and the highest capacity rates in the industry with one of the biggest inventories of self-mined bitcoin than any other miner presently operating.

“We are thrilled that our most powerful and efficient machines are now mining bitcoin at our North Bay site. Over the next several weeks, our team will continue to install and bring miners on-line in real-time, complementing production at our facilities in Medicine Hat and Drumheller,” said Jaime Leverton, CEO of Hut 8.

Here’s how they did in May.

• 309 bitcoin were mined, resulting in an average production rate of 10 bitcoin per day.
• The company’s Ethereum mining — for which it receives payment in bitcoin — generated approximately 14 per cent of its total production at a cost of approximately $3,654 per BTC.
• 100 per cent of the self-mined bitcoin in May were deposited into custody, consistent with Hut 8’s longstanding HODL strategy.
• The company concluded its bitcoin yield programs during the month, bringing 100 per cent of its reserves into custody.
• Total bitcoin balance held in reserve is 7,078 as of May 31, 2022.
• Installed operating capacity was 2.64 exahashes per second.

And some additional updates about their other sites:

• Power costs continued to fluctuate throughout the month, and the company limited its consumption at Drumheller when the spot price of power spiked.
• Testing began at Hut 8’s third mine in North Bay, Ont., in late May and began operating on 15 megawatts of power on June 2, 2022, adding approximately 400 petahashes per second to Hut 8’s operating capacity.
• The company is continuing to add miners and increase its power supply throughout June, and it anticipates that the North Bay mine will have a measurable impact on its production results going forward.

Clearmind reviews treatment preclinical results

Clearmind Medicine (CMND.C) released positive results from their cocaine addiction preclinical trials using MEAI, their novel psychedelic molecule, this week.

You don’t have to channel Rick James to know cocaine is a hell of a drug.

According to statscan, about 4% of Canadians reported having used at least one illegal drug in 2019. Among these users, cocaine was the most commonly used drug (2%), accounting for approximately half (49%) of illegal drug use.

Cocaine’s never been my thing—primarily because everyone I know who tries it turns into an asshole for the duration and I’m enough of an asshole as is. There’s no need to take that to the next level. Also, the highly addictive nature and the prospects of overdose, not to mention the strong potential admixture with other drugs like fentanyl because you can never completely know what happened between the coca leaf and your nose.

Too much risk. Too little reward.

Other people’s dance instructions may vary, though, and that’s why we need companies like Clearmind to help people find their way back to sobriety.

“This exciting research on MEAI could go a long way in helping those who need it,” said Dr. Adi Zuloff-Shani, Clearmind’s Chief Executive Officer. “While effective treatments for opioid addictions have been available, this could be the first dedicated treatment for cocaine addiction, which is a global crisis.”

The preclinical trial is led by Professor Gal Yadid and his team out of the Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center at Bar Ilan University in Israel. It was designed originally to determine the possible reward-like effects on MEAI, on male Sprague-Dawley rats based on a model called Conditioned Place Preference.

Rats are given 15 mg/kg of cocaine or MEAT at doses of 2.5, 5, 10, and 20 mg/kg. The study reported that the rats dosed with MEAI spent less time in the compartment associated with cocaine. Results here suggest a potential role for MEAT in abolishing the cocaine-induced conditioned place preference. Or the rats stop going with the cocaine can be found, eliminating the cravings, and also the compound itself is not addictive.

Could be something interesting to keep on your radar.

Coinllectibles rolls out new service to help get into Web 3.0 markets

Coinllectables, itself a subsidiary of Cosmos Group Holdings (COSG.OTC), is helping to roll out their proprietary Web3 as a service (3aaS) to auction houses, galleries, artists and other such folks in the arts and collectibles industry.

3aaS is a service that helps businesses adopt and implement blockchain, NFT and metaverse technologies. The company’s Web 3 capabilities include metaverse construction, creating purposely digital ownership tokens (DOTS) using NFT tech, and using blockchain for ledger and record purposes. They’re also into artificial intelligence and autostereoscopic 3D.

“What makes Coinllectibles(TM) different from other NFT companies is our usage of Digital Ownership Tokens (DOTs). Unlike regular NFTs, our DOTs include legally binding documentation, along with all other important digital files, which are embedded into the metadata of the NFTs and minting onto a reliable blockchain. When it comes to physical assets, we pair the tangible item to the DOT via our proprietary identification technology. We have done extensive market research, and we are one of the few companies that offer such a comprehensive Web 3.0 solution. Thus, we are confident that Coinllectibles(TM) is well positioned to help companies within the arts and collectibles space access the fast-growing Web 3.0 market,” said Marsella Cheng, Coinllectables PR director.

According to Prophecy Market Insights, the Web 3.0 blockchain market is expected to be worth US$87.76 billion by 2030, and getting this business out will greatly boost Coinllectibles fortunes.

Coinllectibles honestly is one of those companies of which we can’t be certain. It’s hard to tell if they’re on the level given that the industry they’re in is questionable. But if you’re looking for a dance partner to get you into Web 3.0, then this one might be worth a second glance. Just make sure you do your due diligence before making any sudden moves.

Tripsitter Clinic launches ketamine therapy app

Tripsitter Clinic (KETA.C) launched their Tripsitter app this week. Tripsitter is a simple and free application that makes it easier for users to use Tripsitter Clinics’ services.

The app is available through the Apple store and Google Play store. It includes a compatibility assessment so patients can be matched with Tripsitters that share common interests and personalities. It also features secure telehealth and unlimited messaging between patients and their Tripsitter to help enable scheduling, medication tracking and billing.

“We are delighted to announce our new app launch which will enable users with a convenient platform for patients to connect to a doctor, and then be guided along their psychedelic healing journey with specially trained Tripsitters,” said Dr John Huber, the CEO of Tripsitter Clinic.

Tripsitter Clinic is a subsidiary of Tripsitter Clinic Corp, and provides an easy convergence of two sectors—those being telehealth and psychedelic medicine. Tripsitter.Clinic is the company’s virtual clinic, and it’s a software-as-a-service platform providing care, monitoring and coaching while facilitating connections between licensed physicians in the United States who can determine if a low dose course of ketamine would work best and prescribe it.

At present, Tripsitter has spread out over 32 states including California, Florida, New York, Texas and more, and they intend to spread out even further in the next six months.

Sabio Holdings receives Verified by TAG status

Sabio Holdings (SBIO.V) subsidiary App Science has performed all the necessary dance steps and jumped through the necessary hoops to qualify to be Verified by TAG, and therefore be included in the TAG Registry by the Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG).

TAG is an advertising industry initiative built to help fight criminal activity and strengthen brand safety in the digital advertising supply chain.

“Insuring we are championing initiatives that propel trust and transparency in digital media has been mission critical for Sabio Holdings and App Science. We are proud to join TAG and their community in hopes to empower by collaborating and educating each other for greater brand safety and increased media performance,” said Jon Stimmel, Sabio’s chief growth officer.

The verification involves completing a background check and review process by Dun and Bradstreet (DNB.NYSE), which is an American company that provides commercial data, analytics and insights for businesses, and then get approval by TAG that verifies companies as legit particpants in the digital advertising supply chain. After the process is complete, a company gets access to the searchable TAG registry of trusted industry participants, and gets a unique ID that it can use to display its status and identify ads to trading partners in the chain.

“As an agnostic cross screen measurement solution, it is of utmost importance for App Science to provide a trustworthy and transparent platform. TAG provides that accountability and we look forward to continuing to provide the digital advertising industry confidence in working together,” said Helen Lum, EVP of App Science.

TAG is a global initiative focused on increasing trust and fighting criminal activity in the digital advertising industry. It’s primary focuses are on eliminating fraudulent traffic, promoting brand safety by connecting industry leaders, analyzing threats and sharing best practices on an international scale. It’s a 700+ strong member organization that includes some of the world’s largest brands, agencies, publishers and ad tech providers.

There’s no word on whether or not they taught the company the secret handshake or shared a decoder ring.

Let’s talk about zombie credits

Zombie credits are expired, retired or low-quality carbon offset credits and evidently they’ve been the subject of some discussion. The discussion surrounds the tokenization of these so-called zombie credits. Regardless, DeepMarkit (MKT.V) has taken a stance against tokenization of expired carbon offset credits, and instead thinks that only active, legit and validated credits should be tokenized and recognized by registries. Registries are important to project information and verification, and are therefore essential to maintaining the integrity of the carbon offset market.

You can learn something new everyday. First that there was something called zombie credits, and second there was a carbon offset market. Makes sense, though.

“DeepMarkit is deeply aware of the challenges and issues facing the new crypto-carbon space and I am proud of our team’s efforts to identify friction points early in our development cycle. We are pro-actively and continuously engaging and collaborating with respected industry players, from registries to project developers to carbon credit buyers, in order to address these concerns and have built viable solutions and functionality into our proprietary platform, MintCarbon.io,” said Ranjeet Sundher, interim chief executive officer.

Regardless, DeepMarkit is a company working to democratize access to the carbon offset by market by mining credits into NFTs. It’s subsidiary, First Carbon Group is a software infrastructure company involved in tokenization. Their primary asset is called MintCarbon.io, and it’s a web-based SaaS platform involved in said minting of NFTs or other secure tokens (usually ERC-20).

It’s interesting that NFTs can now be used as a way for carbon offset projects to gain recognition. It amplifies the details, impact and goals that the companies involved aim to achieve. MintCarbon.io is designed to bring forth the blockchain ideals of liquidity, transparency and integrity to these markets.

Outtro:

The last dance isn’t another procession of clumsy themes I’ve come up with. In this case, it’s literal as I won’t be writing this column anymore. I’d like to thank you for coming along with me for the past year and hope to see you somewhere down the road.

—Joseph Morton