Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:48 AM on Wednesday, October 16th, 2019
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)Â Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
TN: CSE —————————-
Nickel and palladium surge on the back of supply constraints
Nickel price has recently surged reaching US$18,000/t
This is mostly due to the Indonesian nickel ore export ban to commence January 2020, as well as the Philippines indefinitely suspending nickel mining in southern Philippines (27% of overall Philippine nickel ore exports are from this area).
The past few years have generally been tough for the miners,
especially for investors that joined the electric vehicle (EV) metal
miners boom at its first peak (January 2018). However, all is not lost.
For nimble investors, there are some great gains to be made when metal
prices spike, but you need to be not too late to the party. Right nowtwo metals are rising fast
on supply constraints and strong demand. Furthermore, they should
continue to do well for some time. In many cases, the associated miners
have been slow to reflect the gains as investor sentiment has been
weighed down by the trade war. This leaves some incredible buys for those willing to invest.
Those two metals are nickel and palladium.
Nickel
As we can see below the nickel price has recently surged reaching US$18,000/t. This is mostly due to the Indonesian nickel ore export ban to commence January 2020, as well as the Philippines indefinitely suspending nickel mining in southern Philippines (27% of overall Philippine nickel ore exports are from this area).
Nickel supply reductions from the two largest nickel producing
countries (Indonesia and Philippines represent 45% of global nickel
supply) and an EV led demand surge are combining to cause nickel
deficits and a nickel price spike, as shown below.
Add in resilient nickel demand and soon a surge in EV related demand and you have the recipe for a nickel boom.
Nickel 5 year price chart
EV related demand for class 1 nickel is set to surge more than
tenfold from end 2018 to 2025, or increase from 36,000 tonnes in 2018 to
350,000-500,000 tonnes by 2025. In a 2 million tonne total nickel
market, a 500,000 tonne increase represents a 25% increase just from the
EV boom.
LME nickel inventory levels fell last week the most in 40 years
Just last week LME inventory levels fell the most in 40 years, as
China’s Tsingshan Holding Group Co. bought 25,000 tonnes of LME nickel.
Apparently a further 75,000 tons of metal are scheduled to be delivered
out soon. That could send LME nickel below 50,000 tonnes and panic the
market causing nickel prices to surge even higher.
Palladium
Palladium metal prices have doubled the past year and a half on the
back of strong demand for palladium used in catalytic converters. The
price is now over US$1,700/oz, significantly higher than gold at
US$1,492/oz.
Palladium 5 year price chart
Europe is reducing emissions targets in 2020, 2025, and 2030 and
other countries will follow. This means more palladium will be needed in
catalytic converters. As reported
by Reuters, Morgan Stanley recently stated that starting 2020 in China
each vehicle will need to contain around 30% more palladium, platinum
and rhodium. Some analysts are already forecasting US$2,000/oz palladium.
The only caveat here is if we see very rapid electric vehicle take up
and hence less internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles then demand
could stall or even reverse. However, this should still be several years
away given the electric car market share globally is still only at
2.3%. Hybrid EVs use both palladium and nickel. Note also that platinum
can be used to substitute for palladium but it is not so easy and the
cycle to replace can be costly and take ~2 years.
Tags: CSE, nickel, nickel demand, stocks, tsx, tsx-v Posted in Tartisan Nickel | Comments Off on Tartisan #Nickel $TN.ca – Nickel and palladium surge on the back of supply constraints $ROX.ca $FF.ca $EDG.ca $AGL.ca $ANZ.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:48 AM on Wednesday, October 16th, 2019
SPONSOR:ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE)
Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a
Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed
small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More
than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest
small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.
Brokerage firm eToro has brought a new tool to the market that’s supposed to help investors crack the code of investing in cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin – crypto Twitter.
By: Harsh Chauhan
Brokerage firm eToro has brought a new tool to the market that’s
supposed to help investors crack the code of investing in
cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin – crypto Twitter.
In a recent blog,
eToro announced that it is partnering with cryptocurrency information
service provider TIE, which uses algorithms based on crowd-driven
sentiment to develop trading strategies.
Twitter can help you make money in bitcoin and crypto
The brokerage firm points out that TheTIE-LongOnly CopyPortfolio will
open trades on the basis of positive Twitter sentiment. The machine
learning-powered algorithm will analyze over 850 million tweets daily to gauge cryptocurrency and bitcoin sentiment.
What’s more, eToro claims that the crypto Twitter-based trading
strategies have led to returns of 281 percent after fees in the past two
years. The annualized return of the trading strategy is 123 percent,
which outpaces the 29 percent return delivered by an equally-weighted
basket of identical underlying crypto assets.
eToro claims that the algorithm has also beaten bitcoin’s 41 percent
return over the past two years. So, the premise of the Twitter-based
investment strategy looks promising given the track record over the past
couple of years. But what’s the reason why this strategy seems to be
working so well so far?
Sentiment-driven investing could be the key to cracking crypto
Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are relatively new. So the world seems confused about the characteristics
of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which was originally meant to be
a method of peer-to-peer electronic cash system for making online
payments.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:40 AM on Wednesday, October 16th, 2019
PartyCasino.Fun, one of the world’s largest online casinos, to engage with gamers and esports industry at EGLX
Designed a customized marketing campaign with multiple touchpoints to gamers to target the sought after demographic
Partnership includes sponsor logo on Luminosity Jersey and sponsorship in EGLX 19+ Lounge to expand PartyCasino.Fun’s Canadian audience
TORONTO, Oct. 16, 2019 — Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV:EGLX) (FSE:2AV)(“Enthusiast Gaming†or the “Companyâ€) is excited to announce that, in partnership with its esports division, Luminosity Gaming (“Luminosityâ€), it has entered into a sponsorship and partnership agreement (the “Agreementâ€) with PartyCasino.Fun, a leading online casino with over 500 games ranging from classics such as Blackjack and Roulette, to a wide variety of online slots.
Through the Agreement, PartyCasino.Fun’s logo will appear on
Luminosity Gaming jerseys, which will be visible during live streams
and broadcast events, as well as in the online store. Additionally,
PartyCasino.Fun will sponsor the 19+ gaming lounge at EGLX, providing
mutual access and opportunity to another tier of gamers.
Enthusiast Gaming will run a series of polls that ask attendees to
choose between a real-life location and a videogame location. After the
poll’s conclusion in December, the results will be utilized on
Enthusiast Gaming’s wide social media presence to promote
PartyCasino.Fun as a personal getaway, giving PartyCasino.Fun a newfound
Canadian reach.
The collaboration with PartyCasino.Fun unlocks a new audience segment
for Enthusiast Gaming, the lucrative online gambling community.
Enthusiast Gaming has multiple points of engagement to gamers which
provides the unique ability to leverage the entire network of media,
esports and events assets. Enthusiast Gaming’s newly hired direct sales
team is already adding value by leveraging direct relationships with
brands and agencies and offering a custom, targeted approach to reach
the gamer demographic. The partnership with PartyCasino.Fun was driven
by the sales team, and is a testament to how successful the overall
strategy can be.
Menashe Kestenbaum, President of Enthusiast Gaming commented, “The
partnership with PartyCasino.Fun is exciting for us and validates the
size and scale of our combined media and gaming platform. We used the
sales and marketing expertise of our newly formed direct sales team, to
create a unique, customized marketing strategy for PartyCasino.Fun to
reach their media and sponsorship goals. It is encouraging to see our
sales force already delivering value and driving revenue. We look
forward to partnering with PartyCasino.Fun, and working closely with
their team!â€
Alessandro De Stasio, Head of Marketing of PartyCasino.Fun commented, “We
are excited to have the chance to partner up with the largest gaming
and esports organization in Canada. We are sure that the combination
with our audiences will untap new marketing opportunities whether it
comes to reach, events and/or activations.â€
About PartyCasino.Fun
PartyCasino.Fun is the play for fun solution launched in H2 2019 with
the scope to provide our customer a different online casino experience
where no real money is involved. PartyCasino is the leading casino brand
of GVC Holdings PLC (LSE:GVC) (“GVCâ€) and, as one of
the world’s largest online casinos, houses over one thousand games
between slot machines, blackjack, roulette and other table games. GVC
runs four main product verticals: sports, casino, poker and bingo. GVC, a
leading e-gaming operator in B2C and B2B markets, has licenses
throughout several countries including Austria, Italy, United Kingdom,
Denmark, Belgium, Germany and others. With multitudes of established
brands under its belt that have a combined heritage of over 250 years,
GVC is one of the biggest sports-betting and gaming groups in the world.
About Enthusiast Gaming
Enthusiast Gaming
(TSX.V: EGLX)(FSE: 2AV) is building the world’s largest network of
communities for gamers and esports fans. Already the largest gaming
network in the U.S., the Company’s business is comprised of three main
pillars: Media, Events and Esports. Enthusiast Gaming’s digital media
platform includes 100+ gaming related websites and 900 YouTube channels
which collectively reach 150 million visitors monthly. The media network
generates over 30 billion ad requests and over 1 billion page views per
month. Enthusiast’s esports division, Luminosity Gaming, is a leading
global esports franchise that consists of 7 professional esports teams
under ownership and management, including the Vancouver Titans
Overwatch team and the Seattle-based Call of Duty team. Collectively,
the integrated ecosystem reaches over 200 million gaming enthusiasts on a
monthly basis. Enthusiast Gaming’s event business, owns and operates
Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (eglx.com) with approximately 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com. For more information on Luminosity Gaming, please visit luminosity.gg
CONTACT INFORMATION
Investor Relations:
Julia Becker Head of Investor Relations & Marketing Telephone: 604-785-0850 Email: [email protected]
Forward-Looking Information
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking
statements. Forward looking statements consist of statements that are
not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs,
plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results,
performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in
the statements, including risks related to factors beyond the control
of Enthusiast Gaming. The risks include risks that are customary to
transactions of this nature and customary to companies which have their
stock traded on the TSXV. No assurance can be given that any of the
events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if
they do occur, what benefits Enthusiast Gaming will obtain from them.
For instance, there can be no assurance that the acquisition will close
as anticipated, that the acquisition will position the Company as a
leader in the mobile gaming sector and that the acquisition will result
in growth of the Company’s online and offline gaming community.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or
solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United
States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under
the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S.
Securities Actâ€) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or
sold within the United States or to a U.S. Person unless registered
under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an
exemption from such registration is available.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:27 PM on Tuesday, October 15th, 2019
SPONSOR:Â Bougainville Ventures Inc (CSE: BOG) provides strategic capital to the thriving cannabis cultivation sector through ownership and development of commercial real estate properties. The company also offers fully built out turnkey facilities equipped with state-of-the-art growing infrastructure to cannabis growers and processors. Click here for more info.
CBD Demand Soars With a Growing Number of Uses
Global cannabidiol market is expected to grow from USD 1.04 Billion in 2018 to USD 16.32 Billion by 2026 while registering a CAGR of 27.7% during the forecast period, according to data compiled by Reports and Data
NEW YORK, Oct. 15, 2019 – As the medical industry continues to evolve, researchers are actively looking for innovative remedies and treatments for patients. Notably, cannabis has become the topic of discussion after numerous researchers and institutions highlighted its therapeutic benefits. However, despite medical advancements throughout the cannabis industry, most federal regulators around the world have not yet moved to fully legalize cannabis for medical applications because of the psychotropic effects associated with it. Nevertheless, several regulators have decided to legalize cannabidiol, or CBD, a compound found within cannabis. CBD is a derivative found within the cannabis plant, however, unlike its tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, counterpart, it does not induce psychoactive effects. Consequently, regulators became more inclined to legalize CBD. Primarily, the CBD industry is being accelerated by the healthcare segment.
Specifically, countries such as Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
the U.K. and the U.S. have all adopted CBD-related legislation.
Overall, the therapeutic grade segment dominates that overall CBD market
because of increasing demand from innumerable applications. The segment
accounted for 58.6% of the overall CBD market share and is expected to
continue its dominance. In particular, the healthcare segment is
expected to account for a total of USD 10.28 Billion of the
CBD market by 2026. Moreover, the food and beverage industry is also
expected to witness exponential growth. And while the U.S. and Canada
are the primary drivers for the global CBD market, other international
markets are also expected to greatly contribute. For instance, the Asia Pacific market is anticipated to reach USD 3.1 Billion
by 2026 and exhibit a CAGR of 29.5%, while the European market is
projected to grow at a CAGR of 28.9%. As a result, the global
cannabidiol market is expected to grow from USD 1.04 Billion in 2018 to USD 16.32 Billion by 2026 while registering a CAGR of 27.7% during the forecast period, according to data compiled by Reports and Data.
The pharmaceutical segment of the CBD industry is expected to witness
significant R&D investments to accelerate deployment and meet the
medical needs of a number of diseases. Specifically, researchers have
uncovered that CBD can treat a variety of diseases such as chronic pain,
anxiety, depression, and cancer. And while most of these conditions
would likely require a prescription from a medical practitioner, there
are over-the-counter or OTC products that consumers can easily purchase
at their local convenience stores in the U.S. or Canada.
Consumers can purchase CBD-based products such as tinctures, topicals,
patches, capsules, foods, and beverages. Typically, most OTC products
are marketed as health and wellness products that are aimed to relieve
minor ailments. For instance, many health and wellness retailers promote
CBD as a way to stimulate relaxation or relieve small headaches.
Notably, major pharmaceutical retailers such as CVS or Walgreens have
also decided to add CBD products to their shelves. The two corporations
added CBD products in order to provide consumers with cheaper and
alternative care products. “It really does help normalize this. If
Grandma can go to the store and get it, now the conversation about
cannabis is going to be very different,” said Michele Ross,
PhD, MBA, Research Director at Decriminalize California. “CBD business
is already huge. But normalizing the culture around taking these
products is going to open the door for more people to feel comfortable
investing in these types of businesses. It opens up the possibility for
them to be sold in more stores.”
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 7:18 AM on Tuesday, October 15th, 2019
Sponsors include: Bell Media, Ubisoft Canada, Nintendo, CIBC, HP Omen and MSI
Rising Stars Tournament with $40,000 prize pool and a sponsorship deal with Luminosity Gaming
Rainbow Six Canada National Finals in partnership with Ubisoft Canada
Special guests include: professional esports players SypherPK,
JuniorPK and Destroy, and gaming personalities Greg Miller, Nick
Scarpino and Andy Cortez of Kinda Funny, Craig Skistimas and Game Attack team, Bruce Green and Kris Wilson of Cyanide and Happiness
Gaming Industry Summit expert speakers include: Adam Boyes
(CEO of Iron Galaxy), Rishi Chadha (Head of Gaming Content Partnerships,
Twitter), Bryan Segal (SVP, Comscore)
TORONTO, Oct. 15, 2019 – Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV:EGLX)(FSE: 2AV) (“Enthusiast†or the “Companyâ€) is excited to announce that the Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo (“EGLXâ€), Canada’s largest video gaming expo, is taking place Friday, October 18, to Sunday, October 20 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (“MTCCâ€) in downtown Toronto.
EGLX, which had over 55,000 attendees at last year’s events, is a celebration of everything gaming and esports. Attendees of EGLX 2019 can expect three jam-packed days featuring over 150 exhibitors, panels, cosplay, free play, the Artist Alley, an Indie Corner and a Family Zone.
EGLX 2019 will host the inaugural Rising Stars Tournament with a $40,000 prize pool and a sponsorship deal with Enthusiast Gaming’s Esports Division, Luminosity Gaming. The tournament gives promising gamers an opportunity to battle against each other in Fortnite, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. The winner of each game will be crowned the EGLX Rising Star and given the opportunity to attend three tournaments of their choice across North America.Â
Corey Mandell, President of Enthusiast Gaming’s events division, EG Live, commented, “We
continue to grow and expand our events business which includes almost
30 live gaming and esports events worldwide. Our goal has always been to
provide interactive, in-person experiences for gamers to connect
globally. At this year’s EGLX, we’ve almost doubled the floor space as
we anticipate a significant increase in attendees. We have over 150
exhibitors and have seen an increase in non-endemic brand sponsors as
gaming becomes more mainstream!â€
With sponsors including Bell, Ubisoft Canada, CIBC, Nintendo, HP Omen
and MSI, the expo is set to be stacked with more prizes and pre-release
sneak peeks than ever before. EGLX attendees will get the opportunity
to watch the finals of the Rainbow Six Canada Nationals, hosted on the
main stage, in partnership with EGLX sponsor Ubisoft Canada.
Special
guests at EGLX include: professional esports athletes, SypherPK,
JuniorPK, and Destroy and gaming personalities, Greg Miller, Nick
Scarpino and Andy Cortez of Kinda Funny, Craig Skistimas and Game Attack
team, Bruce Green and Kris Wilson of Cyanide and Happiness.
EGLX
will kick off the expo on Friday October 18 with the Gaming Industry
Summit, a one-day event where over 200 investors and gaming enthusiasts
will listen to experts discuss the gaming industry and how to invest in
the 150 billion dollar sector. Confirmed industry experts include:
Keynote, Adam Boyes, CEO of Iron Galaxy and former VP at Sony
PlayStation; Rishi Chadha, Twitter’s Head of Gaming Content Partnerships
and Bryan Segal, SVP at ComScore, Canada. Sponsors for the Gaming
Industry Summit include: Canaccord Genuity, PI Financial, Minden Gross
and CIBC.
Also on Friday, Enthusiast Gaming is hosting an invitation-only
marketing event “From Mom’s Basement to the Boardroom†to provide
valuable insight on how to market/advertise to the highly lucrative
gamer demographic.
EGLX is taking place on Friday, October 18 from 3:00pm-9:00pm,
Saturday, October 19 from 10:00am-8:00pm, and Sunday, October 20 from
10:00am-6:00pm. To purchase tickets and for additional event
information, please visit EGLX.com.
About Enthusiast Gaming
Enthusiast Gaming (TSX.V: EGLX)(FSE: 2AV) is building the largest
network of gaming and esports communities in the world. Already the
largest gaming network in the U.S, the Company’s business is comprised
of three main pillars: Media, Events, Esports. Enthusiast Gaming’s
digital media platform includes +100 gaming related websites and 900
YouTube channels which collectively reach 150 million visitors monthly
with over 1 billion page views. Enthusiast’s esports division,
Luminosity Gaming, a leading global esports franchise consists of 7
professional esports teams under ownership and management, including the
#1 ranked Overwatch team, the Vancouver Titans and over 50 gaming
influencers with a total audience of 60 million followers. Collectively,
the integrated ecosystem reaches over 200 million gaming enthusiasts on
a monthly basis. Enthusiast Gaming’s event business, owns and operates
Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (eglx.com) with approximately 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com. For more information on Luminosity Gaming, please visit luminosity.gg
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Investor Relations:
Julia Becker Head of Investor Relations & Marketing [email protected] (604) 785.0850
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking
statements. Forward looking statements consist of statements that are
not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs,
plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such statements
are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results,
performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in
the statements, including risks related to factors beyond the control
of Enthusiast Gaming. The risks include risks that are customary to
transactions of this nature and customary to companies which have their
stock traded on the TSXV. No assurance can be given that any of the
events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will occur or, if
they do occur, what benefits Enthusiast Gaming will obtain from them.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or
solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities in the United
States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under
the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S.
Securities Actâ€) or any state securities laws and may not be offered or
sold within the United States or to a U.S. Person unless registered
under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an
exemption from such registration is available.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services
Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture
Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
CBD is short for cannabidiol, which is one of the many compounds found in cannabis and hemp. Unlike tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), it’s non-psychoactive. Manufacturers have found a way to separate CBD from the plants, and the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (aka the Farm Bill) legalized hemp-derived CBD that contains no more than 0.3% THC and is made from hemp grown by licensed producers. (That’s why you’ve seen so many CBD products recently.) But so far, the Food and Drug Administration has only approved one form of CBD: Epidiolex, a drug containing a purified marijuana-derived form of CBD, which is used for preventing seizures caused by rare forms of epilepsy.Â
However, medical marijuana — which contains CBD as well as THC and other compounds — has been used by cancer patients for many years. In 1996, California became the first state to legalize marijuana for medical use. And although marijuana is still illegal on a federal level, it’s currently legal for medical use in 33 states — and it’s approved for use by cancer patients in every state in which medical marijuana is legal. (For comparison, medical marijuana is approved for use by patients with Crohn’s disease in only 27 states.) Additionally, the FDA has approved two chemically pure drugs based on marijuana compounds to treat nausea and vomiting in cancer chemotherapy patients. Â
A 2016 review of medical marijuana’s use in oncology, published by the American Medical Association journal JAMA Oncology, notes, “Marijuana in oncology may have potential for use as an antiemetic [relieving nausea and vomiting], for refractory cancer pain, and as an antitumor agent. However, much of the data are based on animal data, small trials, or are outdated.†The authors concluded that more research is needed into medical marijuana’s therapeutic use for cancer patients. Â
There is even less research into CBD’s potential benefits for cancer patients. But still, some studies have been conducted. According to the National Cancer Institute, research indicates that CBD may slow the growth or reduce the risk of recurrence of certain kinds of cancers, including breast cancer; enhance the potency of certain medications; and reduce chemotherapy side effects including vomiting, nausea, and anxiety. However, all these studies are limited, and experts agree that further research is needed to understand just how CBD affects humans. Â
Tags: Cannabis, CSE, Hemp, Marijuana, stocks, tsx, tsx-v, weed Posted in Empower Clinics Inc. | Comments Off on The Miracle That Is #CBD, Might Help Breast Cancer Patients Too – SPONSOR: Empower Clinics $CBDT $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $OGI.ca $FAF.ca
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:03 AM on Friday, October 11th, 2019
SPONSOR:ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE)
Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a
Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed
small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More
than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest
small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.
IDK: CSE
Australia’s Gold Mint Is Backing a Crypto Token Based on Ethereum
Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT) was launched by InfiniGold on Friday, and is backed 1:1 by GoldPass certificates issued by The Perth Mint.
The digital certificates are 100% gold backed and guaranteed by the Government of Western Australia, which is the sole owner of the 120-year-old mint.
Australia’s only bullion mint is backing a new digital token aimed to allow investors to trade the precious metal in real time.
The Perth Mint Gold Token (PMGT) was launched by InfiniGold on Friday, and is backed 1:1 by GoldPass
certificates issued by The Perth Mint. The digital certificates are
100% gold backed and guaranteed by the Government of Western Australia,
which is the sole owner of the 120-year-old mint.
“PMGT is digitised gold that allows users to conveniently acquire and
have entitlement over government guaranteed physical gold stored at The
Perth Mint in a trusted and cost-effective way,†InfiniGold said in an announcement. The
token – designed with the assistance of professional services firm
Ernst and Young – is aimed to offer an alternative to traditional gold
investment products such as ETFs, while using blockchain tech to allow
real-time trading and settlement.
InfiniGold CEO Andreas Ruf said:
“With The Perth Mint as custodian of the underlying physical gold
that backs PMGT, buyers will be able to access a secure and reliable
token representing the strongest asset class to date – gold.â€
As far as the underlying tech goes, PMGT is a compatible with
the ERC-20 standard behind by many ethereum-based tokens. InfiniGold is
further touting the token as an alternative to U.S. dollar-backed
stablecoins such as tether and USD Coin.
Perhaps taking aim at tether – the top stablecoin by market cap that’s faced accusations that it manipulated the price of bitcoin and was not actually fully backed by USD –
InfiniGold said PMGT’s gold backing offers investors “superior
transparency, credit quality, risk diversification and hedging against
market volatility.â€
Investors are able to sell their PMGT back to The Perth Mint via its
GoldPass platform, or alternatively can exchange their certificates for
gold the mint’s products. “Subject to final regulatory consultation,
this will make PMGT directly tradable against traditional gold products,
including gold ETFs, CME gold futures, and physical XAU,†said the
company.
Richard Hayes, Perth Mint CEO, said in the announcement:
“The digitisation of gold via a public ledger is a natural
progression for the global commodity markets. It will promote gold as a
mainstream asset, enhance its accessibility, and offer greater
liquidity, transparency and auditability of the real assets backing this
type of digital token.â€
The launch comes as haven assets like gold, and possibly bitcoin, are becoming more attractive to investors. Fears of a U.S. recession
have seen gold prices bounce in recent weeks, and other companies are
launching products to capitalize on the yellow metal’s growing
popularity.
Just yesterday, crypto liquidity and OTC provider B2C2 launched the first gold derivatives product that synthetically trades against bitcoin and is targeted at investors seeking safety from market uncertainty.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 6:08 PM on Thursday, October 10th, 2019
SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc.
(TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 85 owned and affiliated
websites, currently reaching over 150 million monthly visitors. The
company exceeded 2018 target with $11.0 million in revenue. Learn More
Esports: Transforming Media and Entertainment
Competitive gaming esports phenomenon is poised to eclipse the billion-dollar threshold as it represents a game-changing new media and entertainment category.
Audience engagement and growth have driven esports industry revenues on a steep trajectory tracking towards $1.1B in 2019 from merely $195.0M five years back, representing a cannot-be-ignored CAGR of 41.3%.
We are exceptionally bullish on the broadly defined esports ecosystem
as an emerging new media and entertainment market set to eclipse the
billion-dollar threshold. Technology, demographic, regulatory, and
capital tailwinds support compelling value realization across the
ecosystem. The shift of legacy advertising and sponsorship dollars to
esports’ audience demographics where the IP enabled targeting
capabilities and measured advertising ROIs are in the early innings is
on track to surpass the billion-dollar mark.
Billion-dollar legacy sports franchises need to play the long game
given audiences that are increasingly long-inthe-tooth with average ages
of 50+. Esports leagues and franchises represent both a hedge on
audiences moving away from traditional sports but also a means to
cultivate younger audience.Technology titans have placed billion-dollar
bets on platforms and publishing titles. Their competitive dynamics
support further capital flows and a selfregulation of league and
tournament economics to stimulate user growth ahead of near-term
monetization. We refer investors to the hockey stick analogy of going to
where the puck is headed – we see sustained momentum in audience growth
and consequently esports revenues.
We do not see this as a build it and they will come situation.
Rather, the audience is there, set to grow fuelled by aggressive
infrastructure investments and regulatory support, and monetization is
key. Gambling is viewed as both an audience catalyst and source of
revenues. Continued audience growth is expected to push
advertising/marketing through the billion-dollar level.
The competitive gaming esports phenomenon is poised to eclipse the
billion-dollar threshold as it represents a game-changing new media and
entertainment category. Audience engagement and growth have driven
esports industry revenues on a steep trajectory tracking towards $1.1B
(estimates by Newzoo, Exhibit 1) in 2019 from merely $195.0M five years
back, representing a cannot-be-ignored CAGR of 41.3%.
Structurally, esports is similar to traditional sports as both have
professional and amateur players that compete in leagues and tournaments
for prize money, either individually or as part of a team. Much like
legacy sports, the growth in pro-level gaming has been an important
driver in audience growth and amateur adoption as professional players
have broadened awareness, provided playing strategies, and inspired
young players to pursue professional careers.
Technological innovation, the use of data analytics and investment in
gaming arenas, initially for pro-level gaming, are supporting increased
amateur engagement and user growth. In fact, the amateur gaming
industry has created its own niche in the last few years with open
source tournaments and social play that bring additional industry
revenue potential.
Advertising growth along with in-game purchases have the titans of
game publishing and online platforms leveraged to accelerate esports
adoption ahead of near-term monetization strategies that could
potentially moderate growth.
We highlight the continued appreciation in legacy sports franchises
where NBA franchise prices have jumped from $5.0M to ~$2.2B over the
past 40 years. We now draw on the much-used hockey quote where Wayne
Gretzky’s greatness was attributed in large part to his ability to go
where the puck was going.
“Skate to where the puck is going, not where it has been.â€
We are optimistic that esports franchise valuations, and more broadly
the ecosystem, represent a new media and entertainment category where
audience trends suggest the analogy to traditional sports franchises
applies for investors and industry participants. We find that the
reference also applies to owners of legacy sports franchises where we
see esports team ownership and audience outreach as a strategic
imperative to reach and engage millennials.
We have seen forecasts that have US esports viewer levels exceeding
those of all legacy sports leagues with the exception of the NFL by
2021. The NFL’s just-announced partnership with TikTok reflects its
strategic imperative to engage younger viewers and broaden its audience.
Both Wimbledon and the NBA have begun working with TikTok to
similarly engage younger viewers. It is noteworthy that the NFL
similarly moved to expand its audience through live-streaming video on
Twitter, it was the first sports league on Snapchat Discover, and
launched an Alexa voice app. With legacy sporting franchises sporting
billion-dollar valuations, owners are playing the long game where
audience rejuvenation and broadening must be a central consideration.
Esports player demographics continue to expand at both ends of the age spectrum…
The average viewer of an NFL game is over 50 years old with a
downward trend in personal consumption (average age of MLB/PGA viewers
is put at ~57/64+ years). Esports player demographics continue to expand
at both ends of the age spectrum, while the industry moves to attract
younger amateur and prospective professional players.
Significant investments and strong partners have invested in both
college and high school level platforms broadening the development of
younger participants and audiences. For example, Cineplex (CGX-TSX,
C$25.34, Buy, C$34.00 PT) invested C$15.0M to acquire WorldGaming where
it saw the value in its US college network and the potential to leverage
its Canadian real estate platform for tournament and league play.
Moving below the college level, PlayVS (Private), a gaming platform
targeting high school esports tournaments, received $30.5M from
investors including Adidas (ADS-ETR, NR), Samsung (005930-KSE, NR), Sean
“Diddy†Combs, and the VC arm of the Los Angeles Dodgers to make
esports more accessible for teenagers and to support recruiting new
talent. We highlight that Discord (Private), a messaging app with a
focus on video gamers and particularly strong with youth, raised $50.0M
at an implied valuation of $1.7B in Q218 with an estimated 150M+ users
at the time versus its 250M unique users in March 2019 (including 180K+
members on Fortnite’s server).
We see the roll-out of esports gambling as a significant catalyst for greater audience engagement and growth…
It is also worth noting that, the US High School Esports League
(HSEL) has advanced from 200 to 1,200+ during 2018 with its current
reach at 2,000+ schools representing 50K+ students. The HSEL reflects
both the expanding North American market and prospectively a pipeline
for further growth.
However, at its core, the solid viewership of wealthy millennials,
mostly male (we expect that to normalize in the coming years), provides
esports its oxygen. If Newzoo’s numbers are to be trusted, there were
around 380.2M esports viewers globally in 2018 and it is set to grow by
15.0% y/y to 453.8M in 2019, ~44.0% of which are esports enthusiasts
(individuals that watch more than once a month). This number is expected
to reach 557M by 2021, out of which 44-45% would be enthusiasts and the
remaining would be occasional viewers. Still, similar growth in both
categories suggests a possible natural evolution of occasional viewers
to enthusiasts.
We see the roll-out of esports gambling as a significant catalyst for
greater audience engagement and growth. Esports gambling, due to its
solid viewership, is a sub-segment that should not be overlooked by
early stage investors. Globally, the total amount of money/items wagered
around major esports titles was at $5.5B in 2016. Eilers & Krejcik
predicts this number to reach $13.0B by 2020, at their base level
assumptions suggesting royalties of $700-800M.
Broad-based brand interest: Both endemic (within the ecosystem, such
as hardware manufacturers) and non-endemic brands are rushing to
partner with the elite leagues/tournament organizers, players,
influencers, and team organizations to reach millennials..
Broad-based brand interest: Both endemic (within the ecosystem, such
as hardware manufacturers) and non-endemic brands are rushing to partner
with the elite leagues/tournament organizers, players, influencers, and
team organizations to reach millennials in a meaningful way, as
traditional digital advertising formats are losing their sheen and
advertisers are continuously looking for innovative ways to interact
with their customers.
If we put advertising and brand sponsorships into a single basket of
money flowing into esports from marketers, they currently account for
~60% or $645.9M of the total estimated $1.1B esports industry in 2019
(Exhibit 1). North American revenues are forecast at roughly 37% or
$407.0M for 2019 with China put at 19%.
Endemic brands to esports such as Intel (INTC-Nasdaq, NR), MSI
(Private), and Logitech (LOGI-Nasdaq, NR) are promoted when players
either use or recommend their products based on their own experience.
Yet, with their growing maturity, non-endemic brands now account for the
majority of the total sponsorship and advertising esports spend.
In a recent partnership, the Overwatch League (OWL) signed a
multi-year deal with Kellogg (K-NYSE, NR) to promote Pringles and
Cheez-it, which is one example.
Drawing on the traditional sports model, brands are looking for spots
where they can interact with consumers either by placing an ad in the
competition arenas or placing a branded logo on players clothing or
sponsoring the event. Interestingly, individual players and influencers
who stream on platforms such as Twitch (owned by Amazon (AMZN-Nasdaq,
NR)), YouTube Gaming or Mixer (owned by Microsoft (MSFT-Nasdaq, NR))
also partner with brands, where non-endemic brand logos appear on their
clothing or their game screen.
Richard Tyler Blevins, better known as “Ninjaâ€, on Ellen.
For instance, Richard Tyler Blevins, better known as his online alias
“Ninjaâ€, has partnered with brands such as Adidas and Red Bull
(Private). Ninja also recently signed a lucrative contract with Mixer
(speculation includes as much as $100.0M although the debate then moves
on to whether it was per year or for the duration of the three-year
contract) leaving Twitch, which many argue was a key to his fame.
Nonetheless, Ninja amassed more than 2M subscribers in his first
month of joining Mixer. This talks to the strength of these celebrity
players/influencers in the esports ecosystem and their ability to
influence viewers to migrate from one streaming platform to another.
Ninja had 14M followers on Twitch prior to his departure.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:30 AM on Thursday, October 10th, 2019
In less than 18 months, Francis Dube and his team took over management of ZEN Graphene Solutions (ZEN:TSXV) and accelerated it from stuck in the mud to on the brink of commercializing graphene for real world applications. That’s right. ZEN believes it will begin selling small quantities but extremely high priced graphene to Q1 2020, including Graphene Quantum Dots that sell for outrageous $$ / gram … PER GRAM … let alone Kilograms.
How much? Watch the interview where you will also hear about the company’s new graphene R&D + small-scale graphene processing and production facility in Guelph, Ontario. Moreover, you’ll hear about the Company’s success in producing graphene oxide while reducing chemical consumption by up to 100X compared to current methods, as well as, reducing the price of production.
If you’ve been waiting years for graphene production to become a reality … who hasn’t … your wait looks like it’s about to come to end and the good times are about to begin.
Grab your favourite beverage, watch this powerful interview and then spread the word.
