Posted by AGORACOM
at 4:19 PM on Thursday, December 12th, 2019
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Completed gold acquisitions have reached about $33 billion so far in 2019, the highest since 2011
A torrent of deal-making among gold producers that’s pushed M&A in the sector to an eight-year high is seen spilling over into the wider mining industry — if there’s a rally in global growth.
Pending and completed gold acquisitions have reached about
$33 billion so far in 2019, the highest since 2011, according to data complied
by Bloomberg. That’s as deals among all mining companies have declined about
29% from last year to $60-billion, the data show.
A revival in the economic outlook, with higher interest
rates and inflation, would prompt other metals producers to rethink their
current strategy of cutting debt and lifting shareholder returns — and focus
again on pursuing growth, according to Christopher LaFemina, a New
York-based analyst at Jefferies.
“Until now, the market has rewarded companies for austerityâ€
amid a chase for yield, LaFemina said in a phone interview. “We will see a
significant acceleration of M&A activity when global growth recovers.â€
In recent times, the biggest miners, including Rio Tinto and
BHP, have made only some small investments in undeveloped projects and
authorized new spending on expansions at existing operations.
Larger-scale M&A could be an option for Rio next year,
UBS Group analysts, including Glyn Lawcock, said in a report this month.
“Will 2020 see the shackles come off? Growth in the portfolio is limited,†they
said.
Rio has a “watching brief for attractive M&A
opportunities,†though intends to remain “absolutely disciplined,†CEO Jean-Sebastien
Jacques told investors at an October seminar. The company has said its
ventures team is evaluating opportunities in battery materials, including in
nickel. There would be “plenty of logic†for Rio in adding copper producer
First Quantum Minerals, according to Barclays.
BHP is also seeking to add oil, copper and nickel, and could
consider deals that offer an early entry into high-quality resource bases,
particularly before the value of a project is fully understood, CFO Peter
Beaven said in May.
Still, large companies and their investors continue to be
chastened by past failed deals, according to Paul Mitchell, EY’s global mining
and metals leader, and they remain cautious after a multi-year effort to repair
balance sheets in the wake of the 2015 price collapse.
Sectors such as base metals have fewer opportunities for
consolidation than precious metals, and a price downturn hasn’t yet forced
companies into distress, according to David Harquail, chief executive officer
at Franco-Nevada Corp., a mine streaming and royalty company.
Since January’s $10-billion gold mega-merger between then
Newmont Mining and Goldcorp, companies in the sector including Newcrest Mining
have added individual mines, while Kirkland Lake Gold and Zijin Mining Group
acquired smaller rivals. Barrick Gold and a partner on Tuesday agreed to a $430
million deal to sell a 90% stake in a project in Senegal to with Teranga Gold.
Gold’s rally means there’s been “a slightly improved
environment to be able to finally do transactions,†Harquail said. There’s a
prospect of further activity among gold producers into next year, with
investors ready to back proposals that reduce overheads and combine assets, he
said.
“I want to see smart consolidation, not the same thing that
we’ve seen in the past†among gold producers, said Joe Foster, a New York-based
portfolio manager at Van Eck. “There’s value to be created by consolidating
some of these single-asset companies.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:30 PM on Thursday, December 12th, 2019
SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp.
aims to provide access to quality education from around the world.
The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job
industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing
an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
How to address India’s unemployability problem?
According to a report by KPMG and Google, the Indian edtech market is pegged to touch $1.96 billion by 2021.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.â€â€“ Nelson Mandela
But how is one supposed to change the world if provided with outdated education? How is one supposed to even progress if not provided with the platform to change the world after taking the education?
This is the state youth find themselves rather consistently. No,
I’m not talking about Senegal or Syria. I’m talking about India which is
not just largely unemployed but unemployable.
The unemployability problem
Let’s understand the difference first. Unemployability essentially
means that even if there were available jobs, companies wouldn’t hire
the student because he is largely substandard and lack skills worth
paying for. Unemployability emerges from a wide gap between the level of
student’s skills and knowledge resulting from his college education and
in the level of what market demands.
The distressing growing number of educated youth (age 15-29) who are
“Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET)†had increased to 115
million in 2017-18 from 70 million in 2004-5 points to growing
“unemployability†depicting a significant problem with education in
India.
From my experience in educating students over the past 8 years I have
gathered, after graduating most students from Tier 2 & Tier 3
colleges wander in metro cities learning about the market realizing the
massive gap in their knowledge and market demand, taking a few
short-term courses (computer & communication skills), going for some
walk-in interviews and finally settle for anything they can find. This
period ranges approximately from 1.5 to 2 years after college.
The “National Employability Report – Engineers 2016†(NERE), by
Aspiring Minds, an employment assessment organization found out that
nearly 80% of the graduating engineers are unemployable. The above
figures reinforce the fact that only 20 per cent of the five million
students who graduate every year get employed in India according to the
Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).
CP Gurnani, CEO & MD of Tech Mahindra resonates with the above
findings in an interview given to TOI, “The top 10 IT companies take
only 6% of the engineering graduates. What happens to the remaining 94%?
If you come to Tech Mahindra, I have created a five-acre tech &
learning center. For learnability, skill development and being ready for
the market, the onus is now shifting onto the industry.â€
Reasons behind unemployability
During all the razzmatazz in the post-liberalisation era while the
“mass recruiters†propelled the service economy at the rate of 9%
annually, AICTE approved engineering institutes grew to 10,396 in 2018
from a mere 337 in 1991.
But as with every fairy tale, bubbles burst, realities change and supply becomes more than the demand.
Careers started going for a toss and unemployability becomes a two-fold problem in India:
1. Student Mindset: Many are living a myth: getting into a college is the door to a great career.
They fail to seek meaningful advice from the right stakeholders and
not just with peers who still believe in the myth of “engineering
royaltyâ€.
Only 3.84 per cent of engineers in the country have the technical,
cognitive and linguistic skills required for software-related jobs in
startups. A recent study by the University of Exeter in the UK listed
skills like communication, problem-solving, being self-motivated,
organizational, team spirit, adaptability, negotiation as inevitable to
the hiring process. Students from Tier 2 & Tier 3 fall short in
these parameters in a considerable way and rarely strive to learn these.
Apart from a lack of internships, engineers also have low
employability because only 36 per cent do projects beyond their
curriculum.
2. Outdated Curriculum and Reluctant Colleges: Student attendance
writing assignments are given a priority rather than acquiring expert
faculty.
Colleges are not able to upgrade and keep up with the pace of
advancement in the market in terms of curriculum and expert faculty. The
jobs of the glorified past are becoming redundant. Though the demand
for skills like artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science,
digital marketing and mobile development has been shooting up, only 3
per cent of engineers have these new-age technological skills.
Only 40 per cent of engineering graduates do an internship, while a
mere 7 per cent of students do multiple internships and colleges play
little or no part in the procurement.
The subjects are taught in a very theoretical manner. Whereas 60 per
cent of faculty doesn’t talk about the application of concepts in the
industry, only 47 per cent of the engineers attend any industry talk.
Employability vs Employment (NERE)
Employable
Got an Interview Opportunity
Reached Final Round
Employed
Average Salary
19.11 %
72.64 %
51.66 %
19.91 %
3,13,000
Possible solutions
After the IT services and engineering institutes revolution, India saw a third revolution- Start-ups.
According to a report by KPMG and Google, the Indian edtech market is pegged to touch $1.96 billion by 2021.
The best possible solutions to the unemployability problem
can be obtained through strategic partnerships and collaborations
between Startups, Institutes and Industry.
Startups have a better chance of solving these challenges simply
because they have the ability to aggregate and accelerate. When all
these stakeholders work as a team with a focus on employability to offer
industry-oriented quality education, which can advance as quickly as
the technology it can bring about a paradigm shift in mainstream
education:
Student Awareness: Students need to learn that one-time education
(degrees) will neither guarantee them jobs nor will last through entire
working career. Companies are shifting from hiring based on credentials
to hiring based on a candidate’s portfolio/projects and experience.
Institute collaborations EdTech startups can collaborate with
institutes which provide infrastructure and accreditations keeping the
business models “asset lightâ€. Startups can either take the on-campus
“Bootcamps†way (E.g. PESTO) providing 2-6 months- coding, soft skills,
mock interviews, workshops, industry talks and new age technology
courses along with placements in internships or the full take-over way
(E.g. Sunstone Eduversity) where the responsibilities for admissions,
academics (program design, curriculum, and pedagogy), and placements are
presided completely by the startup.
Industry collaborations Startups can diligently make industry
collaborations with industry experts and stalwarts for helping prepare a
better curriculum in resonance with current market scenario and
bringing industry leaders as expert faculty on-board(can be a mix of
online-offline lectures) which would help students understand market
demands. Collaborations should focus on providing hands-on experience in
terms of internships. Placing these students is easier because of trust
due to industry collaborations.
Certification Collaborations Institutes or startups can collaborate
with other strategic partners like foreign universities and renowned
private education companies using their industry-oriented curriculums
and opening up new avenues like digital marketing, AI & ML, big
data, cloud computing, etc.
We need change. We need it now. We need it at a pace which can only
be achieved through strategic collaborations. We need dozens of such
startups to keep with the pace of technology advancements.
DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author’s own.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/the-growth-catalyst/how-to-address-indias-unemployability-problem/
Posted by AGORACOM
at 3:06 PM on Thursday, December 12th, 2019
Ken Konkin Discusses the Goldstorm Deposit at Treaty Creek (including recent outstanding drill results like 0.725 g/t over 838.5m), it’s Potential, and 2020 Development Plans
American
Creek is a Canadian junior mineral exploration company with a strong
portfolio of gold and silver properties in British Columbia.
Three
of those properties are located in the prolific “Golden Triangleâ€; the
Treaty Creek and Electrum joint venture projects with Tudor Gold/Walter
Storm as well as the 100% owned past producing Dunwell Mine.
The
Treaty Creek Project is a Joint Venture with Tudor Gold owning 60% and
acting as operator. American Creek and Teuton Resources each have 20%
interests in the project. American Creek and Teuton are both fully
carried until such time as a Production Notice is issued, at which time
they are required to contribute their respective 20% share of
development costs. Until such time, Tudor is required to fund all
exploration and development costs while both American Creek and Teuton
have “free ridesâ€.
The Corporation also holds the Gold Hill, Austruck-Bonanza, Ample Goldmax, Silver Side, and Glitter King properties located in other prospective areas of the province.
For further information please contact Kelvin Burton at: Phone: 403 752-4040 or Email: [email protected]. Information relating to the Corporation is available on its website at www.americancreek.com.
Hub on Agoracom FULL DISCLOSURE: American Creek is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:38 AM on Thursday, December 12th, 2019
SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)
Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14
million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has
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Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information
Nickel prices hit 2-week high
Nickel prices hit their highest in nearly two weeks on Thursday, as investors who bet on falling prices had to buy in at a strong support level.
By Mai Nguyen
SINGAPORE, Dec 12 (Reuters) – Nickel prices hit their highest in
nearly two weeks on Thursday, as investors who bet on falling prices had
to buy in at a strong support level.
Nickel prices have fallen in the past weeks to touch a five-month low
of $12,900 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange (LME) on Tuesday, as
the market viewed prices more expensive than supply and demand
fundamentals indicated.
“$13,000 was a critical number to defend,†said a trader.
Three-month nickel on the LME on Thursday climbed as much as 0.9% to $13,980 a tonne, its highest since Nov. 29.
The most-traded nickel contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange
(ShFE) jumped as high as 3.5% to 110,570 yuan ($15,708.42) a tonne,
nearing a two-week high, before ending at 110,190 yuan a tonne, up 3.1%
from the previous close.
Other nickel industry players said that a royalty hike in top nickel
ore producer Indonesia contributed to a bullish view on prices, but they
expressed uncertainty over how long the upward trend could last.
FUNDAMENTALS
* SPREAD: The LME cash nickel contract was last at a $65 a tonne
discount to the three-month contract, suggesting sufficient nearby
supplies.
* NICKEL STOCKS: LME on-warrant nickel inventories, or those
available to the market, rose to a 2-1/2-month high at 67,248 tonnes.
MNISTX-TOTAL
* ALUMINIUM STOCKS & SPREAD: LME headline aluminium stocks
MALSTX-TOTAL jumped to their highest since April 2018 at 1.33 million
tonnes, and the spread between the cash and three-month contract flipped
to a discount of $8.75 a tonne after mostly holding in the premium zone
for around a month. CMAL0-3
* OTHER PRICES: LME zinc advanced 1.3% to $2,250 a tonne at 0712 GMT,
while copper fell 0.3% to $6,139 a tonne and aluminium rose 0.3% to
$1,766 a tonne. ShFE copper rallied 0.5% to 49,030 yuan a tonne and zinc
jumped 1.1% while aluminium fell 0.3%.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:33 AM on Thursday, December 12th, 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.
The cryptocurrency world has more than its fair share of
self-proclaimed clairvoyants. Whether it’s traders predicting great
things for a digital token that’s set to launch, or a journalist touting
the next groundbreaking Web3 project, future-gazing is a popular
pastime.
With so many crypto projects in the offing, and so many supposed
psychics pulling you in different directions, it can be tough to know
who or what to believe. Even studious observers of the cryptoeconomy
have difficulty reaching consensus on the next sure thing. If 2019 has
been any indication, however, the following projects are likely to
generate even bigger waves in 2020
Saga
Saga is a highly ambitious monetary
venture which seeks to position its digital token, SGA, as a truly
global currency. The UK-based company has been tirelessly working on
perfecting and polishing its monetary and governance models for the past
two years ahead of the ERC20 token launch on December 10. Initially
backed by a basket of national currencies replicating the IMF’s SDR, the
idea is that, as user trust in SGA grows, reliance upon reserves will
decrease and SGA will, as it were, stand on its own two feet.
The industry experience of the Saga team certainly nourishes the
perception that the project may launch into the stratosphere. Its
advisory board includes Professor Jacob A. Frenkel, PhD, chairman of
JPMorgan Chase International and former governor of the Bank of Israel,
and Professor Myron Scholes, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences and
Professor Emeritus at Stanford University. With such economic
heavyweights behind it, Saga has already attracted $30m of seed funding
from a collective of partners including Vertex Ventures. Watch this
space.
Fetch.ai
An AI-powered blockchain that launched in 2019, Fetch
allows organizations to pose questions about datasets residing on other
companies’ servers; payments, meanwhile, will be made with digital
tokens. In the Fetch model, Autonomous Economic Agents (AEA) are
utilized to connect IoT devices and algorithms, with the net result a
form of collective super-intelligence built atop a decentralized
economic internet. Got that?
Fetch recently set to work developing a decentralized metals exchange
with several Turkish steelmakers. The new DEX will integrate
AI-accelerated blockchain solutions to facilitate greater participation
and improved liquidity in the trading of steel, base metals and other
commodities. It’s yet another example of blockchain/AI tech feeding into
traditional industries, and when you consider that Fetch’s goal is to
bring smart cities from concept to reality – improving infrastructure
like energy utility grids in the process – you can’t help but think 2020
is going to be a massive year for the crypto project.
RSK
RSK is an open-source, Bitcoin-backed
smart contract platform. Encompassing multiple components including the
Root Infrastructure Framework Token (RIF Token), RIF Open Standard
(RIFOS), and Smart Bitcoin (RBTC), the second-layer protocol seeks to
become a key player in the development of Bitcoin-anchored decentralized
finance, permitting smart contracts and dApps to utilize the
ecosystem’s renowned security.
Its parent company, IOV Labs, also acquired Latin America’s biggest
social media platform Taringa, and it’ll be fascinating to see what
implementations are introduced in the next 12 months. With 30 million
users, Taringa has a ready made community for experiencing the benefits
of decentralized finance, including open access and trustless trade,
wrapped in a user-friendly interface courtesy of RSK’s smart contract
solution.
QAN
The threat of quantum computing is certain to intensify in the years
ahead. Hell, Google says they’ve already reached quantum supremacy in
2019. In any case, quantum-proof blockchain platform QAN
stands in a good position to capitalize. It uses sophisticated Lattice
cryptography to future-proof against quantum cyber attacks which could
break existing blockchain platforms like Ethereum. The result is a
highly scalable, developer-friendly platform that can run smart
contracts in all major programming languages.
QAN uses a Proof-of-Randomness (PoR) consensus to ensure low energy
consumption and is 100x quicker than Ethereum, with a TPS of 97k for
enterprise (POA) chains. The team has been busy shouting about QAN’s
many benefits at various crypto events throughout 2019, so expect more
of the same in 2020. Particularly since QAN’s IEO is due to commence
soon on BitBay exchange, bringing its token to a wider audience of
traders and developers.
There you have it: four innovative projects making plenty of noise in
the cryptosphere, and unlikely to lower their pitch in 2020. You’d do
well to keep tabs on all of them.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 5:30 PM on Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
SPONSOR: NORTHBUD (NBUD:CSE)
Sustainable low cost, high quality cannabinoid production and
procurement focusing on both bio-pharmaceutical development and
Cannabinoid Infused Products. Learn More.
Canadians spent $908M at cannabis stores since legalization, StatCan says
Canadians spent $907,833 on non-medical cannabis between October 2018 and September 2019, the agency said, which works out to $24 per capita.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
OTTAWA – Canadians spent about $908 million on non-medical cannabis
in the first year since legalization, but online sales dropped as more
brick-and-mortar locations opened, said Statistics Canada.
Canadians spent $907,833 on non-medical cannabis between October 2018
and September 2019, the agency said, which works out to $24 per capita.
Canada legalized cannabis on Oct. 17, 2018, becoming the second
country in the world – after Uruguay – to legalize the drug. Demand
initially appeared to outstrip supply as retailers warned of a pending
shortfall of product.
Over the year, demand appeared to be highest in the sparsely
populated Yukon where sales per capita led the other provinces and
territories at $103, according to Statistics Canada. It was not able to
provide data for Nunavut – the only area without a physical store.
Prince Edward Island sales per capita were the second highest at $97, while B.C. ranked lowest at $10.
Throughout the year, Canadians’ access to cannabis stores increased.
The number of retail stores jumped from 217 this past March to 407 in
July, according to the agency.
Alberta boasts the highest number of stores at 176 and B.C. took
second place with 57 stores. Nunavut had the fewest with zero, followed
by Prince Edward Island and the Yukon, both of which have four.
Nineteen per cent of Canadians lived three kilometres from a cannabis
store as of July 2019. Thirty per cent lived 30 kilometres away and 45
per cent lived within 10 kilometres.
Albertans enjoyed the closest proximity to a store of any province,
with half of the population living within three kilometres of a cannabis
outlet. That figure rises to 63 per cent for five kilometres and 70 per
cent for 10 kilometres.
Ontarians lived the furthest from cannabis stores on average. Nine
per cent of the population resided three kilometres from a cannabis
store. Eighteen per cent lived five kilometres away and 33 per cent were
10 kilometres away.
As the number of physical stores increased, the share of online sales
dropped from 43.4 per cent in October 2018 to 5.9 per cent in September
2019.
“While online cannabis retail ensures access to all Canadians
regardless of proximity to a physical store, accessibility continues to
improve as more stores open across the country,†wrote Statistics Canada
in its paper.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 11, 2019.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 11:37 AM on Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
SPONSOR: BetterU Education Corp.
aims to provide access to quality education from around the world.
The company plans to bridge the prevailing gap in the education and job
industry and enhance the lives of its prospective learners by developing
an integrated ecosystem. Click here for more information.
10 Ways Edtech Advances Are Shaking Up Education
The development of edtech isn’t expected to slow down any time soon.
No traditional teaching methods can compete with the levels of student attentiveness, availability and convenience that edtech currently offers.
Professionals from Forbes Technology Council look at the most compelling recent advances in edtech, and why they’re such a big deal to education in the 21st century.
Expert Panel, Forbes Technology Council
Education technology or edtech offers unique opportunities for
student development. The roots of edtech in whiteboards, projectors and
tablets have given rise to popular learning platforms. Now, students can
access on-demand courses, and learn whatever they want thanks to
technological advances in the field. Companies can provide classes to
their workers the same way, allowing them to leverage industrial edtech
for their own business needs and purposes.
The development of edtech isn’t expected to slow down any time soon.
No traditional teaching methods can compete with the levels of student
attentiveness, availability and convenience that edtech currently
offers. Professionals from Forbes Technology Council look at the most compelling recent advances in edtech, and why they’re such a big deal to education in the 21st century.
1. Online Learning Platforms
Digital transformations are now letting students ditch the physical
classroom. You can learn everything from coding skills to personal
finance basics from resources like Coursera.
These programs are taught by industry leaders who are aligned with
current trends and needs in the job market. You learn more valuable and
relevant skills in a shorter amount of time compared to traditional
education. – Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC
2. Live Online Tutoring
Live online tutoring used to be relegated to English-language
teachers who had to wake up at odd hours to meet their pupils online. As
a more accessible option, the schedules of parents and kids no longer
need to coordinate, reducing traffic on the roads and carbon emissions.
It also allows parents to be more selective in their tutors instead of
going with whoever can accommodate their schedule. – Arnie Gordon, Arlyn Scales
3. Educational Phone Apps
Instead of fighting with students to keep them away from their
beloved phones, how about using smartphones to help them learn? We need
more simple, high-quality apps like Grasshopper.
Apps need to have bite-sized chapters that are small but super focused.
The interface should also be simple and intuitive. The more interactive
the content is, the higher the learning will be. Edtech is fun with
these apps. – Vikram Joshi, pulsd
Extended reality (XR) moves students away from traditional lectures
toward more engaging, immersive learning experiences within a simulated
real-world space. Other benefits include increased comprehension levels
and long-term memory retention among students. Best of all, as the
technology enters the mainstream market, XR will be an affordable
teaching option for many educational institutions. – Christopher Yang, Corporate Travel Management
6. Faculty Tech
Classroom edtech isn’t the only thing that’s been booming. There’s a
huge trend in primary and higher education systems using new technology
to track and monitor their strategic and operational plans. It’s really
interesting to see the difference in the past few years as universities
in particular have shifted from tracking plans in spreadsheets to using
integrated plan management tools. – Christy Johnson, AchieveIt
7. Screencasting
Screencasting has changed the dynamics of the classroom as it offers
both teachers and students the freedom to actively engage with the
lessons. It has helped teachers untether from the front of the classroom
and empowered students to share their work. This results in overall
higher engagement amongst the students, but in a fun and interesting
manner more importantly! – Mihir Shinde, B&H Photo Video Pro Audio
8. Gamification
One of my favorite edtech advancements has been gamification in the
classroom. Gamification is being applied to educational environments
through different pieces of software in the marketplace. This enables
greater student interaction in the classroom and in place of traditional
homework. I am a big fan of gamification in education as it gets
students more excited about learning. – Marcus Turner, Enola Labs
9. Professional-Grade Tools
Giving students professional-grade tools means they have the ability
to produce amazing things. Google’s G Suite and Chromebooks give
students professional tools at budget prices without any of the fluff or
bloatware of other solutions. Schools that deploy these tools are more
likely to have students that enter the workforce with experience and
familiarity with enterprise offerings. – Tom Roberto, Core Technology Solutions
10. Collaboration
I’ve seen some great edtech tools come and go, but one tool that has stuck out is Flipgrid.
It effectively combines the preferred way students like to share with
the way educators set instructional goals. By coupling these two,
students and teachers can collaborate, share and connect. It’s one of
the tools that is enabling engagement beyond traditional instruction. – Tyler Shaddix, GoGuardian
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:18 AM on Wednesday, December 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.
Here’s a New Banking Tool for Vetting Crypto Exchanges
From left to right: CEO and co-founder James Smith; Chief
Scientist and co-founder Tom Robinson; Chief Operating Officer Simone
Maini; Vice President of Engineering Jon Bradshaw; and Vice President of
Product Andrea Ramoino.
“Most banks at the moment have a zero-tolerance approach to crypto,†said Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s chief scientist and co-founder. “They don’t have any visibility into the risks that a particular exchange may possess – they all look the same to them. So, many of them won’t bank any exchanges.â€
Nathan DiCamillo
A risk-based approach rather than a blanket ban on crypto activity –
that’s what blockchain forensics startup Elliptic is hoping to engender
among banks with its latest offering.
“Most banks at the moment have a zero-tolerance approach to crypto,â€
said Tom Robinson, Elliptic’s chief scientist and co-founder. “They
don’t have any visibility into the risks that a particular exchange may
possess – they all look the same to them. So, many of them won’t bank
any exchanges.â€
The product, called Elliptic Discovery, aims to give institutions
up-to-date risk profiles of more than 200 of the largest exchanges
globally.
Robinson says Elliptic’s tool offers risk indicators that matter to bankers:
An exchange’s know-your-customer and anti-money laundering policies
Jurisdictions that an exchange operates under and what licenses it holds
The coins listed at the exchange that might be risky (i.e. privacy coins)
Analysis of an exchange’s transactions (i.e. funds going to
anonymizing services or funds going to entities/countries on a sanctions
list)
Similar banking products in the market include
TRM Labs’ risk-score for cryptocurrency transactions, with the startup
analyzing more than a dozen blockchains for banks looking to fight
money-laundering and fraud in the crypto sphere. Banks have also used Chainalysis’ transaction-monitoring tools to be able to compliantly work with crypto firms.
Elliptic’s Robinson said he spoke with about a dozen bankers to
determine what risk indicators would be valuable to them. One insight
gained from his informal survey was that bankers would be more likely to
bank exchanges if they had more information about their risk profiles,
he said.
The co-founder wouldn’t reveal which banks he had spoken with, but Elliptic has publicly worked with crypto-friendly Silvergate Bank since Spring 2017.
Robinson said that he believes that banks are not only missing out on
business opportunities to bank more clients but are also working
against the will of their retail customers who are likely already
purchasing and trading crypto without their bank’s knowledge.
“I do think this is going to have a positive impact on the whole crypto system,†Robinson said. Last month, Elliptic began providing anti-money-laundering services to the Zilliqa blockchain and cryptocurrency. In September, the firm closed
a $23 million Series B funding round led by Japanese financial company
SBI Holdings, which will help Elliptic expand in Asia. The company partnered with crypto exchange Binance in May.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:32 AM on Wednesday, December 11th, 2019
Until now, investor participation in Artificial Intelligence has been the domain of mega companies and those funded by Silicon Valley. Small cap investors can finally consider participating in the great future of A.I. through Datametrex AI (DM: TSXV) (Soon To Be Nexaology) who just reported the following:
Q3 Revenues Of $1.6 million, an increase of 186%
9 Mont Revenues Of $2.56M an increase of 37%
A Repeat $1M Contract With A Division Of Korean Giant LOTTE Group
$954,000 Contract With Canadian Department of Defence To Fight Social Media Election Meddling
Participation In NATO Research Task Group On Social Media Threat Detection
When a small cap A.I. company is successfully deploying at the
highest levels of global commerce and military, it is a strong sign of
the Company’s capabilities that behooves investors to look deeper.
That deep dive can begin with our joint interview of Datametrex CEO,
Marshall Gunter and President, Jeff Stevens in which we look not only
into the past recent success but also into what the future holds in
terms of both growth and competition.
Watch this interview on one of your favourite screens or hit play and listen to the audio as you drive.
As Greg McDougall prepared to fly the world’s first all-electric
commercial aircraft Tuesday morning, he said “nervous†wasn’t quite the
word to describe how he was feeling.
The fact that the Harbour Air CEO would be the first person to take
the modified de Havilland Beaver on a full test flight didn’t faze him,
nor did knowledge of a charging glitch the night before.
McDougall had gone for a dinner break Monday evening while a crew of
designers and engineers stared at their computers with furrowed brows,
and he returned later to find them smiling and laughing, crisis averted.
“The emotion isn’t necessarily excitement, it’s more sort of anticipation and focus,†he said.
Harbour Air pilot and CEO Greg McDougall talks to media after
completing the world’s first all-electric, zero-emission commercial
aircraft test flight in a 62 year old de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver from
Vancouver International Airports South Terminal on the Fraser River in
Richmond on Tuesday. DON MACKINNON / AFP via Getty Images
With the sun hanging low over the Fraser River in Richmond, McDougall
shifted the throttle into gear and took off. After landing, he said it
felt just like flying any other plane, only with more kick.
“For me, that flight was just like flying a Beaver but it was a
Beaver on electric steroids,†he said, adding he had to throttle back in
order to delay the takeoff to be in line with about a dozen cameras.
“It wanted to fly. With the tailwind it was going to leap off the water.â€
The brief but successful test flight marked a significant win for
Harbour Air and partner magniX, which designed the electric motor, in
the race to electrify commercial aviation fleets.
Harbour Air pilot and CEO Greg McDougall flies the world’s
first all-electric, zero-emission commercial aircraft during a test
flight in a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver from Vancouver International
Airports South Terminal on the Fraser River in Richmond on Tuesday. DON MACKINNON / AFP via Getty Images
Dozens of companies are working on electric planes, including Boeing
and Airbus. Israeli company Eviation unveiled a nine-seat, all-electric
plane named “Alice†at the Paris Air Show in June, which also happens to
be a magniX project.
Roei Ganzarski, CEO of Seattle-based engineering firm magniX,
described the test flight as the beginning of a revolution in aviation.
In 1903, the Wright brothers made history with the first successful
flight and, in 1939, the Heinkel jet launched the jet age, he said.
“Since 1939, we’ve pretty much stayed stable. Today that team made history,†Ganzarski said, gesturing toward the design team.
Harbour Air announced in March that it had partnered with magniX with
the goal of becoming the world’s first all-electric airline.
The 62-year-old Beaver was outfitted with a 750-horsepower electric
motor, which gives it capacity to fly about 160 kilometres before
needing a recharge.
Harbour Air pilot and CEO Greg McDougall flies the world’s
first all-electric, zero-emission commercial aircraft during a test
flight in a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver from Vancouver International
Airports South Terminal on the Fraser River in Richmond on Tuesday. DON MACKINNON / AFP via Getty Images
Weight, altitude and storage remain the biggest barriers to flying
electric. A mid-sized passenger plane weighs 100 times as much as a
mid-sized car and the battery technology hasn’t quite adjusted to the
aviation market.
Fuel also remains about 40 to 50 times more power dense than
batteries, Ganzarski said. But the team expects innovation in the
battery industry to continue in the same way for aviation as it has for
electric cars. The key will be developing batteries that are more
compact at the same time that they are more powerful.
The test flight used lithium-ion batteries because they are the most
“tried and true,†but there are already others on the market that are
more powerful, McDougall said.
“The evolution of lithium batteries is constant and there are
literally billions of dollars being poured into that technology as we
speak,†he said.
In the meantime, Ganzarski said the market is there for electric planes to take off around the world.
Harbour Air Pilot and CEO Greg McDougall taxis to the water to
fly the world’s first all-electric, zero-emission commercial aircraft
during a test flight in a de Havilland DHC-2 Beaver from Vancouver
International Airports South Terminal on the Fraser River in Richmond on
Tuesday. DON MACKINNON / AFP via Getty Images
Forty-five per cent of flights worldwide cover distances of 800
kilometres or less, and five per cent cover distances under 160
kilometres, he said.
Exactly when the electric aircraft will be approved for commercial
flight is unclear as Transport Canada will be entering new territory.
But McDougall said the goal is to get passengers on Harbour Air electric flights within two years.
The operating costs are between 50 and 80 per cent lower than
combustion engines and ultimately, that will mean lower ticket prices
for passengers, he said.
Harbour Air covers 12 routes and operates about 30,000 flights a year between Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle and other locations.
