Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 12:09 PM on Tuesday, January 8th, 2019
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MQR: TSX-V
—————-
Gold price likely buoyed by safe haven demand: HSBC
Gold price gains will likely be driven by fresh safe haven demand on equity concerns, higher financial volatility and economic uncertainty, said HSBC, leading the bank to lift its 2019 average dollar price for the yellow metal to $1,314/oz Tuesday.
London — Gold price gains will likely be driven by fresh safe haven demand on equity concerns, higher financial volatility and economic uncertainty, said HSBC, leading the bank to lift its 2019 average dollar price for the yellow metal to $1,314/oz Tuesday.
The original estimate was $1,292/oz, according to HSBC’s chief precious metals analyst James Steel.
“Gold prices are recovering from heavy investor liquidation and
losses throughout much of 2018. Recent equity market declines, higher
financial market volatility and other risks are triggering renewed
investor demand for bullion,” Steel said. “Geopolitical and trade risks,
which unusually did not lift gold last year (due to the strong US
dollar), also appear to be turning positive. We believe gold is set to
move higher in 2019, especially if the global economic outlook remains
uncertain.”
Gold has been toying with the $1,300/oz marker so far in 2019,
although for now that target has alluded bullion. Gold was spot bid at
$1,284/oz as of 1420 GMT Tuesday.
“Our FX view is for a stronger USD, which may present the greatest
threat to gold and will at the least limit rallies. Gold is inversely
related to US equities, and we believe an important price driver in 2019
will be equity direction and volatility. Recent equity weakness has
buoyed gold,” Steel added.
Looking at positioning, Steel noted that COMEX was net short in 2018
for the first time since 2001, which has since been scaled back.
“Further short-covering and builds in longs are likely in 2019,” the
analyst said.
Industry lobby group the World Gold Council said Tuesday that
gold-backed ETFs continued to rally in December against a backdrop of
market volatility, marking the third consecutive month of inflows.
Global ETFs increased 3%. or by $3.1 billion, driven by North American
and European fund activity, WGC said.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:06 AM on Tuesday, January 8th, 2019
SPONSOR: Bougainville Ventures Inc (CSE: BOG) Converting irrigated farmland to greenhouse-equipped farmland. Bougainville does not “touch the plant†and only provides agricultural infrastructure as a landlord for licensed marijuana growers. Click here for more info.
BOG:CSE
—————————————
2018 was a momentous year for cannabis advocates as Canada became the second country (after Uruguay) to legalize recreational marijuana use.
Canadians and cannabis companies alike eagerly awaited legalization, but the rollout hasn’t been as smooth as they would have liked.
A marijuana law breakdown by Canadian Province, and five burning industry questions for 2019.Shopify Partners
This is the initial post in what will be a five-part series on the 5 Burning Questions for Canadian Cannabis in 2019.
2018 was a momentous year for cannabis advocates as Canada became the second country (after Uruguay)
to legalize recreational marijuana use. Canadians and cannabis
companies alike eagerly awaited legalization, but the rollout hasn’t
been as smooth as they would have liked.
The most pressing problem facing the country’s legal weed market is
the fact that, in the majority of provinces, suppliers are unable to
meet demand. According to MarketWatch,
the complexity of scaling up a national legal cannabis supply chain has
left many retailers with just a fraction of the promised products. In
many areas, the supply shortage may last well into 2019.
Some experts say the bottleneck exists in the regulatory approval by
Health Canada of Licensed Processors and Cultivators. “The cultivation
and processing capacity exists, but the lack of licensing is keeping
that production off the shelves,†Rob McIntyre, CFO of Salvation Botanicals Ltd., told me. His Canadian extraction and formulation company recently agreed to produce cannabis products for U.S.-based Medical Marijuana, Inc. for the Canadian market.
“Health Canada has added significant resources to attempt to shorten
the approval process, but the backlog is significant,†McIntyre
explained. “In the coming months, we expect to see this supply shortage
ease.â€
A shortage of marijuana in Canada threatens to undermine one aim of
legalization: to tame an illegal trade estimated at about 5.3 billion
Canadian dollars annually. Angry consumers say they are returning to
their illegal dealers. https://t.co/dZQogk8xGY
On the opposite end of a product shortage is strong product pricing
for cannabis producers and retailers. A gram of high-quality cannabis in
Vancouver, Canada, for example, sold for $752 a gram in November 2018.
Meanwhile, in Portland, Oregon, where an overabundance of marijuana is
begging to cross state lines, you could buy an entire ounce of similar
high-quality cannabis as recently as December.
These initial gains, however short-term they may be, will help
Canadian cannabis companies offset their startup costs. “This will
quickly help companies recoup the costs of building expensive
cultivation facilities,†said Debra Borchardt, CEO ofGreen Market Report,
and Canadian cannabis industry expert. “Once production begins to meet
demand, then the prices will fall, which is great for consumers, but
will come at a cost to the producers.â€
Another less obvious issue is the diversity of cannabis regulations
from province-to-province. Though weed is legal everywhere in Canada,
for smokers and businesses, where you are in the country will have a huge impact.
Currently, the only constants from province-to-province under the federal Cannabis Act
are a possession limit of up to 30g of dried flower (or an
equivalent) and a ban on consumption in vehicles. Beyond that,
everything from the legal age to the rules on public consumption can be
different—though the provinces all share a common goal in discouraging
underage use and exposure.
Nationwide, the biggest change in 2019 is the legalization of edible
sales, which will occur no later than October 17, 2019—one year after
marijuana legalization. Since edibles are more appealing to children, Canadian officials are being much more circumspect about rolling these products out. As Vice
points out, it is unclear how the regulations around edibles will play
out, since the government hasn’t ruled exactly what it means for a
product not to “appeal†to a young person.
Provincial Laws
Here’s a quick breakdown of the current laws in each province, plus news on any upcoming changes in 2019:
.@liftandco
produced an easy-to-digest graphic of the new Canadian marijuana laws
and retailers by province. The country’s outlets include both the
government and private sectors. pic.twitter.com/CDbHa6aArJ
You must be 18 years old to consume, buy, possess, and grow. Public
consumption laws are the same as tobacco, though you can’t smoke near
children. Home cultivation is allowed (up to four plants).
Though the province originally planned for 250 licensed retail stores managed by Alberta Gaming, Liquor, and Cannabis, supply constraints mean it will be 6-18 months before the next stores open after the first 65 opened. The province also allows online sales controlled by the government.
British Columbia:
You must be 19 years old to consume, buy, possess, and grow. Public
consumption laws are the same as tobacco, though you can’t smoke near
children. Home cultivation is allowed (up to four plants), though they
must be hidden from street view.
British Columbia has not put a cap on the number of retail locations, but the licensing process has been slow. The first store opened up in December in Vancouver. Like Alberta, British Columbia allows online sales controlled by the government.
Manitoba:
You must be 19 years old consume, buy, and possess. Public
consumption is almost completely restricted. Unlike other provinces, you
won’t be able to grow your own weed at home.
By the end of November 2018, only fourteen retailers had been granted
licenses. The province will allow for private online and retail stores.
In 2019, the Safe and Responsible Retailing of Cannabis Act will take effect, adding on a 6 percent tax on revenues of licensed cannabis retailers as a “Social Responsibility Fee.â€
New Brunswick:
You must be 19 to consume, buy, possess, and grow. You will only be
allowed to consume it in a private residence. Up to four household
plants are allowed, as long as they are locked and secured.
The province will have 20 government-run locations and permit
government-controlled online sales. Like many other provinces, New
Brunswick has seen a spate of store shutdowns due to a lack of supply.
Newfoundland and Labrador:
You must be 19 to consume, buy, possess, and grow. You will only be
allowed to consume it in a private residence. You can grow up to four
plants per household.
Newfoundland and Labrador have a hybrid retail model, with private
retailers receiving licenses to sell products controlled by the
Newfoundland and Labrador Liquor Corporation. Online sales will go
through the government-controlled NLC as well.
Nova Scotia:
You must be 19 to consume, buy, possess, and grow. You will only be
allowed to consume it in designated public places. You can grow up to
four plants per household, as long as they’re inside.
Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, a government-run entity, will control
online and retail stores, with 12 physical locations available at
launch. Similar to other provinces, Nova Scotia faced shortages throughout 2018.
Ontario:
You must be 19 years old to consume to buy, use, posses, and grow.
Public consumption laws are the same as tobacco in the province, meaning
many public areas—especially ones where children may be—are off limits.
There’s a four plant limit per household.
On April 1, 2019, Ontario will begin allowing private retail stores,
but for now the only place to get it is through retail and online
stores—the aptly names Ontario Cannabis Store—controlled by the Ontario
LCBO. Thus far, the rollout has been…buggy. A questionable supply chain has been plagued by mold, mislabeled products, and mites, leading many to return to the black market in the region.
Prince Edward Island:
You must be 19 to consume, buy, possess, and grow. You will only be
allowed to consume it in private residences at present. You can grow up
to four plants per household, as long as they’re inside and not in reach
of children.
Like many other provinces, a government-run entity, the Prince Edward
Island Cannabis Management Corporation, will operate retail locations
and online sales. At launch, there were four licensed retail locations.
Compared to other areas, PEI’s rollout has been relatively smooth.
Quebec:
You must be 18 years old to consume, buy, and possess. Public
consumption follows the same rules as tobacco, with smoking at schools
and universities expressly prohibited. That may all change if newly proposed laws
pass in 2019 which would raise the legal age to 21 and prohibit any
smoking in public. Regardless, you cannot grow plants at home.
You must be 19 years old to consume, buy, possess, and grow. Public
consumption is prohibited. Four household plants are allowed per
household.
Unlike many other provinces, Saskatchewan will have a private
distribution system. The province handed out 51 licenses prior to Oct.
17, the day sales became legal, but as of December only a handful of those stores have opened because of supply issues. Online sales are allowed through private retailers.
5 Burning Questions for 2019
2019 marks the first full year of legal cannabis in Canada. 2018 was
full of excitement for legalization, plus a whole bunch of
disappointment as supply issues affected many parts of the country.
As we head into the new year, these are the biggest questions Canada’s cannabis industry will need to answer.
Will There Be Enough (Legal) Pot in Canada?
It would be an understatement to say that cannabis consumers were not best of buds with the country’s suppliers.
What Trends Will Dominate?
For consumers, the biggest trends for the upcoming year will be the
emergence of the edibles market and the expansion of CBD products.
Which IPOs Will Take Flight?
Look for even more U.S.-based companies to offer IPOs in Canada’s markets—and vice versa.
Does the U.S. Legalizing Hemp Jeopardize Canada’s Industry?
In December 2018, the U.S. Congress passed the Farm Bill, an omnibus
bill that, among other things, legalized the cultivation of industrial
hemp and allows for interstate commerce of hemp-based products for the
first time in decades. Though this brings competition to hemp production
in North America for the first time, Canada has decades of research and
growing experience under its belt already.
How Does Legal Weed Play Out on the International Stage?
As the second country to legalize recreational cannabis-use,
Canadians are reveling in their newfound freedom. But it’s unclear how
cannabis use will affect international relations.
For better or worse, 2019 will be a telling year for the Canadian
cannabis market. Let me know what you think’s going to happen on Twitter (@SocialMktgFella).
—
Disclaimer: I have no financial interest or positions in the
aforementioned companies. This information is for educational purposes
and does not constitute financial and/or legal advice.
Andre Bourque (@SocialMktgFella) is a cannabis industry media
influencer, brand executive and advisor, blockchain marketer, and
cannabis columnist. He specializes in cannabis industry partnerships,
distribution, and funding. Andre is the managing director of the
cannabis div…MORE
Andre is a cannabis connector and the VP of Bus. Dev. for Verdantis Advisors, a full-service consulting agency.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:15 AM on Tuesday, January 8th, 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.
———————–
Security tokens — digital versions of financial securities like stocks and bonds — are becoming a new buzzword in crypto.
Analysts and executives in the industry see security tokens as a development that could reinvigorate the cryptocurrency space.
A key difference setting security tokens apart from other cryptocurrencies is that they are asset-backed and fall within regulatory parameters, experts say.
The Apple logo is displayed at the Nasdaq MarketSite just before the opening bell in New York on Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011.
Scott Eells | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Cryptocurrencies had a wild 2018, tumbling well below some of the record highs seen toward the end of 2017.
Bitcoin, once
worth almost $20,000, plunged last year, closing out 2018 at a price
below $4,000. Other major virtual currencies, including XRP and ether, also fell steeply.
Analysts and executives in the industry are increasingly pointing to a
fairly new development that could reinvigorate the space: putting
securities like stocks and bonds on the blockchain.
So-called security tokens are becoming a new buzzword in crypto. The
term is part of a phenomenon in the industry known as “tokenization†—
turning real-world assets into digital tokens.
In the case of security tokens, tradable assets like equity and fixed
income are transformed into digital assets that use blockchain
technology, the virtual ledger of activity that underpins
cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
Security tokens had been talked about for some time, but now one firm is looking to put them to the test.
On Monday, DX.Exchange, an Estonia-based crypto firm, launched a
trading platform that lets investors buy shares of popular Nasdaq-listed
companies, including Apple, Tesla, Facebook and Netflix, indirectly through security tokens.
Each token is backed by one share of the company traders want to invest in and entitles them to the same cash dividends.
“The crypto community has been talking about security tokens for well
over a year now without much progress, so we think the impact will be
huge,†Amedeo Moscato, DX’s chief operating officer, told CNBC by email
over the weekend.
“By tokenizing stocks of some of the biggest publicly-traded companies like Google, Amazon,
Facebook and more, we are opening an untapped market of millions of old
and new traders around the globe cutting out the middleman. â€
watch now
VIDEO02:40
What is a security token?
Investors will be able to trade the digital stocks round-the-clock, even after markets close, DX says.
“The ability to trade around the clock, with a range of currencies,
offers investors both convenience and liquidity,†Dan Doney, co-founder
and chief executive of fintech firm Securrency told CNBC by email over
the weekend.
But Doney questioned whether DX’s exchange was sound on the regulatory front.
“We’re unsure and even skeptical of DX.Exchange’s model because we
don’t think that it’s acceptable to list tokenized shares of a company
without shareholder consent,†he said.
“However, we do think that the model can meet regulatory standards if executed properly.â€
DX stressed that its digital stocks are classed as derivatives — with
the underlying asset being equity of 10 Nasdaq-listed firms — and that
its platform is regulated under the European Union’s Mifid II directive.
Mifid II, a set of reforms to EU investment services regulation, aims
to protect investors and increase transparency and confidence in the
industry post-crisis.
Cyprus-licensed firm MPS MarketPlace Securities is holding the stocks
in a segregated account. DX built the platform on top of Nasdaq’s
Matching Engine technology, which is used across more than 70
international markets.
Experts are pointing to the model as one that could provide a solid
form of investment for traders — versus cryptocurrencies like bitcoin,
which have proven at times to be highly volatile — as well as a new
potential source of fundraising for start-ups and large firms alike.
‘STO’
New security tokens can be issued and sold to investors, similar to
how new digital tokens are sold through a crowdfunding method known as
an initial coin offering (ICO). This is what’s known as a security token
offering (STO).
ICOs were a source of much controversy in the crypto sphere in both
2017 and 2018, with China and South Korea banning the practice and the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rapping a number of ventures and founders over alleged illegal activities.
One supposed cryptocurrency start-up called Giza made off with more than $2 million through a fake ICO scam, a CNBC investigation last year showed.
Dubious as the murky world of ICOs is, the funding method at one point eclipsed early-stage venture capital funding.
ICO projects raked in almost $6.6 billion in 2017 and $21.5 billion in
2018, according to data provided by ICO listing site CoinSchedule.
The difference with STOs, experts say, is that security tokens are asset-backed and fall within regulatory parameters.
“Security tokens use blockchain to allow for efficient transactions
like cryptocurrencies, but are different in all other ways,â€
Securrency’s Doney said.
â€(They) emphasize regulatory compliance, automated regulatory
reporting, and represent share interest in value-producing assets. This
ultimately provides stable value versus the volatility of crypto.â€
Crowdfunding site Indiegogo delved into the world of STOs
last year, hosting a platform that let investors indirectly own shares
of a luxury ski resort by buying security tokens. That token sale
brought in $18 million, according to VentureBeat.
Security tokens and STOs have been compared to “stablecoins,â€
cryptocurrencies pegged 1:1 to government-backed currencies to avoid the
volatility typically seen in the cryptocurrency market. Stablecoins are
seen as another potential area for growth in the crypto industry.
“Cryptocurrencies and STOs will continue to evolve, and digital
stocks are another step in that process,†Daniel Skowronski, DX’s chief
executive, told CNBC by email.
STOs to ‘ramp into the market’ by mid-2019
Advocates also say that security tokens could reduce the cost of
listing a company on the stock market and that they will make it easier
to trade less liquid assets like private equity.
And though it may be early days, one expert thinks the trend of tokenizing securities will become a major theme by mid-2019.
“In terms of timing, we hear that mid-2019 is the time-frame when
most STOs will be able to ramp into the market,†Lex Soklin, partner and
global director of fintech strategy at Autonomous Research, told CNBC
by email.
“Given a longer regulatory approval process for these assets (rather
than none for ICOs), entrepreneurs have a slower path to market. But
perhaps a more stable one.â€
Some even believe that, eventually, everything from artwork to real estate will be transformed into digital tokens.
“Over the next decade, we could very well see the tokenization of the
entire financial markets,†Mati Greenspan, senior market analyst at
eToro, said in a note last week.
“Essentially, anything that has value and can be traded can also be represented as a digital token and traded on a blockchain.â€
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 8:12 AM on Thursday, January 3rd, 2019
Announced that it has committed USD$500,000 to acquire 248,201 Preferred Series A-1 Stock in TODAQ Holdings Inc.
TODAQ is a blockchain powered “bank of the future†that offers both a supply chain solutions platform and a consumer solutions platform to enterprises, banks, and smart cities for all their asset and money transactions.
TORONTO, Jan. 03, 2019 — ThreeD Capital Inc. (the “Companyâ€) (CSE:IDK), a Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on investments in promising, early stage companies and ICOs with disruptive capabilities is pleased to announce that it has committed USD$500,000 to acquire 248,201 Preferred Series A-1 Stock (the “Subject Sharesâ€) in TODAQ Holdings Inc. (“TODAQâ€). The Subject Shares represent approximately 1.3% of all issued and outstanding preferred and common shares of TODAQ as of January 3, 2019. The Subject Shares will be acquired in a series of private placements and not through the facilities of any stock exchange.  The Company, through the preferred stock acquisition, will also receive Toda Notes (“TDNâ€) royalty rights to approximately 176 million TDN out of a total supply of 237 TDN, representing approximately 0.13% of the total TDN supply.Â
TODAQ is a blockchain powered “bank of the future†that offers both a
supply chain solutions platform and a consumer solutions platform to
enterprises, banks, and smart cities for all their asset and money
transactions. It intends to also provide these clients access to value
added finance and insurance services. Its solutions are powered by the
TODA Protocol, a soon to be open source fourth generation public and
ledgerless blockchain that provides secure and efficient management for
the ownership of any type of digital assets. It is a decentralized
technology that is efficient enough to be run on only low power mobile
devices (without crypto mining), and settle P2P one-way and two-way
atomic swap transactions in half a minute, requiring close to zero
electricity.
The value proposition for TODAQ’s clients include: major cost
reduction of transaction, reconciliation, escrow, trade finance, and
insurance fees; improved data quality and auditability that can easily
be integrated to ERP, AI, and other management systems; and frictionless
interoperability with customers as well as supply chain and
distribution partners. TODAQ is currently commercializing and
executing its first contracts including a sharing economy project in
Korea covering tens of thousands of urban residents, an oil & gas
supply chain project in Europe and the Middle East, followed by mining,
manufacturing, pharmaceutical and education projects. TODAQ’s solutions
platforms are based on a software as a service recurring revenue model.
The Toda Note is a USD-backstopped digital note designed to
accelerate commerce and industry as well as complement existing fiat
currencies (which can also be put directly on the Toda blockchain). Due
to the TODA Protocol’s efficiency, TDN is not needed to settle or reach
consensus on protocol-based transactions of other TODA based digital
assets. There will be a total of 237 TDN cryptographically generated,
with a distribution period of about a decade to place the entire supply
into the global market. Any node or low power device taking part in
distributed consensus or settlement work can also have a very small
probability of generating a net new TDN so that there is a slow but
capped inflation of the overall TDN supply over time.
The target market for TDN is individuals, businesses and
organizations (which pass OECD know-your-client standards) that are
building solutions and conducting real economy transactions on the TODA
protocol. Approximately 75% of the TDN supply will be directed towards
this target market, approximately 15% is set aside to build the
underlying USD backstop through private placement investment and
secondary market exchanges, and 10% of the TDN supply is set aside for
founding shareholders. In the early stages, TDN distribution will focus
on populations especially in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin
America in order to access the largest markets that can benefit from
TODA’s unfair trust and efficiency advantage.
TDN will be distributed through a mechanism similar to a universal
loyalty program where every TODA based node (wallet) will receive a
small TDN grant. As each node does work to settle transactions, add
additional nodes to the protocol ecosystem, or execute commercial
transactions, it can earn more TDN. TDN wallets will also be available
for download to mobile devices from app stores in Q2 2019, and on
activation can also receive TDN direct distribution.
ThreeD is a publicly-traded Canadian-based venture capital firm focused on opportunistic investments in companies in the Junior Resources, Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain sectors.  ThreeD seeks to invest in early stage, promising companies and ICOs where it may be the lead investor and can additionally provide investees with advisory services, mentoring and access to the Company’s ecosystem.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 9:09 AM on Wednesday, January 2nd, 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.
———————
Even as the hype surrounding blockchain reportedly subsides, it argues that their offerings of regulator-approved infrastructure for crypto are a major watershed in the sector becoming mainstream.
A further example, the Review continues, is the improvement in smart contract technology that will enable its use in multiple legal contexts — making the crypto adage “code is law†one step closer to becoming an accepted reality.
News
MIT Technology Review has published an article today, Jan. 2, arguing that 2019 is the year in which blockchain will become mundane. The Review is a magazine that is independent but wholly-owned by the United States Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The article gives a laconic overview of its take on the recent
history of blockchain, claiming that the technology was “a revolution
that was supposed to disrupt the global financial system†in 2017, but
that it was a disappointment in 2018 — in light of the significant
decline in the valuations of virtually all blockchain-based crypto
assets and currencies.
Nonetheless, the Review argues, on the cusp of the new year, many
“innovative-sounding projects are still alive and even close to bearing
fruit.†Together with several large corporations’ plans to launch major
blockchain-based projects this year, 2019 is thus reportedly set to be
“the year that blockchain technology finally becomes normal.â€
As an example of the impending transformation of the sector, the Review cites the forthcoming entries of stalwart Wall Street players such as New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) owner Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) and investment giant Fidelity into the cryptocurrency business.
Even as the hype surrounding blockchain reportedly subsides, it
argues that their offerings of regulator-approved infrastructure for
crypto are a major watershed in the sector becoming mainstream.
A further example, the Review continues, is the improvement in smart
contract technology that will enable its use in multiple legal contexts —
making the crypto adage “code is law†one step closer to becoming an
accepted reality.
The article’s final argument is that this normalization of the
technology and the sector will entail a significant reshaping of the
ideology that gave cryptocurrencies and blockchain their first impetus.
Crypto’s roots as an anti-government movement is being upended, the
article claims, by the advent of national cryptocurrencies — whether
they be Venezuela’salready-launched controversial oil-backed cryptocurrency the Petro, or other states’ plans for their own state-backed coins.
A further example given is the endorsement of exploring the case for central bank-backed cryptocurrencies (CBDCs) by International Monetary Fund (IMF) head Christine Lagarde this fall.
Almost one year ago, in mid-January 2018, Cointelegraph published
an analysis of the heat surrounding the blockchain revolution —
encapsulated by the lucrative possibilities of businesses using the tech
as a buzzword in their name to cash in on the over-hyped market.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 6:57 PM on Monday, December 31st, 2018
Mr. Vilhjalmur Vilhjalmsson, President and CEO of St-Georges, commented, “We are grateful for the continued support of our shareholders as well as from our multiple partners.
2018 has been a challenging year for the management of St-Georges, however we are pleased with the effort of the team and the results that has brought us. The management would like to thank all its supporting shareholders and wish everybody a happy new year.”
Montreal / December 31, 2018 – St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX)(OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) is pleased to announce that, further to its press release dated December 20, 2018, today it issued 2,550,000 Units pursuant to its non-brokered private placement for total gross proceeds of $255,000.
Proceeds of this
Offering will be used to further finance the Corporation’s prospecting,
drilling and other exploration and development expenses and activities,
which qualify as eligible Canadian exploration expenses, as defined
under the Income Tax Act (Canada) (“Qualifying Expenditures“),
on or before December 31, 2019. The Corporation will renounce the
Qualifying Expenditures to investors with an effective date of no later
than December 31, 2018.
Each Unit issued under the Offering is comprised of one (1) common share in the capital of the company (a “Share“) issued on a flow-through basis, and one half of one (1/2) Share purchase warrant (each whole, a “Warrant“).
Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one (1) Share at
an exercise price of: (i) $0.20 per Share until September 30, 2019 (the “Early Exercise Period“), and (ii), thereafter, at a $0.50 per Share until June 30, 2020 (together with the Early Exercise Period, the “Warrant Expiry Date“).
In the event that, during
the period following 4 months from the Closing Date, the volume-weighted
average trading price of the Shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange (“CSE“)
exceeds $0.25 per Share for any period of 10 consecutive trading days,
the Corporation may, at its option, following such 10-day period,
accelerate the Warrant Expiry Date by delivery of notice to the
registered holders (an “Acceleration Notice“) thereof and issuing a press release (a “Warrant Acceleration Press Release“, and, in such case, the Warrant Expiry Date shall be deemed to be 5:00 p.m. (Montreal time) on the 30th day following the date of issuance of the Warrant Acceleration Press Release.
The securities issued in connection with the Offering are subject to the applicable statutory hold period ending May 1, 2019. The Offering is subject to receipt of applicable regulatory approvals, including the approval of the CSE.
Icelandic Hydro Electric Dam Project Update
St-Georges also announces that, further to its press release dated October 11, 2018, today it issued 2,000,000 Shares to Spa
ehf following their conversion of the $200,000 debenture issued as
partial consideration to acquire a 15% equity interest in Islensk
Vatnsorka EHF.
Mr. Vilhjalmur
Vilhjalmsson, President and CEO of St-Georges, commented, “We are
grateful for the continued support of our shareholders as well as from
our multiple partners. 2018 has been a challenging year for the
management of St-Georges, however we are pleased with the effort of the
team and the results that has brought us. The management would like to
thank all its supporting shareholders and wish everybody a happy new
year.”
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Vilhjalmur Thor Vilhjalmsson”
VILHJALMUR THOR VILHJALMSSON, PRESIDENT & CEO
About St-Georges
St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve the some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.
The Company controls
directly or indirectly, through rights of first refusal, all of the
active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores for nickel on the
Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on Quebec’s North
Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec and in the
Abitibi region. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock is listed
on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol SXOOF and
on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1
The
Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this
release.
Copyright (c) 2018 TheNewswire – All rights reserved.
Tags: CSE, iceland, stocks, tsx Posted in St Georges Eco-Mining Technologies | Comments Off on St-Georges $SX.ca Announces the Closing of Flow-Through Placement Offering; Updates on Icelandic Hydro-Electric Project
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 3:08 PM on Friday, December 21st, 2018
SPONSOR: Good Life Networks (GOOD:TSX-V) Video advertising is the future! Company’s A.I. makes 80,000 calculations / second, targeting 750 million users to deliver higher prices and volume. Revenue was $10,000,650 for the nine months ended September 30th, 2018, a 142% increase from $4,133,231 reported for the six months ended September 30th, 2017. Click here for more information.
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Agencies Have Been Resistant to Change, and They’re Dropping the Ball Again With Programmatic
It should be a huge part of their 2019 strategies
EMarketer predicts that programmatic ad spend will surpass $46 billion in the U.S. this year alone.
They also expect 86.2 percent of all digital display ads will be bought via automated channels by 2020.
With every major technological shift, some companies evolve while
others get left behind. Agencies in the face of programmatic are no
exception. Programmatic has changed advertising for the better, and with
that, it’s also put pressure on traditional agencies to overhaul their
processes.
Traditional agencies have enjoyed long-term contracts that guaranteed
recurring revenues, but programmatic buying and digital platforms like
Google and Facebook upended that model, giving advertisers greater
flexibility and reach with the touch of a button. It’s futile to go
against the current. Research firm MoffettNathanson estimates
that Google and Facebook accounted for more than $5 billion of growth
in advertising spend and for almost 90 percent of online ad growth.
Agencies have traditionally been slow to adapt, but there’s been notable movement in 2018. Programmatic will keep changing the way companies make ad buys, and big agencies will have to step up their tech game. EMarketer predicts that programmatic ad spend will surpass $46 billion in the U.S. this year alone. They also expect 86.2 percent of all digital display ads will be bought via automated channels by 2020. All this current and future programmatic traction obviates the need for agencies to engage in direct selling. A recent study by Centro and Forrester Consulting showed that three-fourths of agencies are beginning to unify their direct and programmatic teams, while just 17 percent said that their direct and programmatic teams have fully integrated.
But talking about the selling model doesn’t tell the whole story.
There are many other factors agencies need to take into consideration as
they make the shift to digital.
The perfect storm could redefine the agency model
The days of watered down macro metrics are over. Brands now realize
programmatic offers a deeper level of granularity and will therefore
demand detailed and timely performance stats around their campaigns.
Agencies already have to work harder to ensure clients are getting the
client service and results they deserve, but this is going to raise the
bar a few notches.
Agencies will also see greater competition from emerging boutique
players. The big holding companies of the world were once the big dogs,
but the boutique agency is gaining strength. Smaller, newer agencies are
arming themselves with tech-savvy folks that are embracing a
programmatic future. What’s the key to their success? They’re nimble and
support disruption and change.
Lastly, M&A activity
is likely to continue in 2019 and beyond. An interesting new report
from consultancy R3 found a 126 percent rise in M&A in the first
three months of the year. Surprising, it was led by consultancies.
Every agency will become a programmatic agency
Rest assured that agencies will have to fight to keep programmatic on
the agency side. Brands are getting smart about data and demanding more
transparency and control, which puts agencies in a position to either
evolve or get left behind. Between dollars saved and the ability to
target their audiences more easily, it’s getting tough for agencies to
sell the value of traditional buying methods.
Programmatic will keep changing the way companies make ad buys, and
big agencies will have to step up their tech game. The days of
storyboarding ads on paper and planning media buys over the phone are
long gone. While it may sound obvious, not every agency has jumped on
the tech bandwagon, and many are struggling to catch up.
One thing is certain: The days of traditional media buying are coming
to an end. This past year showed us that agencies need to decide how
they want to handle these changes and continue to meet their clients’
expectations before it’s too late.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 2:35 PM on Friday, December 21st, 2018
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS
COMPLETED SALE OF FIVE STAR-A.D.S SYSTEMS TO ALMASRIA UNIVERSAL AIRLINES
Announced that AlMasria Universal Airlines of Egypt has decided to
proceed with the installation and activation of the STAR-A.D.S.® System
across all five (5) of its current aircraft fleet, which includes A-320,
A-321, A330 and B737 aircraft.
BOMBARDER JOINT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Joint research and development program with Bombardier and other
industrials and universities of Canada is progressing very positively.
The STAR-A.D.S. ® system which is at the heart of the program, after
having been validated and extensively used by the aircraft
manufacturer, has now been transferred to another flight test vehicle to
complete the flight testing and the data collection.
EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES APPLICATIONS
Star’s Land System Aided Medical Monitoring system for ground
ambulance applications has undergone a series of demonstrations by a
care organization in North America.
Its airborne parent system, the In-Flight System Aided Medical
Monitoring system (STAR-ISAMM™â€), has now been demonstrated to several
stakeholders of the commercial and civil air ambulance market.
CHECK OUT OUR RECENT INTERVIEW
FULL DISCLOSURE: Star Navigation Systems Group Ltd. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 10:37 AM on Friday, December 21st, 2018
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legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based
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—————–
I am sticking to my original prediction – Bitcoin will hit 250k by 2022.†– Tim Draper, American Venture Capitalist, Author, Founder of Draper Associates, DFJ and Draper University
Following the ICO boom in 2017, along with Bitcoin’s all time high of
nearly $20k last December, the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry
has gone down a rocky road. As the crypto world is full of surprises,
it’s difficult to predict what’s in store for the future. Yet it’s
interesting to hear what industry insiders and some of the biggest
influencers in the space have to say about their expectations for the
crypto and blockchain industry over the next 12 months and beyond.
Cryptocurrency:
I am sticking to my original prediction – Bitcoin will hit 250k by 2022.†– Tim Draper, American Venture Capitalist, Author, Founder of Draper Associates, DFJ and Draper University
As one of the leading cryptocurrencies, Ether will see its price
reach the $500 mark by mid 2019. The fact still remains that most
blockchain projects across the world are being done in Ethereum. As its
use cases increase and improve globally, we’ll see it continuing to gain
more solid ground as a smart contract protocol.” – David Drake, Founder and Chairman of LDJ Capital
2019 will be an exciting year. We will see several great products
shipped to market, especially from our Binance Labs incubation program,
now taking place on five continents. The projects and teams who are
focused on building and achieving product-market fit will bring more
real use cases to our lives. This will open the gateway to the mass
adoption of crypto.” – Ella Zhang, Head of Binance Labs
The first legitimate national cryptocurrency will be launched, linked
to a fiat currency from a G-20 nation. This digital asset will be in
high demand for combining the benefits of a digital asset with the
stability of a government-backed currency. Mark Zuckerberg’s 2018 New
Year’s resolution to “study cryptocurrencies” will result in one being
integrated into Facebook for payments. The only question is whether they
will use an existing cryptocurrency or a new one created by Facebook.†–
Mitch Liu, Theta Labs CEO
Blockchain:
2018 was a tough year, but we have a longer term outlook for our
industry. The builders have been building in 2018, so for 2019, I think
we will see a lot of real products and real applications coming into the
market.†– Changpeng Zhao (CZ), Binance CEO and Founder
I have been involved in the blockchain space since 2013, actively
developing with Ethereum since January 2015. During this time I have
experienced many ups and downs. Many times I heard how “Blockchain is
over.†However, the fact is that the underlying technological innovation
continues to evolve and to get better. We have more tools today,
documentation, tutorials, and users than ever before and this will
continue to grow as the user interfaces become better and more seamless.
In 2019 we will continue to live the aftermath of 2017. ICOs have been
in winter sleep for most of 2018, following the ICO madness we
experienced, which was initiated by my ERC-20 standard. Nevertheless,
this doesn’t change the fact that ICO’s are a great fundraising
mechanism, for those projects in which a coin offering makes sense.
However, many past token projects were only using ICOs as an opportunity
to collect money without a truly decentralized and functioning token
economy in the background. We need to regain the trust that was lost,
and proposals like my Reversible ICO shows how technology can be the
transaction mechanism and the regulator at the same time. – Fabian Vogelsteller, LUKSO CEO and Ethereum developer responsible for co-creating the ERC-20 Token Standard
You’ll see blockchain companies with differentiated business models
separating themselves from the pack. For the industry to mature and gain
legitimacy, the 2018 shakeout had to happen. As you’ve seen with the
rise of the internet, e-commerce and just about every other big-thought
thing that’s happened in the last 50 years, the gold rush days come to
an end, rules get created and people settle down to do real business.
That’s why we’ve kept our focus, powered forward and invested in
building our vision for the next iteration of the web. For TRON, 2019
will be a year of many innovations. We’re the largest decentralized
content ecosystem in the world, and 2019 will be about showing people
what that means. We’re beginning the year with our first summit, in San
Francisco, where we’ll reveal big details about how we plan to integrate
blockchain with BitTorrent’s peer-to-peer technology. And we’ll follow
that by offering our 100 million monthly BitTorrent users incentives to
create and share more freely and often, delivering an economy of goods
and services within the network.†– Justin Sun, TRON CEO and Founder
2019 will be a historic year for the Blockchain industry. Malta will
issue the first license for operators in this sphere to be able to
operate in a regulated environment. Thus, 2019 will see the
materialization of The Blockchain Island, firmly putting Malta at the
epicenter of this industry. We are aware where the compass is pointing,
which is why blockchain technology will be incorporated into our
ecosystem. In turn, we will soon start witnessing change in the
landscape of how sectors as we know today operate. In fact, as a
Government, we’re looking at using blockchain technology in the public
sector to better the experience of our citizens. 2019 will be an even
more exciting year for Malta. The smallest EU member state will be
amongst the top 10 nations with a National Strategy for Artificial
Intelligence. This will open doors for the exploration of new economic
niches such as esports, gaming and Fintech. Malta’s agility and flexible
approach will ensure that we will remain innovators in the digital
economy.†– The Honorable Silvio Schembri, Malta’s Junior Minister for Financial Services, Digital Economy & Innovation
We hope to see some more progress happening towards the setting up of
a true interoperability standard for optimal communication between
different types of blockchain networks. We believe that there will be
some more hybrid deployments involving the joint use of permissionless
and permissioned blockchain networks, with a focus on real world use
cases where the use of blockchain technology can truly move the needle
forward.†– Nimit Sawheny, Voatz CEO
Blockchain communities and open source communities will see their
lines blurred, as the two become synonymous with one another. Open
source has traditionally been on the cutting edge of innovation and has
garnered massive interest because of its ability to deliver security
through transparency. Decentralization is the latest cutting-edge
technology and it shares that same foundational principle of
transparency. A platform cannot be decentralized if it is proprietary,
as the organization that owns the software code ultimately becomes the
central point of failure.†– Ben Golub, Storj Interim CEO and Executive Chairman
Tokenization:
A quadrillion dollar market is unfolding, driven by the emergence of
security tokens. As currencies are tokenized, as bonds are tokenized, as
equities are tokenized, as currencies and real estate and energy are
tokenized — We are watching the birth of a quadrillion-dollar market.
Also, Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) are going to deliver over $100B
of capital into places where economic stimulus is needed in the U.S. We
are also going to see the first Dapps (decentralized applications) that
hit a million users a day sometime next year. Because we’ve now had our
“Netscape†moment, we now have scalable blockchains that have no
friction (meaning anyone can access it without having tokens) low
latency (meaning it’s fast and scalable and can be by many people) with
EOS as the first general protocol with many to come. It’s the equivalent
of when the first IPhone launched in the App Store.†– Brock Pierce, American Entrepreneur, Venture Capitalist, Chairman of the Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of EOS Alliance
I think that the main trend will be securities tokens. The
combination of the power of a distributed ledger with more standardized
securities will open lots of doors in capital creation. Privacy will
continue to be important. There will be an increasing gap between those
with solid technology and those with weak, captive networks.†– Bruce Fenton,
Founder and Managing Director of Atlantic Financial, Board member of
the Bitcoin Foundation and co-founder of the Bitcoin Association
The ability to fractionalize illiquid assets will allow institutions
to offer unique portfolio positioning that suit the preferences of the
investor. Given the transparency involved in a correctly-designed token,
there will be new ways to visualize risk and returns. This will unleash
a new wave of investing that has been bottled up because of asymmetry
of information. Ultimately, tokenization will greatly flatten that
asymmetry, which is what this is all about.” – Sam Tabar, Fluidity Co-Founder
Venture Capital:
2019 is going to be another year of building. We’re squarely in the
phase in which the crypto space is developing the companies, products,
and infrastructure to support the wild valuations we saw in 2017. I
expect we’ll see more consolidation, as both companies and funds
struggle to raise capital. While this might sound gloomy, I think it’s
actually quite healthy. As technology and valuations start to converge
at rational levels again, the stage will be set for the industry to
enter the next phase of maturity.†– Arianna Simpson, Venture Capitalist and Managing Director at Autonomous Partners
We should not forget that token issuers are startups and they have an
even higher burn rate than that of traditional startups. With over $10
billion raised by those crypto startups in 2017-2018, the conversion to
fiat currencies is inevitable. In addition, all the crypto services and
talent have been twice as expensive as for traditional startups. Once
billions of dollars are liquidated to pay bills, it is normal for the
prices of the major crypto currencies to drop. This of course had a
snowball effect: the panic starts and hundreds of entrepreneurs need to
sell crypto to secure capital for product development. Even cryptofunds
whose market capitalization is $10 billion tend to have focused on
equity deals recently. They’ve liquidated part of their crypto portfolio
and hold fiat. In addition, we shouldn’t forget that the main reason
the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks exists are because of the miners.
Miners had to sell as well to maintain their facilities. They’ve
overmined Bitcoin in 2017, assuming the price would keep going up.†– Natalia Karayaneva, Propy CEO and Founder
Posted by AGORACOM-JC
at 1:36 PM on Thursday, December 20th, 2018
Successful selective leaching to remove Magnesium Oxide (MgO) and Calcium Oxide (CaO) was achieved
This allows the potential recovery of High Purity MgO and eliminates the need for membranes and other purification steps required to make high purity lithium that can be used to make lithium carbonate, lithium hydroxide and/or lithium metal.
Montreal, QC / December 20, 2018 –St-Georges Eco-Mining Corp. (CSE: SX)(OTC: SXOOF) (FSE: 85G1) is pleased to provide an update on the development of its lithium-in-clay extraction technology.
Successful
selective leaching to remove Magnesium Oxide (MgO) and Calcium Oxide
(CaO) was achieved. This allows the potential recovery of High Purity
MgO and eliminates the need for membranes and other purification steps
required to make high purity lithium that can be used to make lithium
carbonate, lithium hydroxide and/or lithium metal.
“(…)
Selective leaching of Magnesium, Calcium and Sodium is an interesting
breakthrough that helps to make the down stream processing for lithium
purification simpler with fewer challenges on water/acid balances,
reduction in chemical usage and lower energy requirements. (…) We are
still investigating converting problem elements into valuable salable
by-products helping our cost structure and ecological focus (…)” said
Enrico Di Cesare, St-Georges’ Vice-President Research & Development.
St-Georges
tested its metallurgical process in a simulated industrial environment
using large quantity of material received in September from the Bonnie
Claire deposit owned 100% by its partner Iconic Minerals Ltd. (TSX-V:
ICM). Approximately 100kg of Bonnie Claire material was used in the
current test phase. 5 independent laboratories participated in the
effort. The initial mechanical separation step was tested with an
equipment vendor in Pennsylvania. The results show that 55% of the mass
can be removed while concentrating the lithium without the use of water
and chemicals.
St-Georges
is working on the filing of two provisional patents in relation to the
first phase of development of the process. Further testing is underway
to optimize and firm up the patent applications. The current
developments simplify and improve the process flow sheet. It eliminates
the need to use membranes and it is expected to decrease total chemicals
used.
In
mutual agreement with Iconic Minerals, St-Georges’ management is
revising the initial planning allowing to accelerate the development of
the technology and should deliver a report to Iconic in January that
will include elements that were initially expected in the second
development report. Additional testing is currently underway for that
purpose. St-Georges also expects to issue an additional press release in
early January after it receives the results to the verification tests
that it has just commissioned following this potential breakthrough.
Joel
Scodnick, P.Geo, and Herb Duerr, P.Geo both qualified persons under NI
43-101 have reviewed and approved the technical content of this release.
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
“Frank Dumas”
FRANCOIS (FRANK) DUMAS, DIRECTOR & COO
About St-Georges
St-Georges is developing new technologies to solve the some of the most common environmental problems in the mining industry.
The
Company controls directly or indirectly, through rights of first
refusal, all of the active mineral tenures in Iceland. It also explores
for nickel on the Julie Nickel Project & for industrial minerals on
Quebec’s North Shore and for lithium and rare metals in Northern Quebec
and in the Abitibi region. Headquartered in Montreal, St-Georges’ stock
is listed on the CSE under the symbol SX, on the US OTC under the Symbol
SXOOF and on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the symbol 85G1.
The
Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) has not reviewed and does not accept
responsibility for the adequacy or the accuracy of the contents of this
release.
