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CLIENT FEATURE: Monarques Gold $MQR.ca Gold Producer With Recent Quarter Revenue of $10M $GDX.ca $ECR.ca $MZZ.ca $QMX.ca $IMG.ca $IAG $MUX

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:02 PM on Friday, November 16th, 2018
Financial Highlights

  • Revenues of $10.0 million in the fourth quarter, up 31% quarter-over-quarter.
  • Strong financial position, with $15.0 million in cash.

Beaufor Mine

All figures in $CAD

  • Production of 4,695 ounces in the fourth quarter
  • Average selling price of $1,617

Find Out More!

  • A gold producer with the Beaufor Mine located in one of the best mining jurisdictions in Canada
  • A large portfolio of mining assets, including the Beaufor Mine, two mills (Camflo and Beacon), two advanced projects (Wasamac and Croinor Gold) and other exploration projects
  • Upside potential and leverage to the gold price with the Wasamac project.
    • (measured and indicated resource of 2.6 million ounces of gold)

300 Square KM Portfolio of Mining Assets

 

Hub On AGORACOM / Corporate Profile

FULL DISCLOSURE: Monarques Gold Corp. is an advertising client of AGORA Internet Relations Corp.

#HyperX and Allied #Esports Announce HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas $GMBL $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF $Game.ca $EPY.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:58 PM on Friday, November 16th, 2018
  • HyperX, the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc. and Allied Esports, a global esports entertainment company, today announced an exclusive naming rights partnership and multiyear agreement
  • Under which Allied Esports’ global flagship property, located at the Luxor Hotel & Casino, was newly named the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas
  • The first dedicated esports venue on the Las Vegas Strip.

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. — HyperX, the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc. and Allied Esports, a global esports entertainment company, today announced an exclusive naming rights partnership and multiyear agreement under which Allied Esports’ global flagship property, located at the Luxor Hotel & Casino, was newly named the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, the first dedicated esports venue on the Las Vegas Strip.

HyperX and Allied Esports announce HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, naming rights partnership the first for a dedicated multipurpose esports arena in North America @hyperx

“HyperX and Allied Esports share a strategy centered on a ‘We’re All Gamers’ mindset, and with this first-of-its-kind partnership we can accelerate opportunities to engage fans and create influential content,” said Simon Temperley, Allied Esports Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer. “This dynamic relationship is a direct result of Allied customers’ excitement to use the best gaming equipment on the market and HyperX’s belief in our vision for content creation.”

The partnership is comprised of co-branded experiences and events, including unique opportunities with HyperX’s personalities, esports athletes and influencers; co-branded content and collateral in-venue, online and on social platforms; marketing, promotion and product activations; and a prominent retail presence in Las Vegas. The HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas branding will be integrated across all social media platforms starting today.

“HyperX’s commitment and dedication to all things esports has helped to propel the brand to become a favorite for professional and casual gamers. Attaining the naming rights for HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas allows us a great opportunity to grow our audience,” said Daniel Kelley, director of marketing, HyperX. “Allied Esports is a respected esports partner for us and we look forward to announcing more successes with them.”

The new deal expands on an already robust partnership between Allied Esports and HyperX. Earlier this year, HyperX became the Official Peripheral and Arena Partner of the Las Vegas arena, equipping gamers with HyperX headsets, keyboards, mice and mouse pads for esports tournaments, special events and daily play.

HyperX was also an Official Partner of Allied Esports’ North American mobile esports truck this summer with stops at various events, including the 2018 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, VidCon 2018 in Anaheim, and Comic-Con 2018 in San Diego.

The new HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas opened in March 2018 and has quickly become a global destination for esports fans, players and streamers, and teams. The venue has staged some of the most popular esports entertainment events and productions of the year across a variety of game genres and titles, including Ninja Vegas ’18, starring streaming sensation Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, and recently announced two more major events in December: League of Legends All-Star 2018 (Dec. 6-8) and Capcom Cup 2018 (Dec. 14-16). The arena’s nightly tournaments, including Friday Frags and Saturday Night Speedway, have become the epicenter of Las Vegas’ growing competitive video gaming scene. HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas was recently named Venue of the Year at the 2018 Tempest Awards, a part of the Esports Business Summit.

As part of the partnership, HyperX will be sponsoring events at HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas. From January 9-12 during CES 2019, HyperX is planning a variety of social and marketing activities that will include the newly announced HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas. More information on the CES activations and other HyperX-sponsored events currently in the planning stages will be available closer to the event dates.

About HyperX
HyperX is the gaming division of Kingston Technology Company, Inc., the world’s largest independent memory manufacturer, with the goal of providing gamers, PC builders, and power users with high-performance components. For 15 years, the HyperX mission has been to develop gaming products for gamers – high-speed memory, solid state drives, headsets, keyboards, mice, USB flash drives, and mouse pads – to the gaming community and beyond. The award-winning HyperX brand has carved its name atop the leaderboard by consistently delivering products that deliver superior comfort, aesthetics, performance, and reliability. HyperX gear is the choice of pro gamers, tech enthusiasts, and overclockers worldwide because it meets the most stringent product specifications and is built with best-in-class components. HyperX has shipped over 60 million memory modules and 5 million gaming headsets worldwide.

Join the global #HyperXFamily at facebook.com/hyperxcommunity, and learn how HyperX products can enhance your console experience and boost performance for both you and your PC at hyperxgaming.com. Whatever your skill level, whatever genres you play, we embrace all gaming enthusiasts everywhere with our core belief — We’re All Gamers.

Website: http://www.hyperxgaming.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/HyperX
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hyperx/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hyperxcommunity
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/kingstonhyperx

About Allied Esports
Allied Esports is a premier esports entertainment company with a global network of dedicated esports properties and content production facilities. Its mission is to connect players, streamers and fans via integrated arenas and mobile esports trucks around the world that serve as both gaming battlegrounds and every day content generation hubs. Allied Esports is a subsidiary of Ourgame International (SEHK:899), owner of WPT Enterprises, Inc., the operator of The World Poker Tour.

The Allied Esports Property Network currently spans ten properties in the top three esports markets across the globe: North America’s HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas, Esports Arena Orange County, Esports Arena Oakland and Esports Truck “Big Meta”; Europe’s ELC Gaming, Esports Truck “Big Betty” and Esports Studio in Hamburg, Germany; and China’s Lianmeng Dianjing in Beijing, Lianmeng Dianjing SEG Arena in Shenzhen, Lianmeng Dianjing Tianjin Arena and Lianmeng Dianjing Gui’an Arena.

For more information, visit AlliedEsports.gg and follow @AlliedEsports on social media.

Editor’s Note: For additional information or executive interviews, please contact Mark Tekunoff, Kingston Technology Company, Inc. 17600 Newhope Street, Fountain Valley, CA USA 92708, 714-438-2791(Voice). Press images can be found in Kingston’s press room here.

Kingston, the Kingston logo, HyperX and the HyperX logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Kingston Technology Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. All registered trademarks and trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Source: https://business.financialpost.com/pmn/press-releases-pmn/business-wire-news-releases-pmn/hyperx-and-allied-esports-announce-hyperx-esports-arena-las-vegas

Canada facing #marijuana shortage following legalization $BOG.ca $NBUD.ca $MCOA $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX $ACG $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:04 PM on Friday, November 16th, 2018

Uncertainty over future cannabis supplies sparks fears that buyers may return to black market

Canada is running low on supplies of legal cannabis a month after laws allowing the recreational use of the drug kicked in.

According to a poll by the non-profit Angus Reid Institute, one in eight Canadians has used marijuana since it was legalised on 17 October. But with demand outstripping supply in the new regulated market, authorities fears some users may return to buying from illegal dealers.

Khurram Malik, CEO of Toronto-based cannabis company Biome Grow Inc, told Canada’s Global News that the shortages are the result of the government’s strict controls on marijuana, and the resulting time it takes for producers to develop a compliant product.

All private retailers are required to pass extensive background checks, and approved operators must order their cannabis through suppliers regulated by the provincial government.

“The rules here are so difficult to grow cannabis, quite frankly more difficult than anyone else in the world,” said Malik.

Even companies that stockpiled supplies of marijuana before it was legalised are now reporting shortages.

James Burns, CEO of Alcanna, an off-licence chain that sells the drug in the province of Alberta, told the BBC that the provincial supplier, the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission (AGLC), is out of stock on most cannabis products.

“It doesn’t matter how big you are, there’s just none there. If the government warehouse is empty, it’s empty. There’s nothing you can do,” he said.

Source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/cannabis/97848/canada-facing-marijuana-shortage-after-legislation

Stock exchanges find novel uses for #blockchain $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:05 AM on Friday, November 16th, 2018

  • Although stock trades are often made in milliseconds by algorithms, completing them involves co-ordinating payment and delivery among a mess of databases and then reconciling the records
  • In big financial centres trades take two full days to settle. Some stock exchanges wonder whether blockchain’s distributed, tamper-proof ledgers and immutable and transparent transaction records could speed up and simplify the process

BLOCKCHAIN, THE technology underlying bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, was designed with an ideological aim: to sidestep central authorities and governments. But many people have become intrigued by its practical uses, such as updating back-office processes. And few institutions have shown more interest in such applications than financial exchanges.

Although stock trades are often made in milliseconds by algorithms, completing them involves co-ordinating payment and delivery among a mess of databases and then reconciling the records. In big financial centres trades take two full days to settle. Some stock exchanges wonder whether blockchain’s distributed, tamper-proof ledgers and immutable and transparent transaction records could speed up and simplify the process.

Exchanges from America and Australia to Switzerland and Singapore are studying the concept. Australia’s stock exchange, the ASX, has moved furthest towards using blockchain to replace its main clearing and settlement platform. It has been testing technology from Digital Asset, an American firm, and will go live in mid-2021. And on November 11th SGX, Singapore’s stock exchange, and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), its central bank, announced a prototype using blockchain for delivery, payment and settlement of assets.

These projects are strikingly unlike the vision of blockchain enthusiasts. ASX’s, for example, uses ledgers but remains quite centralised. A single counterparty, ASX itself, must approve participants (which removes the need for energy-intensive verification and updating of records, as with bitcoin). Though open to all, only some banks and brokers will opt for direct access. Everyone else must trade through them. In contrast to the complete transparency of the bitcoin ledger, market participants will not have access to the whole dataset (for legal reasons, but also so they do not have to give away their positions). And settlement will not be in real time.

Why, then, bother? Kelly Mathieson of Digital Asset says her firm’s purpose-built programming language, DAML, which enables financial contracts to be automated, will make further innovation easy. The tedious processes of reconciliation, she says, will be drastically simplified.

As soon as next year investors will be able to see the result of another, smaller experiment. SIX, the owner of the Swiss stock exchange, will launch a separate digital platform for trading assets, such as stocks and bonds, in “tokenised” form—that is, in a format blockchain can handle. Tokenising will eliminate minimum trade sizes, says Thomas Zeeb of SIX. It will also make a much wider range of assets tradable. Mr Zeeb has already been approached by a museum that wants to tokenise its art collection, as a novel source of funding. Investors would gain exposure to the value of the art going up or down through such tokens, which they could trade.

All these projects have, or plan to obtain, official blessing; after all, exchanges are highly regulated. But the Singaporean project shows the value of seeking more than a nod of approval. MAS’s involvement meant the prototype did not limit itself to stock trading or settlement, but also looked at digital currency issued by the central bank. Quite a turnaround for a technology designed to circumvent governments.

Source: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2018/11/17/stock-exchanges-find-novel-uses-for-blockchain

Harvest Update at Marijuana Company of America’s $MCOA #CBD Hemp Project in New Brunswick $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX $ACG $ACB $WEED.ca $HIP.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:19 PM on Thursday, November 15th, 2018

15233 mcoa

  • The 2018 cultivation consisted of 125 acres contracted from four farmers in the northeast region of NB, utilizing three Health Canada approved cultivars with an expected CBD content of 1.5% to 2.5%.
  • This group of enthusiastic and innovative farmers was of great assistance to the project over the course of the season.

ESCONDIDO, Calif., Nov. 15, 2018 – via NetworkWire – MARIJUANA COMPANY OF AMERICA INC. (“MCOA” or the “Company”) (OTC: MCOA), an innovative hemp and cannabis corporation, and its joint venture partner Global Hemp Group Inc. (CSE: GHG / OTC: GBHPF / FRANKFURT: GHG) (the “Partners”) wish to provide an update on the harvest at their CBD hemp project in New Brunswick (“NB”), Canada.

The 2018 cultivation consisted of 125 acres contracted from four farmers in the northeast region of NB, utilizing three Health Canada approved cultivars with an expected CBD content of 1.5% to 2.5%. This group of enthusiastic and innovative farmers was of great assistance to the project over the course of the season. Harvesting of hemp for cannabinoid extraction required some innovation to handle both the harvesting and initial processing of the hemp. Dr. Paul Perrault, GHG Director and New Brunswick Project Manager stated, “We want to thank the farmers for their creativity and willingness to find solutions to the challenges that arose as we worked through the harvesting and drying process for this year’s cultivation.”

The harvest in NB has been completed. In order to process the hemp for cannabidiol (“CBD”) the first step in the process is drying the biomass. The team set up three drying facilities, the main industrial-scale biomass dryer located at the group’s facility in Bathurst (as announced August 30, 2018), and two smaller refurbished tobacco kilns were installed onsite at two of the farms. The auxiliary drying units installed on the farms arrived later in the season are currently being made ready to be operational for use in the 2019 growing season.

The Partners now have 17.5 tonnes of dried biomass in storage from this year’s harvest, a yield lower than expected due to weather issues, some minor pest issues and a bottleneck in processing the harvested hemp material. In order to address the processing issues encountered in this year’s operations, members of the engineering department of the Collège Communautaire du Nouveau Brunswick (CCNB) were brought in to assist in identifying solutions to expedite harvesting and increase efficiency in the processing of the hemp. With the assistance of CCNB we expect to improve the harvesting system to minimize straw intake at harvest and to adapt the tobacco kilns to processing hemp tops. Discussions are underway with CCNB to formalize this collaboration around two projects on harvesting and processing which will involve the current group farmers. Their experience will be invaluable in this research.  In addition, with the advent of the additional tobacco dryers, decentralized drying and storage at the farm level will be introduced for the 2019 cultivation. Such additional dryer capacity at the farm level will reduce the drying bottleneck experienced this year and will minimize the Company’s carbon footprint by significantly reducing the transport cost of moving tons of moisture laden material.

The Partners are now evaluating how best to monetize this year’s harvest. At this point they have had discussions with a number of potential purchasers of the biomass.

The 2018 hemp cultivation provided the group with a tremendous amount of knowledge and experience from this year’s larger scale operation. The Partners continue to be committed to hemp cultivation and processing in northeastern New Brunswick. We are convinced significantly better results can be achieved with improved genetics and further refinement of farming and processing practices. Industrial hemp cultivars containing 4-5% CBD already on trial in NB would more than double the performance of current cultivars used in 2018, but have not yet been registered for use as a Health Canada approved cultivar.

About Marijuana Company of America, Inc.
MCOA is a corporation which participates in: (1) product research and development of legal hemp-based consumer products under the brand name “hempSMART™â€, that targets general health and well-being; (2) an affiliate marketing program to promote and sell its legal hemp-based consumer products containing CBD; (3) leasing of real property to separate business entities engaged in the growth and sale of cannabis in those states and jurisdictions where cannabis has been legalized and properly regulated for medicinal and recreations use; and, (4) the expansion of its business into ancillary areas of the legalized cannabis and hemp industry, as the legalized markets and opportunities in this segment mature and develop.

About Our hempSMART Products Containing CBD
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not recognized CBD as a safe and effective drug for any indication. Our products containing CBD derived from industrial hemp are not marketed or sold based upon claims that their use is safe and effective treatment for any medical condition as drugs or dietary supplements subject to the FDA’s jurisdiction.

Forward Looking Statements
This news release contains “forward-looking statements” which are not purely historical and may include any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such forward-looking statements include, among other things, the development, costs and results of new business opportunities and words such as “anticipate”, “seek”, intend”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “project”, “plan”, or similar phrases may be deemed “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Actual results could differ from those projected in any forward-looking statements due to numerous factors. Such factors include, among others, the inherent uncertainties associated with new projects, the future U.S. and global economies, the impact of competition, and the Company’s reliance on existing regulations regarding the use and development of cannabis-based products. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this news release, and we assume no obligation to update the forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons why actual results could differ from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Although we believe that any beliefs, plans, expectations and intentions contained in this press release are reasonable, there can be no assurance that any such beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions will prove to be accurate. Investors should consult all of the information set forth herein and should also refer to the risk factors disclosure outlined in our annual report on Form 10-12G, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and other periodic reports filed from time-to-time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For more information, please visit www.sec.gov.

For more information, please visit the Company’s websites at:

MarijuanaCompanyofAmerica.com
hempSMART.com
NetworkNewsWire/MCOA

Corporate Communications Contact: 
NetworkNewsWire (NNW)
New York, New York
www.NetworkNewsWire.com
212.418.1217 Office
[email protected]

#OpenX and #ownerIQ to Bring Second-Party Data to #ProgrammaticAdvertising #adtech $GOOD.ca $TTD $RUBI $AT.ca $TRMR $FUEL

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:41 PM on Thursday, November 15th, 2018
  • ownerIQ, the second-party, transparent data solutions, today announced of their new Audience Private Marketplace (PMP) feature in partnership with OpenX, the independent advertising exchange
  • This new product offering leverages the existing DealID infrastructure between Exchanges and DSPs to enable advertisers on almost any DSP to easily access transparent retailer and brand audiences via the OpenX exchange – reducing the complexity and costs of access, while bringing increased data quality and scale

ownerIQ, the second-party, transparent data solutions, today announced of their new Audience Private Marketplace (PMP) feature in partnership with OpenX, the independent advertising exchange. This new product offering leverages the existing DealID infrastructure between Exchanges and DSPs to enable advertisers on almost any DSP to easily access transparent retailer and brand audiences via the OpenX exchange – reducing the complexity and costs of access, while bringing increased data quality and scale.

ownerIQ’s second-party data platform, CoEx, allows advertisers to gain permissioned access to first-party consumer data from hundreds of retailers and brands. With the new Audience PMPs, advertisers that want to access the transparent, retail and brand data exclusively available in CoEx can now activate that audience on any DSP, on the same day they request access. The Audience PMP feature enables buyers that purchase inventory on the OpenX exchange via outside DSPs to use Deal ID’s to differentiate ownerIQ data in bid requests, and combine OpenX’s high quality, fraud-free inventory with ownerIQ’s unique second-party data sources at greater scale.

“The strategy of combining ownerIQ’s unique, transparent data assets directly with OpenX inventory has a number of benefits for advertisers. Passing data through DMPs or even directly into DSPs adds friction to the process resulting in lower cookie match rates impacting audience scale and delays in getting data from point A to point B. DMPs and DSPs also charge fees to data providers which results in increased costs for advertisers negatively impacting campaign ROI. This feature will significantly reduce that friction, lowering data costs, and improving scale,” Greg Loeffelholz, VP Platform Management, ownerIQ.

According to Loeffelholz, when ownerIQ data is passed from the CoEx platform to outside DSPs via a DMP the total addressable audience size can be cut by up to 50 – 70 percent due to poor match rates between platforms. Match rates for delivering cookie data from the leading DMPs to most DSPs has been around 40 percent and that’s on top of the scale lost by onboarding data from its source to an intermediary DMP. With the new ownerIQ Audience PMP, advertisers will be able to access ownerIQ’s second-party retail data at much larger scale, and this approach will shorten the time required to pass files between platforms making the data available to advertisers days or even weeks faster than previous solutions.

Early campaigns with Audience PMP show the audience match rates between ownerIQ and OpenX exceed the highest rates achieved on ownerIQ data via an outside DSP, and almost twice the rates of use cases where ownerIQ data had passed through a DMP to be made available on a buying platform. OpenX and ownerIQ sync more than 180 Million cookie IDs on an average day as a result of the tens of thousands of publishers the two companies reach, including top retailers. This is more than double the sync rate that ownerIQ has been able to achieve directly with any DMP or DSP via direct integrations.

Nathan Woodman, Chief Data Officer at Havas Media Group, sees the value to his clients in this approach.  According to Mr. Woodman,  “Working with media and data owners to optimize the programmatic supply path is important to Havas Media. ownerIQ as a key resource for second party data places our client’s dollars directly to the source of the data. The Audience PMP solution helps Havas Media spend our clients dollars in transparent and well lit environments.”

With multiple ad exchanges selling much of the same inventory, the need for differentiation among exchanges is always ideal. OpenX sees this strategy as an attractive approach to working with ownerIQ. “Working with ownerIQ on Audience PMP allows us to give advertisers a chance to use second party data in a way not before possible, and intelligently buy against ad opportunities that they otherwise would not have had any information about,” said Paul Sternhell SVP of Monetization and Platform at OpenX. “The combination of OpenX inventory, and our strong commitment to quality, with ownerIQ’s second party data, presents a compelling use case, and from a technical perspective, the ability to send an ad opportunity to a DSP regardless of whether that particular user has a synced cookie from that DSP will prove to be very valuable.”

Source: https://www.martechadvisor.com/news/bi-ci-decision-science/openx-and-owneriq-to-bring-secondparty-data-to-programmatic-advertising/

#Esports And Casual Games Race To The #Blockchain $GMBL $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $TCEHF $Game.ca $EPY.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 11:43 AM on Thursday, November 15th, 2018

  • We’re by no means oracles at Crypto Briefing, but the future usage of cryptocurrency and blockchain in the video game industry looks as inevitable as the marriage of internet and gaming
  • It wasn’t that long ago that most video games were played offline, with online modes only sometimes being haphazardly added on.
  • These days, online gaming rules the roost.
  • Even more specifically, mobile gaming is predicted by Newzoo’s 2018 Global Games Market Report to account for over half of all gaming revenue.

By Brian Penny

We’re by no means oracles at Crypto Briefing, but the future usage of cryptocurrency and blockchain in the video game industry looks as inevitable as the marriage of internet and gaming.

It wasn’t that long ago that most video games were played offline, with online modes only sometimes being haphazardly added on. These days, online gaming rules the roost. Even more specifically, mobile gaming is predicted by Newzoo’s 2018 Global Games Market Report to account for over half of all gaming revenue.

Meanwhile, Newzoo’s 2018 Global eSports Market Report predicts approximately $900 million in revenues generated by eSports. The viewership for professional gaming is around 380 million people watching over 46 billion minutes of Twitch streams every month alone.

But will it be the blockchain or cryptocurrency that’s accepted by the video game industry first, and will it be casual games or esports that powers it?

The answer lies in the business model powering the gaming industry’s revenue.

Crypto Meets Esports

Cryptocurrencies are already making headway into Esports. The United Masters League has announced its backing for the first professional gaming tournament with a crypto pot. Sponsored by Unikrn, a global gambling and Esports brand backed by Mark Cuban, players in the ChallengeMe tournament will vie for prizes totalling $290,000, to be paid out in the company’s native cryptocurrency, Unikrn Gold.

The ChallengeMe tournament will last three months, and be fought between fourteen European teams in matches of Counterstrike:Global Offensive, Unikrn revealed in a press release.

With over 400 hours of gameplay and broadcasts in eight languages, the tournament indicates a serious shift towards virtual currencies and assets within the space of online gaming. Nor is it a one-off event; Unikrn had already begun a long-term pivot towards digital assets when it attained licensing for cryptocurrency as well as fiat betting last month.

Mobile Games Made Developers Depend on Microtransactions

While “hardcore” gamers ignored mobile gaming in its early days, revenues by mobile developers like Rovio, Supercell, and King made legacy console and PC developers take notice. It wasn’t long before Electronic Arts, Square Enix, and longtime holdout Nintendo were developing mobile games.

These mobile upstarts proved a freemium business model that was unheard of outside of South Korea’s online gaming market. Games and apps on mobile devices are developed and released in sprints, using an Agile development method. This allows them to be released to the consumer market and start generating revenue earlier in the development cycle.

Mobile games are often given away for free.

Over 80 percent of games today are free-to-play with in-app purchases, called microtransactions. When executed correctly these freemium models are very profitable – Candy Crush Saga and Clash of Clans (the two highest-grossing mobile games of all time) are pulling in approximately $1 million a day.

Anyone who’s played a video game on either mobile, PC, or console (which I have to assume from the statistics is everyone) knows the familiar format of earning gems or coins to purchase items within a game. Using those currencies to make real-world purchases would be a big deal to gamers everywhere.

This is what gaming platforms like GameCredits and LootForge are trying to do, but developers and publishers like Blizzard want to keep it in their own ecosystem with proprietary digital currencies like WoW Token.

It’s unlikely anyone will ever make any real money playing video games any time soon, aside from the professionals. But there’s still hope for video games and blockchain.

Blockchain Can Bring Games to the Next Level

The blockchain is about more than just cryptocurrencies. It also provides an immutable digital ledger that can be decentralized or distributed. Using blockchain technology, tracking video game scores, stats, and assets in everything from first-person shooters like “Call of Duty” and “Fortnite” to MMOs like “Minecraft” and “Fallout 76” can be done across all platforms, whether mobile, PC, or console.

This can be a big win for developers, who often have to deal with the servers of Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo’s consoles, along with Valve’s Steam PC marketplace and Google and Apple’s mobile markets.

Cross-play isn’t made easier when the platform owners resist. Sony made waves in 2018 for hesitating to allow its PS4 players to play with gamers on other consoles. It finally succumbed to the bad press and released a press announcement in September, revealing that it’s considering cross-play on more of its games.

And tracking on the digital ledger isn’t all – thanks to Ethereum’s ERC-721 non-fungible token standard and the ERC-1155 reference implementation, digital collectibles can be created, tracked, and traded on the blockchain.

Games like “Fortnite” and “World of Warcraft” have a variety of items of varying rarity and value.

Roll chances on bosses determine drop rates of items, and this can all be calculated via blockchain for a much more enhanced loot distribution system. It’s not just currency – clothing, weapons, and other collectible items can be found in games.

Online black markets for resources in some games have existed as long as the games themselves. Platforms like Wax and OpenSea are already looking into these systems, and Decentraland built a blockchain specifically for VR using the concept of nonfungible tokenized smart contracts.

But let’s not forget the distribution system of the games themselves. Piracy is responsible for an estimated $8.1 billion in annual losses to the video game industry. Most games these days are sold through digital keys, and thefts of those keys have ravaged everyone from Valve’s Steam marketplace (a 2016 hack resulted in the loss of 33 million game codes) to developers like Gun Media (limited edition Friday the 13th Kickstarter codes were stolen in February 2018).

And anyone buying a game on the secondary market often loses out on most of the valuable online functionality.

Blockchain-based tracking of these codes can help combat piracy. In fact, the public/private key transaction system used in blockchain can secure game codes better, while the digital ledger helps trace who uses them.

Whether blockchain or cryptocurrency penetrates gaming first isn’t clear, but both technologies are poised gain acceptance from gamers before anyone else. Miners and gamers are forever conjoined in the battle for graphics cards with powerful GPUs, and it’s time everyone starts working together.

Source: https://cryptobriefing.com/esports-games-race-blockchain/

Three Ways #Blockchain Technology Will Revolutionize Real Estate in 2019 $IDK.ca $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:27 AM on Thursday, November 15th, 2018
  • Blockchain is poised to redefine how we make transactions in the same way that the internet has redefined how we communicate and share information
  • It was originally created a decade ago to support the cryptocurrency bitcoin, but has grown to be so much more. Blockchain has lead to the creation (and loss) of millions of fortunes, the launch of hundreds of new companies, billions of dollars in investor funding and, most commonly for the non-technical, a lot of confusion around its true benefits.

Hunter Perry

Senior Manager of Strategic Growth at Compass. Pairing the real estate industry’s top talent with best in class technology coast to coast.

Blockchain is poised to redefine how we make transactions in the same way that the internet has redefined how we communicate and share information.

It was originally created a decade ago to support the cryptocurrency bitcoin, but has grown to be so much more. Blockchain has lead to the creation (and loss) of millions of fortunes, the launch of hundreds of new companies, billions of dollars in investor funding and, most commonly for the non-technical, a lot of confusion around its true benefits.

In its most basic form, blockchain makes it possible for the first time ever for people and companies to make major transactions without going through an intermediary. Intermediaries like credit card service companies, stock exchanges, banks and governments can make transactions expensive, slow and illiquid and may open opportunities for fraud or crime.

Access to deals, the amount of time it takes to close, property title mistakes, high fees and fraud bog down the real estate industry. It is the largest asset class in the world and has had minimal innovation in the way of increased efficiency during transactions. Blockchain poses major opportunities for innovation in real estate. Here are three innovations that will change how real estate is done for the better in 2019.

Tokenization

Historically, owning the most lucrative hard assets required investors to already be wealthy and have the luxury of being able to wait years to liquidate. That changes with tokenization.

Tokenization democratizes ownership of assets by using cryptocurrency to split assets into tokens that are stored on the blockchain. Someone who wants to invest in a trophy real estate project now has the luxury of being able to resell their share on the open market through secondary trading. Also, people in different geographies and tax brackets now have access to attractive investment opportunities that they previously would not. Landlords now have the ability to sell off just a portion of their property to the crowd. In 2019, I believe we will see a major migration of real estate ownership moving to the blockchain.

One of the pioneers in the space is Templum Markets, the first federally regulated marketplace for the primary issuance and secondary trading of security tokens. It recently closed what is thought to be the first digital security tokenization of a trophy real estate asset: Investors had the opportunity to invest as little as $10,000 in the St. Regis Hotel in Aspen. Unlike with most major real estate investments, owners are not locked in until the building is sold. They will be able to sell their portion on the secondary market.

Smart Contracts

The current state of property agreements have a lot of moving parts and middlemen. A transaction using a smart contract is completed entirely between the buyer and the seller (or renter and landlord) and has no human interaction.

Transactions can be done in far less time with far less chance of fraud. The seller includes all of the details of the property and the buyer puts all of their necessary information on a 100% encrypted and secure block. Computer protocols check the legitimacy of the transaction and no agreement can be completed until all of the terms are met.

Propy is one of the most well-known incumbents in the space. It has built technology for buyers, sellers, brokers, title agents and notaries to come together through a suite of smart contracts on blockchain to facilitate transactions.

Real estate purchasing can be a very emotional decision for people. I believe that middlemen such as brokers and attorneys earn their commissions for people making potentially the largest financial decision of their lives. While smart contracts are currently being built to replace middlemen, I believe this technology will ultimately be utilized to make advisers in this space more efficient.

Property Title

Title insurance has grown to be a $15 billion revenue per year industry by ensuring buyers that their property is clear of old liens and debts. Every municipality has their own way of storing property data. Some cities and towns have put records online while others still use printed paper. If all property title was decentralized on the blockchain, an immense amount of time and money would be saved and, potentially, it could eliminate the need for title insurance altogether. It could also be possible to add information about construction, damages and improvements to the title, almost like Carfax for homes. This will help make it so that people truly know what they are buying.

Unfortunately, while having all title on the blockchain would be great for property buyers, inputting this amount of data from every municipality is an extremely laborious and expensive undertaking. There are a few exciting technology companies in the space, like State Title and Jetclosing, but it is unclear if they are up for the task. It will be interesting to see whether governments, corporations or a combination of both cough up the dollars to enhance the data quality for where we live, work and play.

The coming year will be an inflection point for blockchain usage in real estate. Private investment has been flowing in real estate technology, cryptocurrency wealth is massive, real estate professionals are being increasingly aware of blockchain and the underlying technology is improving. When it comes to the potential growth and adoption of blockchain technology, we are in the first inning. Similar to using the internet, blockchain usage may soon be so common that you forget you’re even using it.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesrealestatecouncil/2018/11/15/three-ways-blockchain-technology-will-revolutionize-real-estate-in-2019/#1cebb0c06d20

Tetra Bio-Pharma $TBP.ca Pilot Study to Investigate a Cannabinoid Derived Drug in Dogs $AERO $CBDS $CGRW $APH.ca $GBLX

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:55 AM on Thursday, November 15th, 2018

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Tetra Bio-Pharma and Panag Pharma Advance their Veterinary Drug Pipeline 

  • Announced the submission of a clinical research application to the Veterinary Drugs Directorate at Health Canada.
  • This first of a kind veterinary study will examine the use of a cannabinoid-based drug to treat ocular pain and inflammation in canines
  • The pilot study will be led by veterinary ocular care specialists

ORLEANS, Ontario, Nov. 15, 2018 — Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. (“Tetra” or “TBP”) (TSX VENTURE: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) and Panag Pharma Inc. (“Panag”) today announced the submission of a clinical research application to the Veterinary Drugs Directorate at Health Canada. This first of a kind veterinary study will examine the use of a cannabinoid-based drug to treat ocular pain and inflammation in canines. The pilot study will be led by veterinary ocular care specialists.

“Several companies are marketing cannabis-based treatments for aliments in companion animals, but there is a major gap in understanding the safety and efficacy of these drugs,” said Dr. Guy Chamberland, CEO and CSO of Tetra Bio-Pharma. “This study demonstrates our commitment to becoming a world leader in the field of cannabinoid-based therapies for vision health. Tetra continues to adhere to an evidence-based drug development model, consistent with bringing novel, efficacious and safe drug products to market, including the veterinary market. We look forward to launching this trial to investigate the use of cannabinoids to treat eye pain and inflammation in dogs.”

In addition to the pharmaceutical and natural health products markets, Tetra will also launch trials in the companion animal market.  If approved, these products will be destined for global sales. At present, world-wide revenues derived from the companion animal market exceeded $30 billion in 2017, and this is expected to grow to $41 billion by 2024.

About Tetra Bio-Pharma
Tetra Bio-Pharma (TSX-V: TBP) (OTCQB: TBPMF) is a biopharmaceutical leader in cannabinoid-based drug discovery and development with a Health Canada approved, and FDA reviewed, clinical program aimed at bringing novel prescription drugs and treatments to patients and their healthcare providers. The Company has several subsidiaries engaged in the development of an advanced and growing pipeline of Bio Pharmaceuticals, Natural Health and Veterinary Products containing cannabis and other medicinal plant-based elements. With patients at the core of what we do, Tetra Bio-Pharma is focused on providing rigorous scientific validation and safety data required for inclusion into the existing bio pharma industry by regulators, physicians and insurance companies.

For more information visit: www.tetrabiopharma.com

Source: Tetra Bio-Pharma

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Forward-looking statements
Some statements in this release may contain forward-looking information. All statements, other than of historical fact, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future (including, without limitation, statements regarding potential acquisitions and financings) are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words “may”, “will”, “should”, “continue”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “believe”, “intend”, “plan” or “project” or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company’s ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, without limitation, the inability of the Company to obtain sufficient financing to execute the Company’s business plan; competition; regulation and anticipated and unanticipated costs and delays, the success of the Company’s research and development strategies, including this trial, the ability to obtain orphan drug status, the applicability of the discoveries made therein, the successful and timely completion and uncertainties related to the regulatory process, the timing of clinical trials, the timing and outcomes of regulatory or intellectual property decisions and other risks disclosed in the Company’s public disclosure record on file with the relevant securities regulatory authorities. Although the Company has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results or events not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. While no definitive documentation has yet been signed by the parties and there is no certainty that such documentation will be signed. The forward-looking statements included in this news release are made as of the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake an obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent events or otherwise unless required by applicable securities legislation.

#Platinum 2020 ‘Supply Deficit’ on ‘Solid’ #Auto Demand #PGM $NAM.ca $LIC.ca $LIX.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 1:09 PM on Wednesday, November 14th, 2018
  • DEMAND for platinum-group metals from their No.1 use – autocatalysts to reduce harmful engine emissions
  • looks solid for the next 15 years even as sales of electric vehicles grow, the bullion market’s premier industry event was told last month.
Platinum mining supply, in contrast, is set to fall the London Bullion Market Association’s annual conference – held for 2018 in Boston, Massachusetts – also heard.
Speaking on Day 1 of the LBMA Boston 2018 event, Dr.Rahul Mital – technical specialist for diesel after-treatment at US auto giant General Motors (NYSE: GM) – forecast that more than 85% of new passenger cars sold in 2030 “are expected to have internal combustion engines with [catalytic] converters,” because all-electric cars won’t sell as strongly as hybrid vehicles using both technologies.
With environmental regulations growing tighter, hybrid electric vehicles are “typically be certified to lower emission levels,” Mital explained to the LBMA conference, so the quantity of platinum-group metals (PGM) loaded into the catalytic converter for their internal combustion engines “is not expected to decrease.”
Sales of Fuel Cell cars – a competitor green technology to electric vehicles, powered by energy made from mixing hydrogen and oxygen over a platinum catalyst – will meantime grow to perhaps 1 million units worldwide, Mital said.
That would prove enough to make a notable impact on auto-sector platinum demand, he said.
Noting there are “many different forecasts” analysts should consider, Mital said that on his assumptions global PGM usage by the auto sector “is expected to stay stable or decrease [only] marginally by 2030…with diesel sales [needing platinum catalysts] in the heavy-duty industry expected to stay steady with no change or [even a] slight increase in PGM usage as tougher regulations come into play.”
On the supply side meantime, 71% of global platinum-output comes from miners in South Africa, says a note from specialist consultants Metals Focus. So “with 90% of their costs in local currency terms, it is important to view prices in Rand terms,” and with the currency falling hard in 2018 “the Rand-denominated PGM basket price [for platinum, palladium, rhodium and gold] is up 11% for the year.”
That’s now “providing some relief to South African platinum producers,” Metals Focus says. More globally, and on an all-in sustaining costs basis for the first half of 2018, “24% of the industry is loss making, a marked improvement from 57% in H1 ’17.”
South Africa’s output of platinum-group metals rose in September, new data showed last week, beating a 1.8% total drop in all mineral production and a near one-fifth decline in gold output with 7.2% year-on-year growth.
Further ahead however, “Supply driven deficits [are] on the horizon” for platinum worldwide reckons Justin Froneman, chief financial officer for the US at gold and platinum-group miner Sibanye-Stillwater (JSE: SGL), also speaking at the LBMA event in Boston last month.
Since the global financial crisis of 2008 and the following drop in platinum prices, “Capital investment in South Africa has been insufficient to replace current production levels.”
“Without incentive-driven price growth, new supply coming on-stream seems unlikely or delayed,” Froneman went on, forecasting that South Africa’s primary platinum production will drop to 3.9 million ounces in 2025, down more than 25% from the 5.3moz produced in the peak year of 2006.
“The Western Limb [of South Africa’s giant Bushveld mineral complex] currently represents more than 70% of South African supply. No new production is expected from the Western Limb without a real basket price escalation exceeding 20-25%.”
All told, “Platinum is likely to remain in marginal surplus for the remainder of this decade,” Froneman concluded, “before reverting to increasing deficits as primary production from South Africa contracts.”
Platinum’s No.1 industrial use – greater than chemical, electrical, petroleum, medical and all other productive uses combined – autocatalyst demand  may slip 6% this year worldwide, buoyed by growing emerging-market usage but dented by the sharp fall in diesel passenger-vehicle sales seen in Europe since the emissions-test cheating scandal broke at VW and other leading manufacturers.

 

 

Adrian Ash is director of research at BullionVault, the physical gold and silver market for private investors online. Formerly head of editorial at London’s top publisher of private-investment advice, he was City correspondent for The Daily Reckoning from 2003 to 2008, and is now a regular contributor to many leading analysis sites including Forbes and a regular guest on BBC national and international radio and television news. Adrian’s views on the gold market have been sought by the Financial Times and Economist magazine in London; CNBC, Bloomberg and TheStreet.com in New York; Germany’s Der Stern; Italy’s Il Sole 24 Ore, and many other respected finance publications.

Source: https://www.bullionvault.com/gold-news/platinum-supply-demand-111420183