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Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca Closes Acquisition of “The Sims Resource” $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $WINR $TCEHF $ATVI $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 8:04 AM on Monday, April 15th, 2019
  • Closed the  acquisition of 100% of the assets of The Sims Resource from Generatorhallen AB and IBIBI HB, as previously announced in its press release dated January 7, 2019
  • Expects to realize the revenue of TSR beginning in Q2 2019 following the closing and integration on the Enthusiast platform

TORONTO, April 15, 2019 – Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSXV: EGLX) (OTCQB: EGHIF), (“Enthusiast” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce today, that it has closed the  acquisition of 100% of the assets of The Sims Resource (“TSR”) from Generatorhallen AB and IBIBI HB, as previously announced in its press release dated January 7, 2019.

Enthusiast expects to realize the revenue of TSR beginning in Q2 2019 following the closing and integration on the Enthusiast platform.

Menashe Kestenbaum, CEO of Enthusiast, commented, “We are thrilled to close The Sims Resource acquisition and look forward to fully integrating it onto the Enthusiast platform. TSR is  the largest female video gaming content site in the world and is ranked on Quantcast’s Top 25 websites with the highest concentration of female audience in the US, closely behind Oprah.com. He continued, “We have a monetization strategy for TSR and we anticipate enhancing our advertising revenue through direct sales, capitalizing on the opportunity to monetize with advertisers seeking a large female video game audience. Further, we will look to adopt TSR’s subscription model to add additional revenue streams across our entire portfolio.”

The acquisition of TSR is the largest acquisition to date for Enthusiast and follows the successful completion of several strategic and accretive acquisitions in 2018 and 2019.

About Enthusiast Gaming

Founded in 2014, Enthusiast is the fastest-growing online community of video gamers. Through the Company’s unique acquisition strategy, it has a platform of over 80 owned and affiliated websites and currently reaches over 75 million monthly visitors with its unique and curated content and over 50 million YouTube visitors. Enthusiast also owns and operates Canada’s largest gaming expo, Enthusiast Gaming Live Expo, EGLX, (eglx.ca) with over 55,000 people attending in 2018. For more information on the Company, visit www.enthusiastgaming.com.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Investor Relations:

Julia Becker
Head of Investor Relations & Marketing
[email protected]
(604) 785.0850

This news release contains certain statements that may constitute forward-looking information under applicable securities laws. All statements, other than those of historical fact, which address activities, events, outcomes, results, developments, performance or achievements that Enthusiast anticipates or expects may or will occur in the future (in whole or in part) should be considered forward-looking information. Such information may involve, but is not limited to, comments with respect to strategies, expectations, planned operations and future actions of the Company. Often, but not always, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of words such as “plans”, “expects”, “is expected”, “budget”, “scheduled”, “estimates”, “forecasts”, “intends”, “anticipates”, or “believes” or variations (including negative variations) of such words and phrases, or statements formed in the future tense or indicating that certain actions, events or results “may”, “could”, “would”, “might” or “will” (or other variations of the forgoing) be taken, occur, be achieved, or come to pass. Forward-looking information is based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data and operating plans, strategies or beliefs as of the date of this news release, but involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Enthusiast to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking information. Such factors may be based on information currently available to Enthusiast, including information obtained from third-party industry analysts and other third-party sources, and are based on management’s current expectations or beliefs regarding future growth, results of operations, future capital (including the amount, nature and sources of funding thereof) and expenditures. Any and all forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Trading in the securities of the Company should be considered highly speculative.

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.

The securities of the Corporation have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirement. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

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Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca – Demand growth, falling stocks boon for #Nickel $ROX.ca $FF.ca $EDG.ca $AGL.ca $ANZ.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:45 PM on Sunday, April 14th, 2019

SPONSOR: Tartisan Nickel (TN:CSE)  Kenbridge Property has a measured and indicated resource of 7.14 million tonnes at 0.62% nickel, 0.33% copper. Tartisan also has interests in Peru, including a 20 percent equity stake in Eloro Resources and 2 percent NSR in their La Victoria property. Click her for more information

Tc logo in black
TN: CSE
Fact Sheet
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Demand growth, falling stocks boon for Ni

  • Healthy growth in nickel demand from the stainless steel and battery sectors and shrinking inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metal Exchange bode well for nickel prices
  • Nickel inventories at both LME and SHFE warehouses have been on a downward trajectory since 2018
  • Stainless steel demand still dominates, but EV sector grows faster

By: Violet Li

Healthy growth in nickel demand from the stainless steel and battery sectors and shrinking inventories on the Shanghai Futures Exchange and London Metal Exchange bode well for nickel prices, Macquarie Capital senior commodities consultant Jim Lennon said.

“Our view is that we have these two drivers in demand: stainless steel and batteries, and nickel inventories have been falling over the last few years. I think it will [continue to] fall over the next few years; the nickel market will remain in a deficit between supply and demand, which should push prices higher,” Lennon said at Fastmarkets Battery Materials Conference in Shanghai on Thursday April 11.

Lennon did not give a breakdown of the forecast price at the presentation.

Nickel inventories at both LME and SHFE warehouses have been on a downward trajectory since 2018. LME nickel stocks totaled 182,446 tonnes as of April 1, down by 50% from 368,430 tonnes on January 1, 2018.

Meanwhile, nickel stocks in SHFE-approved warehouses fell by 80% during the same period, to 9,749 tonnes on April 4 from 48,920 tonnes on January 1, 2018.

Lennon concluded the large decline in stock levels reflects deficits and some financial buying of stocks.

“Last year there’s probably about 50,000 tonnes of inventories transferred from the LME warehouses in Asia into non-reported inventories in Europe, held by banks and traders, partly for reasons of a positive outlook for the market or better premiums in the European area,” Lennon said.

Stainless steel demand still dominates, but EV sector grows faster
Stainless steel takes up 70% of global nickel usage compared with a small fraction of 6% of nickel used by the electric vehicle (EV) sector, Lennon said. But EV demand growth is speeding up, he said.

“Total world production of stainless steel in 2016 grew by 8.5%, 2017 by 6% and last year by 5%. This year, our projection is 3.5-4%, so we do see some slowdown but still a steady growth rate. Nickel usage in batteries will grow by 30-40% [in 2019], so the underlying growth in nickel [consumption] continues to be quite impressive,” Lennon said.

Notably, more nickel briquette was used in the EV sector following rising demand for batteries and this has raised the nickel briquette premium over the past year.

Fastmarkets MB’s monthly duty-free nickel briquette premium cif Shanghai stood at $240-270 per tonne at the end of March, up from $220-260 per tonne at the launch of the assessment in August last year.

Nickel briquette is the one of the main raw materials of nickel sulfate, a key material used in the production of nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) and nickel-cobalt-aluminium (NCA) batteries used in EVs.

Source: https://www.amm.com/Article/3868517/Demand-growth-falling-stocks-boon-for-Ni.html

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Posted in Tartisan Resources | Comments Off on Tartisan Nickel $TN.ca – Demand growth, falling stocks boon for #Nickel $ROX.ca $FF.ca $EDG.ca $AGL.ca $ANZ.ca

Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – #Twitch’s Head of #Esports on the Trends Driving Viewer Engagement $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $WINR $TCEHF $ATVI $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:15 PM on Sunday, April 14th, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company’s partial 2018 (first 9 months) revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

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EGLX: TSX-V
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Twitch’s Head of Esports on the Trends Driving Viewer Engagement

  • 2018 was a stellar year for Twitch .
  • According to Twitchtracker, the streaming service grew its average concurrent viewers by 43% to cross the one million average across the entire year, while streamers chasing the dream of Twitch stardom grew by 70% to 3.4M broadcasters per month.

From Fortnite’s  breakout success and Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevin’s rise to mainstream celebrity status, to Overwatch  driving new styles of interactive engagement with fans – the year was about a lot more than just seeing the statistics continue to climb. It redefined the trends we thought we knew about what streaming is all about and how esports builds its fan dynamics through real-time interactions.

“Battle Royale games are highly competitive and easy to follow. They translate very well to Twitch.”

It also saw a clash of the traditions of team-based esports with the trend of viewers falling in love with Battle Royale as their favorite game genre to watch.

“Battle Royale games are highly competitive and easy to follow. They translate very well to Twitch,” Justin Dellario, head of esports at Twitch, told The Esports Observer. “Twitch viewers thrive on live, shared moments and there is no shortage of that spontaneity in Battle Royale games.

“Best of all, Battle Royale games are simple – fight to be the last one standing – so nobody is left in the dark when they see a best play or big win.”

Dellario joined Twitch in February 2016, and since that time the wider entertainment industry has woken up to the idea that game streaming isn’t a sideshow but an actual competitor to its living room dominance. According to Dellario, the strength of Twitch is its community spirit.

Credit: EA Games

“That’s what today’s young audiences crave: the ability to interact and even influence what they watch. Twitch gives them that opportunity to do so with their fellow fans, their community,” said Dellario.

“People watch Twitch for shared moments, something to enjoy with like-minded people. That’s no different than sports fans gathering at a bar or a friend’s living room to watch a game. How people interact with content and content creators on Twitch builds a live, shared, interactive viewing experience that provides that exact atmosphere from the comfort of wherever you are watching from. That’s what we call multiplayer entertainment – unique, live, unpredictable experiences created by the shared interactions of millions.”

“It’s important to note that while viewer rewards play a part in driving viewership, they also play a part in driving engagement and play time.” 

That blend of interactivity and community is also represented in game developers delivering rewards to viewers, particularly around esports tournaments, as part of using the Twitch platform. And Dellario sees them shifting from a viewer incentive to a community expectation.

“It’s important to note that while viewer rewards play a part in driving viewership, they also play a part in driving engagement and play time,” Dellario said. “They cause players to return to the game to use the rewards, continue to have experiences that keep them tied to the game, and ultimately help drive them back to watching again to complete the loop.

“Developers recognize the need to strengthen this bond with their communities inside and outside of the game.”

One of the deepest integrations between the Twitch fan experience and an esports competition was the launch of the Overwatch League All-Access Pass. For a one-off season subscription price (unique compared to Twitch’s typical monthly subscription system) a viewer gets a special viewing experience with real-time game statistics, options to watch specific player cameras, or combine multiple views to create their own custom viewing experience.

Credit: Blizzard

“We are always looking for ways to enhance the esports broadcast experience for our partners and viewing experience for the fans,” said Dellario. “The Overwatch League All-Access Pass was the result of our work with Blizzard to develop new methods of engagement and learning from the community on how to provide more control in how they watch and experience matches.”

The top personalities on Twitch now single-handedly command audiences just as big, or bigger, than the biggest weekly esports leagues on the platform. So some events are finding new ways to get the best of both worlds through one of the newest trends on Twitch – co-streaming.

“We just saw Ninja gather a large viewing party for Thursday Night Football, bringing the program to people who may not otherwise watch it…”

“Many of our top streamers got successful because they are entertaining commentators of their own gameplay. Therefore, letting an online personality present the content in a way that resonates with their viewer community is a perfect way to find a new audience,” said Dellario.

“Twitch viewers enjoy their content more when they get to enjoy it with commentary from their friends, and especially their favorite personalities. What that creates is a unique viewing experience they can’t get from watching something alone.”

This co-streaming concept is even extending beyond the realm of esports and gaining the attention of traditional sports leagues as well.

“We just saw Ninja gather a large viewing party for Thursday Night Football, bringing the program to people who may not otherwise watch it – cord cutters and cord nevers,” Dellario said.

Credit: Twitch

“That’s, of course, where you might run into challenges. Co-streaming counts on getting the right personalities who can get creative in a way that compliments your content and gets their viewers interested. However, we were able to secure that with the NFL by handpicking which streamers got rights to co-stream Thursday Night Football.”

For Dellario, one of the biggest lessons in his three years at Twitch has been seeing streaming and esports “go hand-in-hand” as commentary, personality, and community make Twitch the preferred place to watch.

With Twitch Rivals, we are further fostering the relationship between esports and streaming.”

“People don’t just turn out for the game. People turn out for personalities in esports, and we have proven that esports help boost personalities through Twitch Rivals,” Dellario said.

“Twitch Rivals is a series of competitions organized by Twitch, which pits our top and growing streamers against each other in varying formats of competition and challenges spanning all types of popular and budding game categories.”

Rivals events use a central broadcast hub as a base for viewers to tune in and catch the big picture coverage, while all participants are streaming their personal point-of-view where their fans – or new fans – can tune in.

“This helps streamers grow their channels while maintaining their traditional programming and broadcast times. With Twitch Rivals, we are further fostering the relationship between esports and streaming,” Dellario said.

Want to hear more about Twitch’s role in the esports industry? Justin Dellario will be a speaker at the HIVE esports business conference in Berlin on April 11, 2019. The first international esports business conference in Europe’s capital of esports. An unprecedented conference format featuring thought leaders of industries adjacent to esports sharing their insights. Click here to reserve your seat!

This interview was conducted by Trent Murray.

Source: https://esportsobserver.com/twitch-hive-berlin-interview/

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Esports Entertainment Group $GMBL – Steph Curry discusses old-school video games, #Esports popularity $TECHF $ATVI $TTWO $GAME $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:00 PM on Sunday, April 14th, 2019
SPONSOR: Esports Entertainment $GMBL Esports audience is 350M, growing to 590M, Esports wagering is projected at $23 BILLION by 2020. The company has launched VIE.gg esports betting platform and has accelerated affiliate marketing agreements with 190 Esports teams. Click here for more information
GMBL: OTCQB

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Steph Curry discusses old-school video games, eSports popularity

  • The eSports world has become — well, a world of its own.
  • It’s a continued success that has turned a gamer’s paradise into what some view as a respected sport.

On his latest episode of the YouTube series, “5 Minutes from Home,” Warriors guard Steph Curry sat down with eSports stars Myth and Hamlinz to discuss the two’s success in the gaming industry.

“Very excited to talk about their background in the eSports world,” Curry said. “Now they’re pioneering a new industry and creating a brand and creating their legacy from the jump.”

Hamlinz and Myth didn’t waste any time asking Curry the important question: What are some of his favorite video games?

“I’m terrible at ‘Fortnite,'” Curry said amid chuckles from the group. “God awful.”

He listed the popular sports-related video games as the main ones he dabbles in.

“I love any golf game, 2K, Madden, Tiger Woods had his old game that I loved to play,” Curry said. 

He also said “Call of Duty” was one he enjoys playing, but that changed when he got married and had kids. Naturally.

The trio finished out the night when they stopped by the KoJa Kitchen food truck — a favorite place of Curry’s to indulge in.

You can watch the interview in its entirety below. 

Source: https://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/steph-curry-discusses-old-school-video-games-esports-popularity

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North Bud Farms Inc. $NBUD.ca – Why business is booming for cannabis extraction companies, despite the supply shortages $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $TRST.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 10:02 AM on Friday, April 12th, 2019

SPONSOR: North Bud Farms Inc. (NBUD:CSE) Sustainable low cost, high quality cannabinoid production and procurement focusing on both bio-pharmaceutical development and Cannabinoid Infused Products. Click Here For More Information

NBUD: CSE

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Why business is booming for cannabis extraction companies, despite the supply shortages

  • Although licensed producers are getting into extraction, observers predict it won’t be enough to meet future demand for cannabis in oil-form
  • In the most recent round of cannabis earnings, a little-known company called MediPharm Labs Corp. posted revenue of $10.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2018, a figure that placed it comfortably amongst the Top 10 for Canadian cannabis companies.

Vanmala Subramaniam

In the most recent round of cannabis earnings, a little-known company called MediPharm Labs Corp. posted revenue of $10.2 million for the quarter ending Dec. 31, 2018, a figure that placed it comfortably amongst the Top 10 for Canadian cannabis companies.

For a company that does not grow cannabis, MediPharm’s financial performance caught the attention of investors: Within days, its stock soared 30 per cent, and has since maintained that upward trajectory.

Instead of growing, Barrie, Ont.-based MediPharm is one of just a handful in Canada involved primarily in the business of extracting oils from the marijuana plant and turning them into products like gel capsules, or the high-potency concentrates that are expected to become legal later this year.

Although some of the biggest licensed producers such as Canopy Growth Corp., Tilray Inc. and Aurora Cannabis Inc. are either constructing or have constructed their own extraction facilities, industry observers predict that infrastructure simply won’t suffice to meet future demand for cannabis in oil-form.

As such, they predict, companies focusing solely on cannabis extraction will start comprising an increasingly important subsection of the overall industry.

“Cannabis extraction is a huge growth opportunity in Canada. The reason I say that, is because if you look to the U.S., it was not uncommon to see 75 per cent of the market consuming cannabis flower years ago but as product offerings became more differentiated, we saw the market for flower drop to around 40 per cent, and the market for oils surge to over 60 per cent,” said Beau Whitney, a senior economist at the cannabis research firm New Frontier Data who was previously involved in the cannabis extraction business.

Olivier Dufourmantelle, the chief operating officer of Canopy Rivers Corp. — the venture capital arm of Canopy Growth — believes that as the cannabis industry matures over time, it will become increasingly fragmented, with specialists handling each part of the supply chain like any other industry.

“Cannabis extraction companies are analogous to corn syrup extractors, for example. They don’t grow corn, but they buy it, extract the syrup and then sell it to a bottling company like Coke,” said Dufourmantelle.

Indeed, MediPharm has over 20 supply, purchase or sales agreements with a number of licensed producers — they function as the middle-man of sorts in the cannabis supply chain, purchasing dried cannabis, extracting the oil-like substance containing THC or CBD from the plant, and selling it back to the same producers, or to other producers that have requested cannabis extract.

In late March, the company became the first in the country to receive a Health Canada licence exclusively for cannabis oil production which allows it to focus on extracting cannabis concentrates.

“We have reduced the scale-up risk by dealing with many major players because we know it has been difficult for some to scale up, so if we don’t get flower on time from one, we have others to go to,” explained MediPharm chief executive Pat McCutcheon.

MediPharm’s main competitors are Kelowna, B.C.-based Valens Groworks Corp. and Quebec-based Neptune Wellness Solutions. In early April, GMP Securities analyst Martin Landry initiated coverage on all three companies, placing a buy rating on all and substantially increasing their respective target prices.

“The extraction industry is poised to experience rapid growth with the arrival of vape pens, beverages and edibles this fall. Value-added products derived from cannabis extracts could represent 50 per cent of the cannabis industry sales in Canada over time,” Landry wrote in a note.

Unlike extractors focused solely on cannabis however, Neptune has a fallback — in the event demand for cannabis derivatives do not match up to forecasts and the bullish sentiment towards cannabis extractors subsides, the company is in the wellness business and owns a patent for the wildly successful Omega-3 Krill Oil supplement.

MediPharm Labs co-founders Keith Strachan, left, and Pat McCutcheon in one of the company’s extraction clean rooms at their facility in Barrie, Ont. Handout

“We have never been cultivators and we do not intend to. But we do know the wellness business well, and to us, cannabis is a global consumer products phenomenon that does not happen so often. We thought, we got to get in there,” said Neptune’s chief executive Jim Hamilton, whose company was founded in 1998 but only entered the cannabis space three years ago.

Neptune says it has the capacity to extract 6,000 metric tons of cannabis in a year and has multi-year supply agreements with Canopy Growth, the first licensed producer to introduce extract-based CBD-heavy cannabis softgels to the adult-use market. But the company only received its license to process cannabis from Health Canada in early January, and as such, has yet to see revenue from its cannabis business.

At least on paper, Valens Groworks has a smaller processing capacity than Neptune — 240,000 kilograms a year, according to a recent press release from the company. But the company’s president of strategy and investments, Everett Knight says that efficiency in extraction is Valens’ core focus.

“First of all, we have five different kinds of extraction methods at our facility. Most people are only using CO2 as a solvent for extraction. Second of all, we’re extracting at a 90 per cent rate, which means that 90 per cent of the component we want in cannabis, THC or CBD, is being extracted, so we are getting higher yields,” Knight explained.

Last November, the company received a Health Canada licence to sell its extracted product to other licenced producers. The company has agreements with Tilray, Organigram Inc., Canopy Growth and The Green Organic Dutchman but in 2018, its revenues came only from consulting agreements and not from actual sales of cannabis extracts.

For the 2018 fiscal year ending November 30, Valens posted a loss of $15.9 million, which Knight attributes to capacity expansion: “We’re trying to expand to make sure we can make the most for our customers because what we see going into 2020 and 2021 is there are simply not enough extractors to meet the demand out there.”

New Frontier Data’s Whitney believes that companies that either do not align themselves with an extractor or have the financial capacity to vertically integrate and do the extraction themselves are at risk.

“There’s millions upon millions of (square feet of) licensed capacity to grow coming online. Prices for flower are going to decrease markedly so you need to be considering this commoditization of prices and how to diversify your business,” Whitney said.

But Dufourmantelle takes a slightly less bullish stance on the companies that currently exist in the extracting space, saying that while Canopy Rivers’ is looking to invest in extractors, it just hasn’t found the right firm.

The fact that MediPharm appears to be leading the extraction pack by miles is a point of caution for him. “I would warn investors on getting too excited about their earnings. They have the benefit of being in Ontario, and the bulk of cultivators are in Ontario. So they are in the unique position right now of being the sole provider of extraction services, and hence they have price leverage,” Dufourmantelle said.

“The question that remains to be seen is whether they can continue to sustain those numbers over time.”

• Email: [email protected] | Twitter: VanmalaS

Source: https://ottawacitizen.com/cannabis/why-business-is-booming-for-cannabis-extraction-companies-despite-the-supply-shortages/wcm/40e53f7b-f91f-428c-8cc0-2ca97bae0e8d

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ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – #Blockchain Trends 2019 $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:34 AM on Friday, April 12th, 2019

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

Idk large
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Blockchain Trends 2019

  • Blockchain’s evolution over the past few years has been steady and solid.
  • Even so, this groundbreaking technology still has a lot to offer and continues to hold much promise.

By Teodor Stefan, Modex’s Head of Content. Modex helps developers, teams and businesses of all sizes get started on blockchain, providing the full set of tools needed to learn, create, test, deploy and sell smart contracts and DApps.

Continuing from last year’s buzz and the entrance of regulators, blockchain is poised to evolve even further.   A key area is technology for enterprises that require trustless transactions and secure record keeping.
Enterprises can track transactions with greater confidence and security, and blockchain adoption – completely distinct from the cryptocurrency hype or doom – is steadily gaining in enterprise environments.  While some may lament the entry of regulators in 2018, clamping down on ICO projects, and putting in place strict frameworks for compliance, these are signs of a market maturing.

Here’s what we can expect to see in the rest 2019:

Blockchain as a service (BaaS)

While many startups and enterprises are working on their own blockchain solution, it is not always feasible to create, maintain and manage an individual blockchain solution. This is where Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) comes in. Blockchain as a Service (BaaS) is an offering that allows customers to leverage cloud-based solutions to build, host and use their own blockchain apps, smart contracts and functions on the blockchain.  A cloud-based service provider manages all the necessary tasks and activities to keep the infrastructure agile and operational.  We predict Baas will speed up the adoption of blockchain across businesses.

More Security Tokens

In 2018, the utility token market saw a slowdown, so the arrival of security tokens has been one of the hot topics last year. The market has long-waited for the grand entrance of institutional investors, but they have not yet significantly entered the scene. The success of security tokens is contingent on digital asset exchanges being up and running. Alongside crypto exchanges seeking regulatory clearance for security tokens, we also see traditional players like Nasdaq, London Stock Exchange and the Swiss Stock Exchange developing digital asset platforms, signs indicating that market infrastructure will be in place by the second half of this year. As processes stabilize and regulatory concerns are addressed, most likely we will see the launch of several STO projects towards the end of 2019, with major activity in early 2020.

TFT Guide to Security Token Offerings (STOs)

Moving from crypto to digital assets

With several indicators pointing towards the possibility of a global slowdown this year, investors are looking for alternative asset classes. With the developing market for security tokens, there are immense possibilities in the tokenisation of well-performing assets that previously lacked liquidity. Consider healthy Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Real Estate Assets, that tend to have robust returns, but lack wide market access. While they may not be able to afford public market listing, opening up to global markets of investors could provide an infusion of capital that could help scale their businesses. With over 90% of companies in operation globally listed as SMEs, the potential for growth is significant.

More digital asset services by financial institutions 

This trend started last year and, most likely, will continue in 2019. The user experience of managing your own assets is scary to a lot of people, and there is a strong desire from a business point of view to have custodial services for digital assets. While many businesses are looking for new blockchain use cases, some are embracing cryptocurrency market. Yes, this market has been hit hard last year, with major cryptocurrencies but despite that, people know that cryptocurrency is here to stay, even if they don’t use it themselves in the near future.

Interoperability between blockchains

As the market progresses, there are new blockchain networks showing up, which leads to new chains that offer different speeds, network processing, use-cases. Blockchain interoperability aims to improve information sharing across diverse networks. These cross-chain services improve blockchain interoperability and also make them more practical for day-to-day usage. For instance, with blockchain interoperability, you can send information from EOS to Ethereum blockchain. In 2019, we should see an improvement in the technology that enables blockchain interoperability.

UX Development and scalability

Scalability and performance hurdles affect both enterprise and public adoption. Promising solutions, like sidechains or innovative platforms, are expected to become more sophisticated and adapted this year. Moreover, many blockchain applications now have a mostly complex user interface, which is far from intuitive for the average, non-tech user. In 2019 we expect to see more user-friendly solutions, which are capable of mass adoption both in technology and design.

Convergence between blockchain and the Internet of Things

This topic is quickly picking up steam. IoT adoption is increasing the number of devices and sensors that gather data, and many parties are typically involved in a business transaction based on that data. Blockchain enables safe record-keeping through an immutable ledger, and permits decentralized operations and transactions while preserving trust between all players in the value chain. In 2019, look for the intersection of these two technologies to speed up implementation of both.

More favourable regulations around the world

European countries like Switzerland, Malta, Lithuania, and Lichtenstein will find competition around the world heating up as more and more states will push for additional favorable regulations around blockchain and crypto-ventures. Malaysia, for instance, is planning in Q1 to review its crypto and ICO (Initial Coin Offering) regulations. In addition, governments of various countries will start to explore what blockchain technology can do for them and look for possible use cases.

Stable Coins

Stable Coins could also see a boost in 2019. Cryptocurrencies are the side product of blockchain, but they are volatile. This gives rise and more market traction to Stable Coins. Unlike cryptocurrencies, Stable Coins have stable prices. It is not affected by the market condition and ensures that the stability is maintained all time. Most of the Stable Coins are fiat-backed, but there is still another type of Stable Coins that are backed by commodity, cryptocurrency or belong to the non-collateralized.

Read our coverage on stable coins here

Decentralization of apps, not just of the ledger

2019 should also see more decentralization of apps themselves. Too many applications using a blockchain ledger rely on a centralized application that represents a single point of failure and also a vulnerability that could allow tampering with the data before it gets written to the ledger. The same approach needs to be applied to the application’s logic, which must be decentralized with no single point of control. Each trading partner or member of the ecosystem runs their own app. Building such applications is no easy feat, but it is a required step to ensure wide blockchain adoption for business usage.

Hybrid blockchains

Without doubt, hybrid blockchains should be on your radar in 2019! The hybrid blockchain works by providing the best features and functionality of both public and private blockchain. Hybrid blockchains stand out by offering a customizable solution and also making proper use of what blockchain has to offer – characteristics such as transparency, integrity and security. To name several use-cases of hybrid blockchain: Internet of Things (IoT), banking, supply chain, enterprise services.

Federated blockchains

This year we can also expect to witness a rise in the use of federated blockchain as it gives private blockchain a more customizable outlook. Federated blockchains are similar to private blockchains, but with a simple twist: instead of one organization controlling it, many authorities can control the blockchain and pre-select nodes. The selected group of nodes then ensure that block is validated for processing transactions. Some of the use cases of federated blockchain include insurance claims, financial services, and supply chain management. IBM’s blockchain for food traceability is another good example of federated blockchain.

Source: https://thefintechtimes.com/blockchain-trends-2019/

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Enthusiast Gaming $EGLX.ca – Chinese #Esports expected to be worth £2.3bn by 2020 $EPY.ca $FDM.ca $WINR $TCEHF $ATVI $TNA.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 3:21 PM on Thursday, April 11th, 2019

SPONSOR: Enthusiast Gaming Holdings Inc. (TSX-V: EGLX) Uniting gaming communities with 80 owned and affiliated websites, currently reaching over 75 million monthly visitors. The company’s partial 2018 (first 9 months) revenue of $7.4 million representing a 625% increase over the same period in 2017.

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Chinese esports expected to be worth £2.3bn by 2020

  • According to the report from CCTV, the Chinese esports market reached 8.48bn RMB (£960m) in 2018, and the total output value of Chinese esports industry is expected to reach Â¥21.1 bn RMB (£2.3bn) by 2020.

By Chenglu Zhang

China’s prominent state television broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV) reported the current state of the Chinese esports market and expectations for the future of the industry.

According to the report from CCTV,  the Chinese esports market reached 8.48bn RMB (£960m) in 2018, and the total output value of Chinese esports industry is expected to reach Â¥21.1 bn RMB (£2.3bn) by 2020. CCTV also reported that there are over 50,000 working in the industry  â€” a number which is expected to increase to past 250,000 by 2020.

Bang Xu, the vice president of Tomorrowland Esports Ltd, told to CCTV that: “Three years ago, it may have taken two or three months to get one or two applicants for the director of an esports league. The number of esports leagues in 2016 was just less than 10. At present, we may have dozens of applicants in a month, and the number of esports leagues has exceeded 100.

“Although more and more people are willing to engage in the esports industry, esports talents are still in short supply compared to the speed of the industry development.”

To meet the demand from the esports industry, numerous Chinese colleges have opened esports related courses to cultivate talents across different areas including event management, event operation, esports broadcasting and esports streaming.

“Esports talents are still in short supply compared to the speed of the industry development”

Besides adding esports majors to education, the Chinese government is also trying to raise public awareness of esports as a whole. On Apr.3, the Chinese government officially confirmed “esports operator” and “esports player” as two new professions in the country. With support from the government, Chinese esports lovers are more confident to engage in the industry and contribute to the development of Chinese esports.

Esports Insider says: “The Chinese government have noticed the great potential in China’s esports market and they are trying to develop it deeply. With announcements of multiple policies for Chinese esports industry, we may see how Chinese practitioners can effectively utilise the country’s support to develop the esports industry.”

Source: https://esportsinsider.com/2019/04/chinese-esports-expected-to-be-worth-2-3bn-by-2020/

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North Bud Farms Inc. $NBUD.ca – Highs & Lows: Ontario’s First Week of Cannabis Retail $WEED.ca $CGC $ACB $APH $CRON.ca $HEXO.ca $TRST.ca $OGI.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:32 PM on Thursday, April 11th, 2019

SPONSOR: North Bud Farms Inc. (NBUD:CSE) Sustainable low cost, high quality cannabinoid production and procurement focusing on both bio-pharmaceutical development and Cannabinoid Infused Products. Click Here For More Information

NBUD: CSE

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Highs & Lows: Ontario’s First Week of Cannabis Retail

  • Business got off to a roaring start
  • The stores drew long lines of cannabis enthusiasts and curiosity seekers. Some people stood in line for hours and at least one went further.
  • Caryma’ Sa’d set up a pup tent outside The Hunny Pot in downtown Toronto almost 24 hours before the store opened its doors Monday morning.

Randi Druzin

Five and a half months after Canada became the first G7 nation and the second country in the world to pass legislation legalizing recreational cannabis, the first brick-and-mortar stores opened in Ontario. Nine stores opened for business on April 1, the government-designated date. One opened six days later.

Here are the highs and lows of cannabis retail in Week One.

Highs

Business got off to a roaring start. The stores drew long lines of cannabis enthusiasts and curiosity seekers. Some people stood in line for hours and at least one went further. Caryma’ Sa’d set up a pup tent outside The Hunny Pot in downtown Toronto almost 24 hours before the store opened its doors Monday morning.

“Someone had to be first in line so why not me? My office is just down the street and I do have a professional interest in what’s going on here,” Sa’d, a lawyer who specializes in cases where cannabis issues intersect with criminal law and landlord-tenant law, told Leafly. “It’s a historic moment.” 7/10 Ontario stores that opened Apr. 1 recorded an average of $50,913 in sales and 867 transactions. Cova Software

“I haven’t been able to purchase cannabis from the Ontario Cannabis Store website [which launched in October] because I have a Visa debit card and that doesn’t work on the site,” she added. “I’m also mindful that people who don’t have fixed addresses or don’t have computer literacy also haven’t been able to purchase cannabis online—and they are some of our most vulnerable community members.”

The budtenders at The Hunny Pot had background knowledge and experience in cannabis and made some good recommendations,” she said, adding that she had purchased her a gram of her go-to strain, Tangerine Dream.

The Hunny Pot, the only cannabis store to open in Toronto on Apr. 1, was jammed with customers for the next four days.

In London, ON around 60 people lined up outside Central Cannabis before it opened its doors for the first time. A consumer named Jason Geldhof was at the head of the queue. He drove in from Goderich, ON, which is 100 kilometres away. When he left the store, he held up his receipt for all to see. “It’s nothing to be ashamed of. I think we can bring it out into the public eye,” he said. “It’s clean, we’re all respectable people. We’re all adults.”

He was just one of many cannabis consumers who was high on the excitement of the day.

Sales were brisk on Day One. According to Cova Software, an American cannabis retail software provider that serves 100 stores in Canada, seven of the ten Ontario stores that opened Apr. 1 recorded an average of $50,913 in sales and 867 transactions. Other Canadian stores that are tracked by Cova averaged $4,976 in sales per day and 111 transactions over the first quarter of this year.

Cova’s chief executive officer, Gary Cohen, said sales in Ontario exceeded expectations. “When you think of what the stores in other parts of the country looked like, compared to what we’re seeing in Ontario,” he told Bloomberg News, “Ontario is just on a bigger scale.” It’s amazing to see it come to life after all the work we’ve put in the last couple of months. Hunny Gawri, Hunny Pot

None were more enthusiastic about the stores’ robust sales than the owners, each of whom had won the right to apply for a cannabis retail license through a government-run lottery. “It’s amazing to see it come to life after all the work we’ve put in the last couple of months,” Hunny Gawri, the owner of Hunny Pot, told Leafly. “The last few months have been a challenge, but a fun challenge.”

Photos by Jesse Milns for Leafly

“I’m happy with the way the day has gone,” Clint Seukeran, the owner of Ganjika House in Brampton, ON., told Leafly. “We had a couple of issues with software early on but other than that, everything is going according to plan. I think the customers are having a fantastic experience.”

Lows

A week after the 25 cannabis retail outlets were supposed to open for business, more than half had still not done so. Some were still going through the lengthy government vetting process and facing potential fines for the delay.

This resulted in such high demand at the stores that did open, there were concerns about supply shortages. When he was asked about the possibility of running out of product at The Hunny Pot, Gawri gave an equivocal response. “It’s hard to say,” he told The Canadian Press.

A consultant affiliated with Ameri, a store that opened in the upscale Toronto neighbourhood of Yorkville on Apr. 7, did his best to allay concerns. “We have more than enough product. There’s no need to panic to come down and buy product,” he said. He requested his last name not be used because of concerns crossing the Canada-US border.

While some cannabis consumers fretted over possible product shortages, others raised concerns about accessibility. Not all the stores were prepared to accommodate customers with limited mobility—no small glitch considering the high number of consumers who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes.

The Hunny Pot said it had a ramp that customers on wheelchairs, scooters and other wheel-assisted devices could use to enter the building but none was spotted. As a result, some customers faced challenges entering the building and moving around the multi-level store. About 400 kilometres east, in Ottawa, Fire & Flower, didn’t have an accessibility ramp either. Representatives of both stores say they plan to make their outlets more accessible, in compliance with Ontario law.

“I’m not sure what accommodations are in place at these stores. I think that is something we should all turn our mind to,” said Sa’d. “That being said, I’m excited about having our first brick-and-mortar stores,” she said. “But we have a long way to go.”

Source: https://www.leafly.ca/news/industry/ontario-cannabis-retail-week-one

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BetterU Education Corp. $BTRU.ca – #Chegg eyes #India for next level growth, aims to cash in on #edtech boom $ARCL $CPLA $BPI $FC.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:15 PM on Thursday, April 11th, 2019
SPONSOR:  Betteru Education Corp. Connecting global leading educators to the mass population of India. BetterU Education has ability to reach 100 MILLION potential learners each week. Click here for more information.
BTRU: TSX-V

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Chegg eyes India for next level growth, aims to cash in on edtech boom

  • Company is studying the market, including other edtech firms, to gauge the feasibility of starting operations in the country.

Listed on the New York Stock Exchange, it is a major player in the connected learning or online education space.

It has a subscription-based model for college students, offering study help, writing and learning tools, tutoring and text book rental.

Currently, India is one of the biggest markets for Chegg for talent and content acquisition, and is employing more than 500 people for the same. In addition to its full-time employees, they also have a network of 80,000 qualified experts and students.

“For us, Chegg India is the hub of content and talent. Also, a chunk of our back end engineering teams that power our technology platform are based out of India. It remains one of the most attractive markets beyond the US, and we will continue to evaluate options,” said Nathan Schultz, president of learning services at Chegg.

The company said that it has over 3.1 million paid subscribers in the US, an increase of 38 per cent year-on-year.

Source: https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/chegg-eyes-india-for-next-level-growth-aims-to-cash-in-on-edtech-boom-119040600808_1.html

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ThreeD Capital Inc. $IDK.ca – Will Technical Factors Push Bitcoin To $50,000 In The Coming Years? $HIVE.ca $BLOC.ca $CODE.ca

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 2:00 PM on Thursday, April 11th, 2019

SPONSOR: ThreeD Capital Inc. (IDK:CSE) Led by legendary financier, Sheldon Inwentash, ThreeD is a Canadian-based venture capital firm that only invests in best of breed small-cap companies which are both defensible and mass scalable. More than just lip service, Inwentash has financed many of Canada’s biggest small-cap exits. Click Here For More Information.

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Will Technical Factors Push Bitcoin To $50,000 In The Coming Years?

  • Bitcoin could could experience a parabolic bull run to $50,000, climbing more than 800% from current prices, says a prominent technical analyst.
  • Veteran trader Peter Brandt recently made a bold prediction, stating that bitcoin could reach $50,000 in the next two years.

Charles Bovaird, Contributor 

Bitcoin could could experience a parabolic bull run to $50,000, climbing more than 800% from current prices, says a prominent technical analyst.

Veteran trader Peter Brandt recently made a bold prediction, stating that bitcoin could reach $50,000 in the next two years.

Credited with forecasting bitcoin’s more than 80% decline in 2018, Brandt cited market history and technical analysis when providing this estimate.

“I believe that charts reflect underlying supply and demand fundamentals and that’s how we have to look at it,” he stated on Yahoo Finance YFi PM.

After bottoming out in 2015, bitcoin prices enjoyed a parabolic advance, emphasized Brandt.

Now, he expects cryptocurrencies will once again enter a parabolic bull market.

[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]

Analyst Skepticism

While several analysts emphasized that Brandt’s prediction certainly could materialize, many were understandably skeptical, emphasizing their wariness of price forecasts.

“Peter Brandt’s assessment is purely based on technical indicators and market history,” noted Joe DiPasquale, CEO of cryptocurrency fund of hedge funds BitBull Capital.

“While technical analysis has a place in all markets, past performance is no guarantee for future results,” he stated.

“Meanwhile, however, the current rally is consolidating nicely and we can expect further price appreciation if the trend continues,” added DiPasquale. 

Marouane Garcon, managing director of crypto-to-crypto derivatives platform Amulet, urged caution.

“We have to be careful when trying to predict markets,” he noted. 

“Parabolic movements happen once in a blue moon,” said Garcon. 

As a result, “we can’t depend on them as they tell us more about the crowd’s sentiment than the actual value of the asset.”

He emphasized that while market history can prove helpful, “going forward we have to be more careful because the market has matured and the participants have changed.”

Adoption’s Key Role

Several analysts emphasized the key importance of bitcoin expanding its user base, emphasizing that if the digital currency makes enough progress on this front, it could hit $50,000.

“The focus, I believe, should be on adoption instead of price, because the latter follows the former,” said DiPasquale. 

“If Bitcoin adoption continues to grow exponentially in the next two years, we can easily see it hitting the $50,000 mark,” he noted.

“On the other hand, if adoption drives fail and there is no meaningful traction, even $5,000 will be difficult to hold.”

John Hargrave, publisher of Bitcoin Market Journal, also weighed in on this subject:

“As a blockchain gains more users, the price moves up on a quadratic growth curve — similar to [Brandt’s] idea of a parabolic advance.”

Charles Cascarilla, cofounder & CEO of Paxos, offered a similar take. 

“The next wave of growth in this cycle will be driven by adoption from mainstream retail and institutions, markets that are order of magnitudes larger than the current users. In that context, $50k seems possible.”

Disclosure: I own some bitcoin, bitcoin cash and ether.

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cbovaird/2019/04/10/will-technical-factors-push-bitcoin-to-50000-in-the-coming-years/#6ac02f205f00

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