Science-driven Blockchain Technology Set to Disrup
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NetworkNewsWire Editorial Coverage: The global blockchain technology market is expected to surge to $20 billion by the end of 2024 (http://nnw.fm/L0fW9), according to Transparency Market Research. The overall market is expected to exhibit a compound annual growth rate of 58.7 percent between 2016 and 2024, with the Asia Pacific region showing the most robust growth rate at 61.3 percent CAGR during the same time period. Momentum continues to build as blockchain technology becomes more well-known and proves its worth in both financial and non-financial sectors. Forward-thinking companies like Victory Square Technologies, Inc. (CSE: VST) (OTC: VSQTF) (FWB:6F6) (VSQTF Profile), Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: HIVE.V), Long Blockchain Corp. (NASDAQ: LBCC), Cboe Global Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBOE) and CME Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: CME) are all visualizing blockchain technology as a portal into a profitable future.
Blockchain Benefits
Blockchains are digitized, encrypted, secure ledgers providing a decentralized database of financial transactions for a wide array of industries from cryptocurrencies – think Bitcoin and Ethereum – to global manufacturing and supply chains, logistics management, medical records, international payments, smart contracts and legal agreements. Notably, blockchain technology provides end-to-end encryption and privacy, virtually removing the risk of a single point of failure and assuring cybersecurity needs are being met (http://nnw.fm/NE5uc). In fact, demand for the technology is growing so rapidly that it’s expected to consume the majority of capacity at about 60 data centers that International Business Machines rents out to other companies (http://nnw.fm/W1K0m). IBM is already encouraging startups to try blockchain technology by using the company’s cloud storage for free.
Strategic Investments
About three years ago, Victory Square Technologies, Inc. (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), a blockchain technology-focused venture builder, incubated and invested in BTL Group, which is now a $250 million TSX-listed company providing blockchain solutions to a wide variety of industries. BTL’s showcase product – Interbit – is a blockchain platform that facilitates the rapid development of business applications that dramatically improve efficiency. BTL Group co-founder Guy Halford-Thompson was recently appointed as the company’s strategic advisor (http://nnw.fm/YBty9) and will advise Victory Square’s portfolio companies, including VS Blockchain Assembly and FansUnite Media Inc. Victory Square’s recent introduction of VS Blockchain Assembly Inc., which was developed to deliver blockchain and crypto advisory services to its portfolio companies, illustrates the company’s commitment to this “once-in-a-generation” market opportunity (http://nnw.fm/7lvQv).
“Blockchain Assembly will act as a services firm providing guidance on technology architecture and development, and will facilitate banking, legal and commercialization services,” said Shafin Diamond Tejani, chief executive officer of Victory Square. “…Blockchain Assembly assists these companies with their fundraising objectives, whether they pursue capital through token generation events, private funding, or raising money through the public markets. We are using our expertise at company building to identify, incubate, advise and invest in the best blockchain entrepreneurs, helping build the tech titans of the next century.”
The addition of blockchain and cryptocurrency pioneer Pavel Bains, CEO of Bluzelle Platform Pte. Ltd., as Victory Square’s newest strategic advisor underscores the company’s dedication to supporting entrepreneurial dreamers (http://nnw.fm/uOhK7).
“Victory Square exists to enable the next generation of entrepreneurs to experiment, iterate and reinvent both themselves and their businesses to provide innovative solutions to problems with a global reach,” Tejani, stated in the news release. “Pavel is an exemplary individual who has a wealth of experience to impart on other entrepreneurs and we look forward to having him help shape the trajectory of many of the companies in our blockchain portfolio.”
Powerful Potential
The power of blockchain technology is very real and, according to numerous industry reports, it would be folly for businesses to ignore the technology’s disruptive potential (http://nnw.fm/rYNS0). Demand for the technology is growing and Victory Square, set to attend and engage over 1,500 major stakeholders in the North American Bitcoin Conference January 18-19 in Florida, will be sponsoring a $100,000 investment prize pool for the top three blockchain companies during the “Pitch Your ICO” session (http://nnw.fm/7EWUd).
Organized by Keynote Events, the conference will cover a wide array of topics relevant to blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, ICOs, regulations and more. At the September 2017 Keynote event held in London, Victory Square’s portfolio company FansUnite Media Inc., presented and took home second place for its new sports betting platform using blockchain technology.
“We’re extremely excited to be playing such a prominent role at the North American Bitcoin Conference,” Tejani said. “It is the premier conference for blockchain and cryptocurrency and we’re looking forward to using the opportunity to engage with some of the most promising startups and respected blockchain thought-leaders in the world.”
Harnessing the Power
Billions of people now connected to each other via the internet are also vulnerable to security risks, as numerous media reports attest, pointing to compromised Yahoo accounts, defective microchips in popular computers and mobile devices, state-sponsored Russian hackers, malware, and so on (http://nnw.fm/U5yd4). But blockchain technology has many potential applications that experts in the field believe can solve many of these threats. Among its powerful applications is the ability to hold more documents and data than traditional stage units, making it one of the “bright sectors” in technology, said Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies Associates Inc. Sales growth in cloud services, databases and services will jump by 35 percent, according to Susan Eustis, chief executive officer of WinterGreen Research (http://nnw.fm/OF3q9), pushing more large companies to use the cloud than their own data centers.
Potential Comparables
Hive Blockchain Technologies (TSXV: HIVE.V) manages a cryptocurrency mining operation. The company focuses on building a bridge from the blockchain sector to traditional capital markets through its acquisition of Genesis Mining Ltd., the world’s largest Bitcoin mining company. Hive also has the option to acquire four additional data centers from Genesis in Iceland and Sweden. The company will leverage Genesis’ infrastructure design and software to identify and manage new cryptocurrencies as they become profitable to mine. Mining relies on energy efficiency to make it profitable and Iceland provides abundant and cheap electricity from renewable resources. Geographically, it also provides a fast, reliable internet connection and gateway between North America and Europe.
Long Blockchain (NASDAQ: LBCC), which received approval January 5, 2018, to change its company stock trading ticker symbol to LBCC from LTEA (Long Island Iced Tea Corp.), has entered into an agreement to acquire 1,000 Bitcoin mining machines (http://nnw.fm/t1mY2). The company’s new website states it is dedicated to becoming a significant blockchain business that creates long term value for its shareholders and the wider community by investing in and developing businesses that are “on-chain.” The strategic shift in focus will pivot the business to pursue opportunities in an evolving industry, a press release states (http://nnw.fm/1NTvL).
Headquartered in Chicago, Cboe Global Markets (NASDAQ: CBOE), one of the world’s largest exchange holding companies, debuted its Cboe Bitcoin futures (XBT) market December 10, 2017, with about 20 trading firms actively participating (http://nnw.fm/9rcQQ). Over the past five years, the total value of all Bitcoin outstanding (market capitalization) has grown from less than $1 billion to over $262 billion, with the total value of all cryptocurrency tokens outstanding now at approximately $423.7 billion, according to Cboe Global Markets.
Also based in Chicago, CME Group (NASDAQ: CME) operates derivative exchanges in the United States and Europe. Through its exchanges, CME Group offers the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes, including futures and options based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. In October 2017, CME Group announced it would launch Bitcoin futures in the fourth quarter of 2017. CME Group chairman and chief executive officer Terry Duffy said the decision to introduce a Bitcoin futures contract was based on the increasing interest from clients in the evolving cryptocurrency markets (http://nnw.fm/Tld2B).
A Revolution in the Making
Blockchain technology not only is transforming the way financial firms conduct business, it is promising to revolutionize nearly aspect of society. The science at the heart of blockchain technology lets the individual and massive corporations alike not only imagine a safer, more profitable future, but experience a less stressful experience today when it comes to managing digital transactions. Instead of struggling with intermediaries and the possibility of exponentially greater errors cropping up along the algorithm being utilized to conduct business, blockchain technology connects each transaction, process, and task with its own digitized, secure record that is easily identified, stored and shared between the parties involved. It’s a game changer and one that companies like Victory Square Technologies are facing head-on.
For more information on Victory Square, visit Victory Square Technologies, Inc. (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6).
For a more in-depth look into Victory Square (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), view the full report on Microsmallcap.com.
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