The CryptoNewsAudio Podcast

Investment in blockchain technology is growing rapidly. As innovators develop new ways to apply the technology to a range of industries, more companies are finding new applications for the technology and attracting increased funding from investors at the same time. SinglePoint, Inc. (SING) has attracted investment for a broad range of blockchain services, including applications in payment processing, logistics and health care. Visa, Inc. (V) is testing a new business-to-business blockchain payment service aimed at making international financial transactions easier. Mastercard, Inc. (MA) has registered a patent for a blockchain database to reduce the need for intermediaries and resultant delays in payment processing. International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) is collaborating with a shipping firm to develop blockchain-based international logistics designed to smooth out global supply chains while HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX-V: HIVE) (HVBTF) operates its own cryptocurrency facilities that seek to bridge the gap between new and traditional finance.

SinglePoint Inc. (OTCQB:SING) is pleased to announce the soft launch of its SingleSeed payment bitcoin payments solution. Additionally, SinglePoint management provides details and insight to the company’s activity in new ventures and pursuit of acquisitions in two major emerging markets: cannabis and blockchain. This corporate update includes an overview of each previously announced project and potential acquisition, as well as the progress on its 2017 audit and current revenue run rate for 2018.

Blockchain continues to become increasingly important in the financial technology sector. While some businesses are focused on pure blockchain solutions, others are considering how to integrate the technology into existing business practices to ensure its benefit to customers and enduring value as a technology. Global Payout, Inc. (GOHE) has incorporated blockchain into payment and business consulting services for high-risk parts of the economy, as well as supply chain management. LongFin Corp. (LFIN) is making blockchain an integral part of import/export transactions through smart contracts, as well as using it to provide micro-lending, a vital banking service for entrepreneurs in many parts of the globe. MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (MGTI) has made cryptocurrency mining, a prominent blockchain service, part of its secure technology platform, while Global Arena Holding, Inc. (GAHC) is seeking ways to apply blockchain for greater security in elections. Patent licensing company Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (MARA) has invested in crpytocurrency mining as a way to broaden its technology-driven business. Across the board, companies are finding ways to integrate blockchain into existing work.

Blockchain technology has taken the world by storm. From its initial use as the technological architecture underlying cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the technology has grown in popularity to the point that now an ever-increasing number of industries and applications around the globe make use of the innovative distributed ledger. Each day, the value of blockchain technology gains further ground as its myriad of potential applications attract the interest of new developers, users, and investors. Epazz, Inc. (OTC: EPAZ), SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB: SING), Bitcoin Services, Inc. (OTC: BTSC), Glance Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: GLNNF), and HashChain Technology, Inc. (OTCQB: HSSHF) are among the public companies which have positioned themselves to benefit from the continuing growth of the blockchain phenomenon.

Change is coming in the financial sector. The desire for faster payments and better audit trails is leading companies away from traditional payment systems and toward innovation. Blockchain technology is increasingly relevant in this area, with companies such as Global Payout, Inc. (GOHE) applying the technology to improve payment processing and logistics in the financial sector. Mastercard (MA), one of the biggest players in payment processing, has obtained patents to develop its own blockchain systems. Glance Technologies (GLNNF) (GET:CNX), which specializes in payment solutions for customers, has partnered with Netcoins Inc. to integrate blockchain-based cryptocurrency payments into its systems. Import/export payments can now be processed through blockchain smart contracts, thanks to LongFin (LFIN). Unsurprisingly, given all these developments, direct banking and payments company Discover Financial Services (DFS) has identified blockchain as one of the most important technologies for the future of payment.

Blockchain, the technology behind cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, boasts tremendous disruptive potential in a wide range of industries, including finance, infrastructure, supply chain management and even healthcare. SinglePoint, Inc. (SING), a company with diverse interests and skills in the tech sector, has teamed up with ORHub, Inc. (ORHB) to create a blockchain-based solution to improve the way hospitals collect and utilize operating room data to reduce supply chain costs, while IBM (IBM) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are exploring ways of using blockchain to more effectively share and audit medical data. With companies like HIVE Blockchain (HIVE:CC) developing broader infrastructure applications, the potential for blockchain to improve efficiency across businesses is accelerating. It’s an approach being pushed from inside the healthcare industry, with UnitedHealth Group (UNH) also demonstrating interest in blockchain capabilities.

Epazz, Inc. (OTC: EPAZ) is a leading provider of blockchain cryptocurrency mobile apps and cloud-based business software solutions that specializes in providing customized web applications to the corporate world, higher education institutions and the public sector. The company’s strategic expansion into the investment fintech software space can be seen in the recent acquisition of the android app CryptoFolio, which securely tracks and manages Bitcoin and Altcoin portfolios. Epazz, Inc., which acquired the software rights, source code and user base of CryptoFolio, plans to add additional cryptocurrencies and languages to the app, along with an iOS version to attract more users.

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency unarguably have the potential to alter the future of money, finance, transportation and national security. While an increasing number of blockchain plays wind their way through the investment community, Victory Square Technologies Inc. (CSE: VST) (OTC: VSQTF) (FRANKFURT: 6F6) (WKN: A2AKL8) is demonstrating a particular measure of blockchain innovation potential in a wide range of industries, including payment processing, mobile gaming, and more.  Other companies seizing territory in the blockchain technology space include tech-giant IBM (NYSE: IBM), Walmart (NYSE: WMT), Visa (NYSE: V) and Hive BlockChain Technologies (TSX:HIVE.V) (OTC: HVBTF).

SinglePoint, Inc. (OTCQB:SING) is pleased to announce a Letter of Intent (“LOI”) with ORHub, Inc. (OTC:ORHB) to build-out a blockchain services platform for health care applications. ORHub’s surgical resource management (“SRM”) software is transforming the way hospitals handle operating room data, enabling dramatic reductions in supply chain costs. SinglePoint will design and develop for ORHub blockchain-based solutions as an add on to enhance the value of data collected by the operating room software platform. ORHub has agreed to engage SinglePoint for up to $750,000 in initial development costs. SinglePoint believes this is the first of many contracts that it will execute in the blockchain development space.

The market for digital currencies is volatile by nature, and while some commentators declare an imminent bursting of the cryptocurrency bubble, many analysts forecast another bull run in 2018. Despite wild swings in digital currency, the underlying blockchain technology demonstrates more stability. With this in mind, investors are increasingly turning their interest to blockchain-focused enterprises, such Global Payout, Inc. (GOHE), a company applying blockchain to logistics in the fintech sector. Processor developer Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (AMD) has seen its earnings soar as it provides technology to support the blockchain, while NVIDIA Corp. (NVDA) received a boost from the sale of graphics processing units (GPUs) for cryptocurrencies and gamers. A shift of focus from digital commerce to using and investing in cryptocurrencies has seen Overstock.com, Inc. (OSTK) quadruple in value. Even tech giant International Business Machine Corp. (IBM) is exploring blockchain as a tool for payment systems and supply chains.

Until recently, cryptocurrencies were relatively mysterious to the general public of consumers, merchants and retailers who were unaware of the advantages that blockchain technologies could have in easing and securing private transactions. But free markets abhor vacuums, and several public companies are advancing programs to educate and bring the broader public into cryptocurrency transactions. SinglePoint, Inc. (SING) is aggressively making strategic acquisitions in the blockchain and cryptocurrency space, while an increasing number of recognizable industry behemoths like Overstock.com, Inc. (OSTK), Microsoft, Inc. (MSFT) and Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) are delving into cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Others like Starbucks Corp. (SBUX) have expressed optimism in its potential for consumer transactions, though stopping short of accepting bitcoin as payment.

One of the primary goals of the current U.S. Administration is to revamp the country’s failing infrastructure, especially internal waterways vital for transporting a vast range of goods, including grain, steel, coal and petroleum products. Blockchain technology can play a crucial role in this process, and the federal government already investigating the potential implementation of the technology to streamline construction. Recently approved as a government contractor for the State of Utah, Petroteq Energy, Inc. (OTCQX: PQEFF) (TSX.V: PQE) (FRANKFURT: MW4A) has integrated blockchain into its operations, poised to take advantage of blockchain’s impact on the oil and gas market, as well as infrastructure. Other enterprises focused on developing solutions in the blockchain space include 360 Blockchain, Inc. (OTC: BKLLF) (CODE: CNX), BTL Group Ltd. (OTC: BTLLF) (TSX.V: BTL), Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX.V: HIVE) and Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: MARA).

Less than a decade ago, blockchain sounded like the fodder of science fiction; today, the technology is demonstrating its ability to revolutionize the finance industry. By stepping outside the existing payment structures, blockchain provides a new and secure way to execute financial transactions. The use of the technology is rapidly expanding, and because of the innovative nature of the technology, its wide-ranging possibilities are being explored and developed by a range of companies with unique objectives. Some, such as SinglePoint, Inc. (SING), are looking at how to integrate these technologies to provide a better service for select markets. While alarming articles predict the bursting of the “blockchain bubble,” established companies such as Bank of America Corp. (BAC) and Mastercard, Inc. (MA) have moved to adopt blockchain technology, signalling its acceptance by mainstream banking. Meanwhile, companies such as Bitcoin Services, Inc. (BTSC) and Discover Financial Services (DFS) continue looking for new ways to exploit the technology’s potential.

The widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies is all but inevitable.  The technologies demonstrate numerous consumer and commercial advantages, particularly in logistics, international trade, and even food-safety and product anti-counterfeiting drives. As global and online commerce expands, so does the need for streamlined verification of product quality, delivery and payments, a few of the many capabilities offered by blockchain technology. An emerging leader in this space is ChineseInvestors.com (CIIX), which, among other cryptocurrency-related endeavors, recently opened a bitcoin ATM at its U.S. headquarters in California. Other companies operating in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space include MGT Capital Investments, Inc. (MGTI), Bitcoin Investment Trust (GBTC), LongFin Corp. (LFIN) and Overstock.com, Inc. (OSTK).

The parabolic rise in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has spawned a frenetic mania seldom seen in the markets.  While debate of bitcoin’s legitimacy as a long-standing form of currency continues, general consensus asserts that the underlying blockchain technology has applications that extend far beyond its connections to cryptocurrency. As such, innovative companies around the globe are beginning to employ blockchain technology to streamline business and secure transactions. Telemedicine pioneer Medical Innovation Holdings, Inc. (MIHI) is establishing a new paradigm in secure and efficient handling of patient medical and financial data. The company’s new MIHI Blockchain Platform is designed to vastly improve the safe and effective movement of patient data and result in much lower transaction costs. A first-mover in coupling blockchain and telemedicine, MIHI joins other companies in the broad business quest to streamline and secure transactions with blockchain. Financial services leader MetLife, Inc. (MET) has announced it will join banking consortium R3CEV, a distributed ledger platform designed specifically for financial services. Others embracing blockchain NXT- ID, Inc. (NXTD), Marathon Patent Group, Inc. (MARA) and Riot Blockchain, Inc. (RIOT).

Investors looking to diversify their portfolios and gain access to the multi-billion-dollar global blockchain industry should have some exciting options as 2018 progresses, particularly when it comes to the $13 billion global supply chain management (SCM) market. The immutable, distributed ledger technology known as blockchain can deliver numerous SCM efficiencies that could revolutionize logistics for a variety of sectors, including oil and gas. Petroteq Energy, Inc. (TSX.V: PQE) (OTCQX: PQEFF) (PQEFF Profile) has already envisioned this future of networked intelligent devices, and has initiated the development of the oil and gas industry’s first dedicated blockchain-based based SCM platform, PetroBloq. Investors can also look to diversification into this burgeoning new space via first-movers like oil and gas giant BP (NYSE: BP), and tech companies like IBM (NYSE: IBM), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ: AMD) and Eastman Kodak (NYSE: KODK).

Within the international trade and finance sector, logistic companies need to better streamline their payments and documentation flow. A methodology to solve this issue in the FINTECH marketplace is blockchain technology applied to Supply Chain Finance. This allows encrypted data on all facets of international transactions, from payments to bills-of-lading to delivery data, and for the accumulating record to be privately shared among banks, shippers and traders. With the formation of its new SecurCapital Corp. subsidiary, Global Payout, Inc. (GOHE) is addressing the supply-chain finance needs of mid-tier logistics companies while joining a growing number of other innovators utilizing the benefits of blockchain. Among them are Hive Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (HIVE.V), Cboe Global Markets (CBOE), Long Blockchain Corp. (LBCC) and BTL Group (BTLLF).

The excitement generated by the potential use of blockchain technology in many industries has been slow to reach the energy sector. However, indications are that 2018 could see several companies in the field adopting the revolutionary technology, which could substantially transform the energy industry’s markets and processes. Several companies in the oil and gas industry are already looking to incorporate blockchain technology in their business processes, including Petroteq Energy Inc. (TSX.V: PQE) (OTCQX: PQEFF), British Petroleum p.l.c. (NYSE: BP) and Royal Dutch Shell plc (OTC: RYDAF). Information technology companies servicing the energy industry, including IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT), are developing blockchain solutions for enterprises.

Bitcoin was a major topic of conversation among investors in 2017, but it wasn’t the only cryptocurrency related investment that garnered investors’ attention in the blockchain space. In 2017 alone, there were 235 Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) completed, which raised a total of $3.7 billion dollars, and 2018 is shaping up to be the year of ICOs. ICOs are a way for blockchain start-up companies to gain funding for projects. Instead of offering shares of a company to its investors, they offer a certain amount of cryptocurrency. Some companies that stand to benefit from the influx of funding to ICOs include Victory Square Technologies, Inc. (CSE:VST) (OTC:VSQTF) (FWB:6F6), Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: KODK), Helios, Matheson Analytics (NASDAQ: HMNY), Glance Technologies (CSE: GET:CC), and Social Reality, Inc. (NASDAQ: SRAX).

SinglePoint, Inc. (SING) has grown from a full-service mobile technology provider to a publicly-traded holding company. Through diversification into horizontal markets, SinglePoint is building its portfolio by acquiring an interest in undervalued subsidiaries, thereby providing a rich, diversified holding base.