The Company has been engaged by Spend Group to conduct a $50M private equity sale in the form of a Security Token Offering for the Spend Equity Token. The Spend product is built around a multi-currency digital wallet with support for 27 fiat currencies and 16+ cryptocurrencies. Balances of cryptocurrencies can be converted to fiat currencies in real-time, enabling them to be spent at retail through Spend's three Visa®-branded payment cardsusing its proprietary conversion technology, which are currently available in the United States and Canada. Pending the necessary approvals, FORK is planning a public offering of Spend's equity as a security token on the Hyperion Exchange.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 21, 2019) - GLOBAL BLOCKCHAIN MININGCORP.(CSE: FORK) (OTC Pink: GBCHF) ("FORK" or the "Company") announces that it has been engaged by Spend Group1 ("Spend Group") to conduct a $50M private equity sale in the form of a Security Token Offering (STO) on the Spend Equity Token (SET) to qualified investors. The Spend product is comprised of a multi-currency digital wallet supporting 27 fiat currencies and over 16 cryptocurrencies, a mobile application to manage balances, and three Visa®-branded payment cards through which Spend wallet balances can be spent at retail using proprietary real time conversion technology. The cards are secured by EMV chip technology, and are compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay. The Spend Visa® cards are presently available in the United States and Canada with approvals pending in Europe and Asia-Pacific through crypto-banking partnerships already secured. An overview of the Spend Visa® cards may be seen at http://spend.com/cards.
Spend addresses the issue of cryptocurrency usability at the retail level, the greatest struggle that the crypto ecosystem has faced since its post-boom decline in 2018. During and prior to the boom, several major Internet brands and merchants accepted cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for payment. However, as regulatory and value stability concerns mounted, this acceptance was discontinued in mid-2018 by Expedia and Reddit, among others2. As Spend operates through the Visa® payment network, converting cryptocurrency balances to fiat currency in advance of being used, Spend overcomes this challenge by having no requirements for retailers to make accommodations for the use of cryptocurrencies beyond regular acceptance of Visa® cards.
Usability of cryptocurrencies has been of heightened interest recently, with Bitcoin and the overall crypto markets reaching year-to-date highs. The price of Bitcoin was over USD $8,300 on Wednesday May 15, 2019, representing a growth of more than 121% from its price of around USD $3,700 at the beginning of 2019. Total capitalization of the crypto asset market exceeded USD $260 billion on the same day, representing growth of 108% from its USD $125 billion capitalization at the beginning of 20193. This growth appears to have renewed the interest of some retailers for accepting cryptocurrency payments, as it was announced this week that retailers including Baskin Robbins, Whole Foods, and Gamestop would accept cryptocurrency payments using a third-party mobile application4. These developments suggest a healthy demand with respect to using cryptocurrency as payment for common transactions; something that Spend fits into with unparalleled simplicity.
At the outset, FORK will be conducting a $50M private equity sale of Spend Group to qualified investors in the form of a STO for SETs. Pending regulatory clearances and approval from Spend Group's board of directors, FORK is also planning to conduct a public security token offering on the Hyperion Exchange (http://hyperiontechnologies.com). This will make Spend Group's equity one of the first publicly-traded security tokens in the world.
FORK President and CEO Shidan Gouran commented, "Spend provides an answer to what everyone has been wondering about from the beginning of crypto's popularity; how can it be spent? While most assets and applications in crypto are built to work around the traditional financial services infrastructure, Spend has found a way to align crypto assets with this infrastructure by leveraging the Visa® payment network, which will make using crypto seamless for consumers, and requiring no new adaptation on the part of merchants. We look forward to working with Spend in conducting this equity sale, and we believe that Spend will play a key role in improving the overall use case of crypto."
Bryan Woods, President of Spend Group, also commented, "FORK has taken a dynamic approach to raising capital with its crowdsales and initial exchange offerings, which we really admire. We are confident that FORK can put Spend in front of the right investors, which will bring us the capital we are seeking to fund our growth. Being listed on the Hyperion Exchange will make a significant difference as well, especially because it will make Spend Group a trailblazer, not just in cryptocurrency retail payments, but also in the use of security tokens."
Michael Zavet, CEO of Hyperion Exchange parent company Hyperion Crypto Exchange Inc., added, "As an early adopter of crypto, I see great potential in Spend because Spend Group has found a way to make crypto usable without going against the grain. We are most pleased that FORK is considering listing Spend's equity on Hyperion as an equity token. This bodes well for both Spend Group as a company, as well as security tokens in general as a way of using blockchain technology."
For more information please contact: Global Blockchain Mining Corp. Investor Relations ir@globalblockchain.io 1-888-983-4771
About Global Blockchain Mining Corp.
With blockchain technology rapidly re-shaping the models of many companies, industries, and their business processes, Global Blockchain Mining Corp. ("FORK") places a focus on the common needs of early-stage blockchain adopters. Originally founded with a focus on crypto-mining, FORK has recently diversified its offerings by placing an emphasis on professional services such as developing and administering launches of tokens and digital assets. Adapting to changes in blockchain technology, FORK is also now utilizing its computing power to provide consensus services, such as the operation of masternodes, servicenodes, and witnesses which are alternative methods to cryptocurrency mining for generating and acquiring digital assets. . Investors, through their investment in the Company, are provided with exposure to these tokens, cryptocurrencies and digital assets without the lengthy, and complicated process that interested investors must undergo in order to gain exposure to these cryptocurrencies and digital assets.
The Company is listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange ("CSE") and its common shares trade under the ticker symbol "FORK". Additional information relating to the Company is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com, the CSE at www.theCSE.com as well as on the Company's website at: www.forkcse.com
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information
Forward-Looking Information: This news release includes certain statements that may be deemed "forward-looking statements". The use of any of the words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect","may", "will", "would", "project", "should", "believe" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Although the Company believes that the expectations and assumptions on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. These statements speak only as of the date of this News Release. Actual results could differ materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of factors and risks including various risk factors discussed in the Company's disclosure documents which can be found under the Company's profile on www.sedar.com
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1Spend Group consists of 2645243 Ontario Inc. (Ontario, Canada), Spend US, Inc. (Delaware, United States of America), Spend Europe LTD (Europe), and Spend Singapore (APAC-In process). Please refer to the legal section of Spend Group's website for further details: https://www.spend.com/legal/
