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Quantum Announces Execution of Amalgamation Agreement with Ocumetics Technology Corp. and Engagement Letter with Haywood Securities Inc.

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Calgary, Alberta–(Newsfile Corp. – March 1, 2021) – Quantum Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV: QBC.P) (“Quantum“) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an agreement dated February 26, 2021 (the “Amalgamation Amendment“) pursuant to which it will complete a three-cornered amalgamation (the “Transaction“) with Ocumetics Technology Corp. (“Ocumetics“) and 2321205 Alberta Ltd. (“Quantum SubCo“), which is Quantum’s wholly-owned Alberta subsidiary. The Amalgamation Agreement supersedes and replaces the Letter of Intent between Quantum and Ocumetics that was previously announced in Quantum’s press releases dated July 27, 2020, December 18, 2020 and December 29, 2020.

Ocumetics is a privately held Canadian research and product development company that specializes in adaptive lens designs, incorporated under the laws of the Province of British Columbia. It is now in the pre-clinical stage of a game-changing technology for the ophthalmic industry – the Bionic Lens. The Bionic Lens is an expandable intraocular lens that fits within the natural lens compartment of the eye to completely eliminate the need for corrective lenses. It re-establishes the natural kinetics of the eye muscles to facilitate the eye’s ability to shift focus effortlessly from distance to near and very near range.

As of the end of the three-month interim period ended October 31, 2020 (unaudited), Ocumetics had assets of $641,189, long-term liabilities of $500,000, no revenue and losses of $102,463.

The Transaction is an arm’s length transaction. If approved, the Transaction will constitute Quantum’s Qualifying Transaction and a Reverse Takeover under the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange (the “Exchange“). Upon closing of the transaction, the resulting issuer expects to list as a Tier 2 Life Sciences Issuer.

Amalgamation and Private Placement

Pursuant to the Amalgamation Agreement, Ocumetics and Quantum SubCo will amalgamate (the “Amalgamation“) under the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) and continue as a new corporation (“Amalco“). Pursuant to the amalgamation, each of the issued and outstanding shares of Ocumetics (regardless of class) will be exchanged for three common shares of Quantum, and each of the issued and outstanding warrants of Ocumetics will be exchanged for three warrants of Quantum having the same or similar terms. It is expected that 80,918,502 common shares of Quantum, at a deemed price of $0.125 per share, and 2,134,251 warrants, at a deemed price of $nil, will be issued pursuant to the Amalgamation, for a total deemed purchase price of $10,114,813.

In connection with the Amalgamation, Quantum intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of 21,604,800 common shares at a price of $0.125 per share for total gross proceeds of $2,700,600.00 (the “Private Placement“). A minimum of 4,000,000 and a maximum of 4,800,000 common shares will be offered under the Private Placement pursuant to an offering memorandum for which Quantum will pay to finders who assist it in finding subscribers under the offering memorandum cash commissions of 7% of the aggregate gross proceeds from the sale of shares placed by such finders and warrants to purchase such number of shares equal to 7% of the shares placed by such finders at a price of $0.125 per share for 24 months. Proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to fund the research and development and upcoming clinical trials for the Bionic Lens as well as for general administrative and working capital purposes.

The Amalgamation provides that completion of the Transaction will be subject to a number of conditions, including: the completion of the Private Placement, that holders of not more than 5% of the issued and outstanding shares of Ocumetics shall have exercised rights of dissent in relation to the Amalgamation or to the continuation of Ocumetics into Alberta, approval by the Ocumetics shareholders of the Amalgamation and approvals from the Exchange, securities regulators and third parties as may be required. The Amalgamation Agreement will terminate on April 15, 2021 unless extended by the parties.

Upon the completion of the Transaction, it is estimated that the current common shareholders of Quantum will own approximately 5% of the shares of Quantum, that the former shareholders of Ocumetics will own approximately 75% and that the subscribers under the Private Placement will own 20% all on an undiluted basis. No shareholder will hold 10% or more of the shares of Quantum other than Ventura Holdings Ltd., a corporation wholly-owned and controlled by Dr. Garth Webb, the inventor of the Bionic Lens, which will own approximately 40% of Quantum post-Transaction (undiluted).

Immediately after the completion of the Amalgamation and Private Placement, Amalco and Quantum will amalgamate to form a new corporation that will be identical in all corporate respects to Quantum, and that will be named “Ocumetics Technology Corp.”

Directors and Management

The following will comprise the Board of Directors and Management of Quantum post-Transaction:

Mark Lee, Proposed Chief Executive Officer and Corporate Secretary – Dr. Lee brings years of business leadership experience in a variety of organizations from the service sector, mining, manufacturing, and academia, as a President/CEO, COO, CFO, consultant, and full professor in business. Dr. Lee holds a Doctor of Business Administration degree from the Nova Southeastern University (1995), a Master of Business Administration degree from Liberty University (1991) and a Bachelor of Science degree from York University (1984).

Dr. Garth Webb, Proposed Chief Scientific Officer and Director – Dr. Webb brings years of clinical experience to the company. Dr. Webb co-founded a group practice of optometry in Canada called Complete Eye Care Optometry Clinic. He was the Chair of the Board of Examiners in Optometry for British Columbia. He has invented and commercialized several technologies pertaining to the ophthalmic and other healthcare industries and is the sole innovator behind the Bionic Lens. Dr. Webb holds a Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Waterloo.

Sandey Wang, Proposed Chief Financial Officer – Ms. Wang has years of public and private company accounting experience and is proficient in all levels of accounting, financial management and reporting. She received her financial management diploma from BCIT in 1994 and CPA designation in 2000. Ms. Wang has been a CFO in four different companies. Areas of focus for Ms. Wang include regulatory reporting, capital management, business process improvements, system optimization, internal controls, and management reporting.

Dayton Marks, Proposed Director – Mr. Marks is a Sessional Instructional Assistant with the Rotman School of Management. He is also a director of Bonanza Mining Corporation since June 2020. From September 2018 to December 2019, Mr. Marks was a consultant for Hans Management Inc., a private company that was involved in the formation and funding of Hanstone Capital Corp. which later became Hanstone Gold Corporation a gold and mineral exploration company in the Golden Triangle in British Columbia. Mr. Marks holds a Master’s degree of Financial Risk Management from the Rotman School of Management, a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration from the University of the Fraser Valley and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of the Fraser Valley.

Robert J. Quinn, Proposed Director – Mr. Quinn has been proposed for election to Quantum’s Board of Directors at Quantum’s upcoming shareholders meeting to be held on February 26, 2021. Mr. Quinn is an independent businessman with years of diverse board, management, and legal international mining industry experience. He has extensive corporate governance, environmental, transactional, M&A, financing, contract, development, compliance and litigation experience with companies developing and operating numerous mines and conducting exploration programs internationally. More recently, he has been involved in the start-up and financing of Canadian TSXV listed junior mining companies, mostly focused on the Golden Triangle area of northwest British Columbia. Mr. Quinn holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Denver School of Law and a Bachelor’s degree of Business Administration from the University of Denver.

Johannes J. Kingma, Proposed Director – Mr. Kingma is currently a director of Quantum. Mr. Kingma is self-employed. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer and President of Asia Green Biotechnology Corp., a public agri-technology company moving toward the planting, growing, and harvesting of new and valuable strains of hemp and related crops in commercial quantities in Asia, and Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of Synstream Energy Corp., a public oil and gas exploration and development corporation. Mr. Kingma served as the President of Primera Energy Resources Ltd., which was a public oil and gas exploration and development corporation and as a director of Primera. Mr. Kingma was also a director of Valeura Energy Inc. a Canada-based public company engaged in the exploration, development, and production of petroleum and natural gas in Turkey. Mr. Kingma has also been involved with other publicly traded oil and gas exploration and development corporations including Powermax Energy Inc., for which he served as President, CEO and director, and Explorator Resources Inc., for which he served as a director.

Roger M. Jewett, Proposed Director – Mr. Jewett is currently a director of Quantum. Mr. Jewett is a Chartered Accountant and the Chief Executive Officer and owner of A Fresh Approach Inc., a corporation through which Mr. Jewett provides contract Chief Financial Officer services to private and public companies. Mr. Jewett is currently the Chief Financial Officer of the following companies: Guardian Exploration Inc., a public oil and gas exploration and development corporation; Guardian Helicopters Inc., a private helicopter charter company; Elixir Technology Inc., a private FinTech company that utilizes proprietary software to automate a portfolio manager’s trading activities; MagnetTx Oncology Solutions Ltd., a private company that has developed a medical device that combines MRI and LINAC technologies to improve the accuracy of cancer radiation treatment; and PsyGen Industries Ltd., a private company engaged in the study and manufacture of psilocybin. Mr. Jewett is the past Chief Financial Officer of NewLeaf Travel Company, a private low cost scheduled airline; Enerjet, a Boeing 737 charter operator; and Resorts of the Canadian Rockies, a private Canadian ski hill operator and resort developer, and past director and President and Chief Financial Officer of Rare Method, which was then a TSXV listed interactive marketing firm. Mr. Jewett holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of New Brunswick and holds a Chartered Accountant designation.

Sponsorship

Ocumetics has entered into an engagement letter with Haywood Securities Inc. pursuant to which Haywood, subject to completion of satisfactory due diligence, will act as the sponsor for the Transaction pursuant to Policy 2.2 of the Exchange. Ocumetics has agreed to pay Haywood a corporate finance fee of $50,000 (plus GST), $25,000 of which will be payable in cash and the remainder in common shares of Quantum, post-Transaction, at a deemed price of $0.125 per share. Additionally, Ocumetics will pay Haywood’s legal fees and other reasonable expenses. The parties intend to enter into a definitive sponsorship agreement, which agreement will supersede the engagement letter. An agreement to sponsor should not be construed as any assurance with respect to the merits of the transaction or the likelihood of completion.

Trading of Quantum Shares

Pursuant to the policies of the TSXV, trading of the shares of Quantum has been halted on the TSXV and will remain halted until the conditions of the TSXV for the resumption of trading have been met.

All information contained in this news release with respect to Quantum and Ocumetics was supplied by the parties respectively, for inclusion herein, and each party and its directors and officers have relied on the other party for any information concerning the other party.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Roger Jewett, CA
Director
(403) 650-7718

Completion of the transaction is subject to a number of conditions, including but not limited to, Exchange acceptance and if applicable pursuant to Exchange Requirements, majority of the minority shareholder approval. Where applicable, the transaction cannot close until the required shareholder approval is obtained. There can be no assurance that the transaction will be completed as proposed or at all.

Investors are cautioned that, except as disclosed in the management information circular or filing statement to be prepared in connection with the transaction, any information released or received with respect to the transaction may not be accurate or complete and should not be relied upon. Trading in the securities of a capital pool company should be considered highly speculative.

The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor disapproved the contents of this press release.

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

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which reflect management’s expectations regarding the completion of the Transaction, Private Placement and collateral transactions as well as applications for and receipts of approvals from shareholders and the Exchange and other matters. These forward-looking statements may relate to, among other things, forecasts or expectations regarding business outlook for Quantum and Ocumetics and may also include other statements that are predictive in nature, or that depend upon or refer to future events or conditions, and can generally be identified by words such as “may”, “will”, “expects”, “anticipates”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates”, “guidance” or similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements.

Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of Quantum and Ocumetics. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. Although such information is considered reasonable by management at the time of preparation, it may prove to be incorrect and actual results may differ materially from those anticipated. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Quantum and Ocumetics do not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by securities law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/75644

Fintech

How to identify authenticity in crypto influencer channels

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Modern brands stake on influencer marketing, with 76% of users making a purchase after seeing a product on social media.The cryptocurrency industry is no exception to this trend. However, promoting crypto products through influencer marketing can be particularly challenging. Crypto influencers pose a significant risk to a brand’s reputation and ROI due to rampant scams. Approximately 80% of channels provide fake statistics, including followers counts and engagement metrics. Additionally, this niche is characterized by high CPMs, which can increase the risk of financial loss for brands.

In this article Nadia Bubennnikova, Head of agency Famesters, will explore the most important things to look for in crypto channels to find the perfect match for influencer marketing collaborations.

 

  1. Comments 

There are several levels related to this point.

 

LEVEL 1

Analyze approximately 10 of the channel’s latest videos, looking through the comments to ensure they are not purchased from dubious sources. For example, such comments as “Yes sir, great video!”; “Thanks!”; “Love you man!”; “Quality content”, and others most certainly are bot-generated and should be avoided.

Just to compare: 

LEVEL 2

Don’t rush to conclude that you’ve discovered the perfect crypto channel just because you’ve come across some logical comments that align with the video’s topic. This may seem controversial, but it’s important to dive deeper. When you encounter a channel with logical comments, ensure that they are unique and not duplicated under the description box. Some creators are smarter than just buying comments from the first link that Google shows you when you search “buy YouTube comments”. They generate topics, provide multiple examples, or upload lists of examples, all produced by AI. You can either manually review the comments or use a script to parse all the YouTube comments into an Excel file. Then, add a formula to highlight any duplicates.

LEVEL 3

It is also a must to check the names of the profiles that leave the comments: most of the bot-generated comments are easy to track: they will all have the usernames made of random symbols and numbers, random first and last name combinations, “Habibi”, etc. No profile pictures on all comments is also a red flag.

 

LEVEL 4

Another important factor to consider when assessing comment authenticity is the posting date. If all the comments were posted on the same day, it’s likely that the traffic was purchased.

 

2. Average views number per video

This is indeed one of the key metrics to consider when selecting an influencer for collaboration, regardless of the product type. What specific factors should we focus on?

First & foremost: the views dynamics on the channel. The most desirable type of YouTube channel in terms of views is one that maintains stable viewership across all of its videos. This stability serves as proof of an active and loyal audience genuinely interested in the creator’s content, unlike channels where views vary significantly from one video to another.

Many unauthentic crypto channels not only buy YouTube comments but also invest in increasing video views to create the impression of stability. So, what exactly should we look at in terms of views? Firstly, calculate the average number of views based on the ten latest videos. Then, compare this figure to the views of the most recent videos posted within the past week. If you notice that these new videos have nearly the same number of views as those posted a month or two ago, it’s a clear red flag. Typically, a YouTube channel experiences lower views on new videos, with the number increasing organically each day as the audience engages with the content. If you see a video posted just three days ago already garnering 30k views, matching the total views of older videos, it’s a sign of fraudulent traffic purchased to create the illusion of view stability.

 

3. Influencer’s channel statistics

The primary statistics of interest are region and demographic split, and sometimes the device types of the viewers.

LEVEL 1

When reviewing the shared statistics, the first step is to request a video screencast instead of a simple screenshot. This is because it takes more time to organically edit a video than a screenshot, making it harder to manipulate the statistics. If the creator refuses, step two (if only screenshots are provided) is to download them and check the file’s properties on your computer. Look for details such as whether it was created with Adobe Photoshop or the color profile, typically Adobe RGB, to determine if the screenshot has been edited.

LEVEL 2

After confirming the authenticity of the stats screenshot, it’s crucial to analyze the data. For instance, if you’re examining a channel conducted in Spanish with all videos filmed in the same language, it would raise concerns to find a significant audience from countries like India or Turkey. This discrepancy, where the audience doesn’t align with regions known for speaking the language, is a red flag.

If we’re considering an English-language crypto channel, it typically suggests an international audience, as English’s global use for quality educational content on niche topics like crypto. However, certain considerations apply. For instance, if an English-speaking channel shows a significant percentage of Polish viewers (15% to 30%) without any mention of the Polish language, it could indicate fake followers and views. However, if the channel’s creator is Polish, occasionally posts videos in Polish alongside English, and receives Polish comments, it’s important not to rush to conclusions.

Example of statistics

 

Wrapping up

These are the main factors to consider when selecting an influencer to promote your crypto product. Once you’ve launched the campaign, there are also some markers to show which creators did bring the authentic traffic and which used some tools to create the illusion of an active and engaged audience. While this may seem obvious, it’s still worth mentioning. After the video is posted, allow 5-7 days for it to accumulate a basic number of views, then check performance metrics such as views, clicks, click-through rate (CTR), signups, and conversion rate (CR) from clicks to signups.

If you overlooked some red flags when selecting crypto channels for your launch, you might find the following outcomes: channels with high views numbers and high CTRs, demonstrating the real interest of the audience, yet with remarkably low conversion rates. In the worst-case scenario, you might witness thousands of clicks resulting in zero to just a few signups. While this might suggest technical issues in other industries, in crypto campaigns it indicates that the creator engaged in the campaign not only bought fake views and comments but also link clicks. And this happens more often than you may realize.

Summing up, choosing the right crypto creator to promote your product is indeed a tricky job that requires a lot of resources to be put into the search process. 

Author Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency  at Famesters

Author

Nadia Bubennikova, Head of agency at Famesters

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Fintech

Central banks and the FinTech sector unite to change global payments space

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The BIS, along with seven leading central banks and a cohort of private financial firms, has embarked on an ambitious venture known as Project Agorá.

Named after the Greek word for “marketplace,” this initiative stands at the forefront of exploring the potential of tokenisation to significantly enhance the operational efficiency of the monetary system worldwide.

Central to this pioneering project are the Bank of France (on behalf of the Eurosystem), the Bank of Japan, the Bank of Korea, the Bank of Mexico, the Swiss National Bank, the Bank of England, and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. These institutions have joined forces under the banner of Project Agorá, in partnership with an extensive assembly of private financial entities convened by the Institute of International Finance (IIF).

At the heart of Project Agorá is the pursuit of integrating tokenised commercial bank deposits with tokenised wholesale central bank money within a unified, public-private programmable financial platform. By harnessing the advanced capabilities of smart contracts and programmability, the project aspires to unlock new transactional possibilities that were previously infeasible or impractical, thereby fostering novel opportunities that could benefit businesses and consumers alike.

The collaborative effort seeks to address and surmount a variety of structural inefficiencies that currently plague cross-border payments. These challenges include disparate legal, regulatory, and technical standards; varying operating hours and time zones; and the heightened complexity associated with conducting financial integrity checks (such as anti-money laundering and customer verification procedures), which are often redundantly executed across multiple stages of a single transaction due to the involvement of several intermediaries.

As a beacon of experimental and exploratory projects, the BIS Innovation Hub is committed to delivering public goods to the global central banking community through initiatives like Project Agorá. In line with this mission, the BIS will soon issue a call for expressions of interest from private financial institutions eager to contribute to this ground-breaking project. The IIF will facilitate the involvement of private sector participants, extending an invitation to regulated financial institutions representing each of the seven aforementioned currencies to partake in this transformative endeavour.

Source: fintech.globa

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TD Bank inks multi-year strategic partnership with Google Cloud

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TD Bank has inked a multi-year deal with Google Cloud as it looks to streamline the development and deployment of new products and services.

The deal will see the Canadian banking group integrate the vendor’s cloud services into a wider portion of its technology solutions portfolio, a move which TD expects will enable it “to respond quickly to changing customer expectations by rolling out new features, updates, or entirely new financial products at an accelerated pace”.

This marks an expansion of the already established relationship between TD Bank and Google Cloud after the group previously adopted the vendor’s Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) for TD Securities Automated Trading (TDSAT), the Chicago-based subsidiary of its investment banking unit, TD Securities.

TDSAT uses GKE for process automation and quantitative modelling across fixed income markets, resulting in the development of a “data-driven research platform” capable of processing large research workloads in trading.

Dan Bosman, SVP and CIO of TD Securities, claims the infrastructure has so far supported TDSAT with “compute-intensive quantitative analysis” while expanding the subsidiary’s “trading volumes and portfolio size”.

TD’s new partnership with Google Cloud will see the group attempt to replicate the same level of success across its entire portfolio.

Source: fintechfutures.com

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