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You can't sail Today's boat on Yesterdays wind - Michael Noel

Strategy

Crowdfunding Platform For Alternative Investments Supervest Now Seeking Funds Through SeedInvest Round

Supervest, a U.S. crowdfunding platform specifically for alternative investments, is now seeking funds through its crowdfunding campaign on SeedInvest. The company describes itself as a technology platform created to bridge the gap between brokers, syndicates, and funding companies.

“Supervest is an online, crowd-funding platform that allows accredited investors to tap into the high yield potential of Merchant Cash Advance (MCA).   We connect our high-quality community of investors with our stable of funding partners in order to provide working capital to small businesses across the United States. The ability to invest, participate, or syndicate in this area has been traditionally reserved for the merchant cash advance companies and ‘insiders’ of these companies.  We have leveraged our experience and knowledge of the industry with the power of our fully integrated platform to give our funding partners the ability to tap into a stream of  capital to fund qualified merchants.”

Supervest further revealed that ots proprietary technology allows its investors to target the businesses, credit quality, and terms of the opportunities they wish to participate in.

“Additionally, our funding partners can tap into our data and use our artificial intelligence to help determine how to better price their deals.”

Supervest is offering securities under both Regulation D and Regulation CF through SI Securities, LLC (SI Securities). The company added:

“Investments made under both Regulation D and Regulation CF involve a high degree of risk and those investors who cannot afford to lose their entire investment should not invest. Furthermore, this profile may contain forward-looking statements and information relating to, among other things, the company, its business plan and strategy, and its industry.”

So far, Supervest has raised nearly $150,000 through its SeedInvest round, which is set to close at the end of April.

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Enterprise-level partnerships send VeChain (VET) price to new highs

Real-world partnerships and integrations into thriving industries are some of the best forms of validation for blockchain projects that are seeking long-term sustainability and widespread adoption. They also have the ability to spark rallies that trigger long-term price appreciation as brand awareness spreads. 

Since February enterprise-level adoption and a wide array of use cases have worked in favor of VeChain (VET), a blockchain-powered supply chain platform that seeks to use distributed governance and Internet of Things (IoT) technology to optimize supply chain management systems.

VET/USDT 4-hour chart. Source: TradingView

Data from Cointelegraph Markets and TradingView shows that the price of VET has increased more than 400% over the past two months, climbing from a low of $0.0263 on Feb. 8 to a new record high at $0.1344 on April 9

Major collaborations ignite VeChain price

A scroll through the project’s Twitter feed shows that VET’s price growth in 2021 has largely been stimulated by the adoption of its supply chain tracking technology. On April 8 the team announced a collaboration with the software company Salesforce.

VeChain’s technology has also been utilized on several projects that are managed by its partner DNV. DNV uses VeChain’s blockchain solution to manage the data from projects with the Danish company ReSea and the Norwegian industrial company Hydro.

The increase in VET price and adoption since the beginning of February has also led to a 1,000% increase in the price of VeThor Token (VTHO), which is used to pay for transactions and smart contract interactions on the network.

An early March NFT-related collaboration with VIMworld also helped bring extra attention to VET and VTHO and was followed by a steady increase in price. 

The positive benefits of these partnerships were reflected in data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro, which shows that the market conditions for VET have been favorable for some time. 

The VORTECS™ Score, exclusive to Cointelegraph, is an algorithmic comparison of historic and current market conditions derived from a combination of data points including market sentiment, trading volume, recent price movements and Twitter activity.

VORTECS™ Score (green) vs. VET price. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro

As seen in the chart above, the VORTECS™ Score for VET turned bullish and reached a high of 73 on April 3, about two days before a smaller price spike on April 5. Following this move, the VORTECS™ Score increased to a high of 87 and remained in the green zone over the next three days as VET price gaine 35%.

Now that institutional investors now taking a serious interest in the crypto sector and the ways that blockchain technology can be integrated into various sectors, VeChain’s real-world use cases and growing list of enterprise-level partners indicate that there is potential for further upside.

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. Every investment and trading move involves risk, you should conduct your own research when making a decision.

Enterprise-level partnerships send VeChain (VET) price to new highs

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Malaysia based Telecom Axiata Group and Norway’s Telenor to Merge Malaysian Mobile Businesses

Axiata Group and Telenor Asia revealed on Thursday (April 8, 2021) that they’ve revisted and confirmed their merger plans involving Celcom and Digi. At present, the deal is in advanced discussions.

Malaysian telecoms company Axiata Group Bhd and Norway-based Telenor ASA will be focused on merging their  Malaysia-based mobile business operations.

Both firms stated that they had been planning the merger of the telco operations of Celcom Axiata Berhad and Digi.Com Bhd. As part of the deal, both companies will have equal ownership (at around 33% for each company).

As first reported by Reuters, Malaysian institutional investors need to own at least 17.9% of the outstanding shares in the new firm, ensuring that the total domestic ownership is more than 51%, Axiata confirmed.

The firm will be known as Celcom Digi Bhd.

Reuters had also reported earlier that Axiata and Telenor were planning to confirm a deal that was expected to involve the Malaysia-based mobile operations of both companies.

As part of the deal, Axiata will be getting newly issued shares in Digi, which is a cash consideration from new debt in the merged firm of around $400 million and an additional $70 million from Telenor Group, Telenor’s management noted.

Telenor also mentioned:

“A transaction will realize synergies and provide value for shareholders in line with our strategy of further developing Telenor’s Asian portfolio.”

The Norwegian firm, which is the major shareholder in Digi, has other Asia-based operations in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar, and Thailand.

Axiata’s management confirmed that the merged entity will aim to serve as “a leading telecommunications service provider in Malaysia in terms of value, revenue and profit.” It’s expected to generate proforma revenue of approximately 12.4 billion ringgit or around $3 billion USD.

The entity is also expected to have earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of around 5.7 billion ringgit, and about 19 million customers.

Trading in the company shares of Axiata and Digi had been suspended earlier, as the announcement details were being finalized.

In September of last year, Axiata and Telenor had backed out of a potential deal to establish a telecoms joint initiative with almost 300 million clients based in Southeast Asia. The firms had said that the transaction may have led to certain “complexities” which is why they didn’t follow through with it.

During 2020, Telenor had also been planning to combine its Asia-based business operations into one entity under new management so that it could work on other initiatives more effectively.

Digi is notably one of Malaysia’s biggest mobile services platforms in terms of subscribers, while Axiata’s local division Celcom is the third-largest.

As covered in February of last year, the Telenor Microfinance Bank of Pakistan revealed the new DLT-based cross-border payments service, which is available via Easypaisa, a leading mobile-based digital wallet.

The Easypaisa online wallet app lets Pakistani citizens, working in Malaysia, send money back home instantly and securely, via Telenor’s Malaysia-headquartered payment platform Valyou.

As reported in June 2020, GREAT Eastern (Life Assurance), the largest life insurance company in Singapore and Malaysia, had confirmed a $70 million investment into Axiata Digital’s financial services business, in order to take part in the company’s Fintech-focused plans, according to Khor Hock Seng, group CEO at Great Eastern.

The investment was reportedly made through a newly launched holding company, called Boost Holdings.

As mentioned in the announcement, Boost Holdings is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Axiata Digital, which is the digital services division of the Axiata Group, a major telecommunications group in Malaysia.

After finalizing the investment, Great Eastern will have a 21.875% stake in Boost Holdings. As noted in the release, Axiata Digital Services will be holding the remaining stake in the company.

Malaysia-based Boost offers a digital wallet and lifestyle app which has more than 7.5 million users and around 170,000 merchant touchpoints (as of June 2020).

The investment will reportedly be used to finance Axiata Digital’s new digital financial services business in Malaysia (and in Asia in general). The expansion includes Boost Holdings’ plans to support and develop its merchants network while onboarding more customers. The funds will also be used to improve Aspirasi’s credit-scoring technology. Aspirasi is an online micro-financing and micro-insurance provider.

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Digital Banking: Reserve Bank in the Philippines Is working on Virtual Bank Framework to Enable Greater Financial Inclusion

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, is reportedly looking into adopting a virtual banking framework so that it may be leveraged to enable greater financial inclusion.

The new digital banking guidelines are being developed to support a regulatory environment that promotes responsible innovation. The new rules will also aim to support cyber or online resilience while enabling the ongoing digital transformation of the financial services industry.

Introduced in December 2020, BSP’s “Guidelines on Establishment of Digital Banks” states that a virtual bank is a financial organization or entity that may be categorized as a bank, providing financial products that are delivered end-to-end via an all-digital platform with no physical branch locations.

Digital banking platforms are expected or required to maintain proper digital governance while offering secure, robust, and resilient tech infrastructure, according to the announcement. Proper data management strategies and related best practices are also expected of these new financial services providers.

Digital banks must also adhere to the same set of applicable requirements as other banking solution providers. These guidelines include maintaining proper corporate governance structures, appropriate risk management policies, compliance, internal control and audit procedures, and reporting governance practices.

During his speech at the recently-held SAP Virtual Roundtable discussion, Benjamin E. Diokno, Governor of BSP, said that for the Philippines, “digital banking or digital finance in general as a strategy is not so much about being ahead of the curve.” Instead, it’s “more about capitalizing on its gains to bring about a more inclusive financial ecosystem.” he added.

It’s worth noting that other Asian countries like Pakistan are working on their own digital banking regulatory guidelines. In a manner that’s somewhat similar to the Philippines, Pakistan is also looking to leverage virtual banking solutions in order to enable financial inclusion and bring more people into the formal economy.

The Southeast Asia region, in general, has been increasingly adopting digital banking and modern Fintech solutions, which is a trend that has really accelerated following the COVID-19 outbreak.

Countries throughout Southeast Asia such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, and Vietnam are investing considerable resources into their financial services sector.

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Bitcoin mining stocks have outperformed BTC by 455% over the past 12 months

Despite the top publicly-listed Bitcoin mining firms operating at losses, their share prices have dramatically outperformed BTC over the past 12 months.

Appearing on CNBC, Fundstrat’s vice president of digital asset strategy, Leeor Shimron, shared his analysis into the market performance of the four-largest publicly-traded mining firms — Marathon Digital Holdings, Riot Blockchain, Hive Blockchain, and Hut 8, each of which represent a market cap of more than $1 billion.

Over the past 12 months, Shimron found the average return for shares in the mining firms to have been 5,000%, while BTC has gained 900% over the same period. Unsurprisingly, the stocks were found to have a “high positive correlation” with BTC.

The researcher concluded that for every 1% price move in BTC, Bitcoin mining shares move by 2.5% on average. However, the observation applies to both upward and downward price moves, meaning mining stocks are likely to plummet with more than twice the aggression of BTC during bearish market conditions.

“They’ll probably be hit hard as Bitcoin draws down,” he said.

Shimron attributed the wild volatility in miner stocks to the lack of regulated crypto investment products in the United States, speculating that “until a Bitcoin ETF is approved, investors may view public mining companies as one of the only ways to get exposure to Bitcoin.”

“Since the primary source of revenue is Bitcoin, these companies are fundamentally long [on] the industry — so investors are essentially making a ‘picks and shovels’ bet when they invest in miners.”

Noting that Coinbase’s shares are “trading at a roughly $100 billion valuation in the private markets,” Shimron added: “Clearly there is investor appetite to gain exposure to operators within the crypto space, and miners are just another segment within that.”

Shimron also noted that supply chain disruptions amid the coronavirus pandemic were beneficial to the four largest mining firms — who were able to stock up on next-generation hardware, such as Bitmain’s Antminer S19 series.

“They’ve made a huge capital investment and operate at a loss to position themselves for the current bull run,” he said, adding:

“By building up their cash rate capacity and increasing their operating leverage, they effectively shield themselves from competition amongst new miners. So they’ve increased their economies of scale to retain market share, and I believe that should pay dividends going forward.”

Bitcoin mining stocks have outperformed BTC by 455% over the past 12 months

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