Cryptocurrency Market Expands as Financial Institutions Explore Blockchain Applications

NEW YORK, October 17, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

According to data compiled by Coherent Market Insights, the cryptocurrency mining market was valued at USD 610.91 Million in 2016. The market is expected to top USD 38.38 Billion by 2025 while growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29.7%. The rapid growth can be attributed to the rising adoption of cryptocurrency. Revenue from cryptocurrency mining comes from two sources, including block rewards and transaction fees in return to their efforts to process transactions through digital currency exploration systems. The U.S. and China dominate the global cryptocurrency mining market, accounting for over 70% of the market shares. Squire Mining Ltd. (OTC: SQRMF), Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD), Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE), Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK)

According to data from Coinmarketcap, the total market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies is about USD 211 Billion. The price of major cryptocurrencies rose higher on Monday as financial companies continue to explore applications of blockchain and digital assets. On Monday, Fidelity Investments announced to launch a new company Fidelity Digital Asset Services to offer enterprise-quality custody and trade execution services for digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies. Abigail P. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of Fidelity Investments, said: "Our goal is to make digitally-native assets, such as bitcoin, more accessible to investors."

Squire Mining Ltd. (OTCQB: SQRMF) is also listed on the Canadian Securities Exchange under the ticker (CSE: SQR). Last week, the Company announced that, "Ennoconn Corporation ("Ennoconn") as our hardware manufacturer for next generation mining systems to mine Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin and other associated cryptocurrencies. Ennoconn is a leading industrial motherboard designer and total hardware system solution provider headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan and listed on the Taiwan stock exchange (TPE:6414). In 2007, Foxconn Technology Group, the largest "Electronic Manufacturing Service" company in the world, became the majority shareholder of Ennoconn, forming a strong strategic alliance in embedded system and electronic manufacturing.

On August 21, 2018, Squire announced that AraSystems Technology Corp. ("AraSystems"), a subsidiary of Squire, had entered into a provisional non-binding agreement with a major global technology assembly company. This company, now revealed to be Ennoconn, will assist in the design and assembly of our next generation mining rig at such time as a working prototype of our debut ASIC chip is completed.

On October 3, 2018 Squire announced the successful completion and testing of its FPGA working prototype microchip, with early results of the terahash-to-energy consumption ratio, indicating that the final ASIC chip and mining system has the potential to reduce operational costs by up to 40% for enterprise mining facilities.

This cost reduction was estimated by one leading enterprise mining group to be worth up to $60M per year in savings to their operations alone.

The final ASIC chip and mining system together are expected to provide up to a four times improvement in the performance of mining the blockchain, a process that enables miners to be paid, thereby increasing the return on investment, and profit, for miners. Such calculations are based on comparisons with the majority of current generation mining machines operating inside enterprise facilities around the world.

Following this success, the Company has signed a binding Memorandum of Understanding with Ennoconn and funded work to commence Phase 1 design and development of AraSystem's next generation mining system in collaboration with its partners in Taipei, Taiwan and in Seoul, South Korea. Definitive documentation will be entered into following delivery of final specifications and data sheets to Ennoconn later this month.

Squire's engineers are currently working with Ennoconn to design and develop AraSystem's mining rig which will house the debut ASIC chip currently under development by the Company's subsidiary AraCore Technology Corp ("AraCore"), in conjunction with GaonChips and Samsung Electronics (see news releases dated September 25 and October 3, 2018). In turn, Ennoconn will be responsible for mass assembly of the mining rig once all design, development and testing work has been completed.

A prototype of the mining rig along with full specifications of the AraCore ASIC chip are expected to be presented at the CoinGeek Conference in London on November 28 - 30, 2018, with presales expected to commence on or around that date. Significant interest has already been expressed by several of the industry's largest enterprise mining companies, which currently host hundreds of thousands of mining machines in their facilities across the world."

'We are very pleased to be partnering with the skilled engineers at Ennoconn, one of the world's leading electronic manufacturing companies,' stated Simon Moore, Executive Chairman and CEO of Squire. 'As we launch our next generation mining rig with a suite of proprietary innovations, it's imperative that our manufacturing partners have the talent, experience and capacity to not only deliver unique hardware, but also deliver best in class quality. We believe Ennoconn will help ensure the production of an exceptional mining rig for the marketplace,' he said. Further, Mr. Moore noted, 'based on initial interest from the sector, the potential for significant sales and the subsequent revenue for Squire is on track in the coming year which would make Squire and its partners a noteworthy industry provider of crypto mining hardware and next generation innovation on a global scale.'"

Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide technology leader that has been making the Internet work since 1984. As Cisco Systems considers the complexity and vastness of the journey it has been on with blockchain, it's become evident there's still more work to be done at the ecosystem level. Cisco is a big believer in strategic partnerships in the blockchain space - that's why it is the co-founding members of the Trusted IoT Alliance and Hyperledger. Additionally, that's why the Company has joined three more initiatives. Blockchain is but a tool in a big tool chest of technologies, but it's an especially important one because it can be a binding factor to drive transformational change. The Company recently joined three more blockchain initiatives to help further advance research in a number of areas. It was only a matter of time until Cisco joined the Blockchain Research Institute. Founded by Don and Alex Tapscott, the co-authors of the book Blockchain Revolution: How the Technology Behind Bitcoin Is Changing Money, Business, and the World, the Blockchain Research Institute (BRI) is a global think tank that helps organizations realize the promise of the digital economy by researching the strategic implications of blockchain technology and producing practical insights to guide its members in achieving success. "I've long found the research BRI has been doing across all sectors quite compelling. Now Cisco will help contribute to that research and gain access to others' work as well. It's so valuable to share knowledge and insight across industries to strengthen the whole blockchain ecosystem. And this will also help hasten adaptation among our customers and partners, helping them understand what blockchain is (and isn't) and realize its business value," said Anoop Nannra, Senior Leader and Head of Cisco's Blockchain Initiative.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation (NASDAQ: AMTD) provides investing services and education to more than 11 million client accounts totaling more than USD 1.2 Trillion in assets, and custodial services to more than 6,000 registered investment advisors. After being among the first financial services firms to offer approved clients with access to bitcoin futures contracts last year, TD Ameritrade Holding Corporation recently announced that it has made a strategic investment in ErisX, a regulated derivatives exchange and clearing organization that will include digital asset futures and spot contracts on one platform. With in-depth experience delivering and operating a fully regulated marketplace, ErisX has entered into the digital asset space with a broad offering of both spot and futures contracts on one platform. ErisX has integrated digital asset products and technology into reliable, compliant and robust capital markets workflows. With a regulated, liquid and accessible offering, ErisX enhances the digital asset space for institutional and individual traders alike. "As a strategic investor in the initiative, we look forward to working with the team at ErisX as they develop and launch digital currency products designed to fulfill the needs of retail investors," said JB Mackenzie, Managing Director Futures & Forex at TD Ameritrade. "ErisX's plan is to offer traders access to cryptocurrency spot contracts as well as futures contracts on a single exchange."

Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) the Company's unlimited passion for technology, content and services, and relentless pursuit of innovation, drives it to deliver ground-breaking new excitement and entertainment in ways that only Sony can. Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc., and Sony Global Education recently announced the development of a rights management system for digital content that utilizes blockchain technology. This new system is based on Sony and Sony Global Education's previously developed system for authenticating, sharing, and rights management of educational data, and additionally features functionality for processing rights-related information. Blockchains create networks where programs and information are difficult to destroy or falsify, and are well-adapted for the free transfer of data and rights. Those traits give blockchains many potential uses across a range of services including finance, merchandise distribution management, and the sharing economy and blockchains are expected to bring about even more innovative services in the future. At present, they are also used in public P2P network transactions, primarily involving cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin.

Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: OSTK) is an online retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells a broad range of products at low prices, including furniture, décor, rugs, bedding, and home improvement. Overstock's subsidiary, Medici Ventures, a global leader in blockchain technology, recently announced that its portfolio company, Bitsy.com, has commenced the limited beta launch of a digital wallet service that creates a simple, secure, and convenient bridge between traditional fiat currencies and cryptocurrencies. The initial beta release of the technology will support bitcoin purchases, with additional cryptocurrencies to follow soon. Unlike other wallet providers which do not let users actually hold their coins by using only derivative claims on coins owned by the provider, Bitsy users hold the actual real bitcoins and have complete control over their funds, including the ability to move or spend cryptocurrency. Biometric security insures against hacks and lost passwords. In the event a wallet is lost or destroyed, Bitsy's key recovery system offers a unique and revolutionary way to recover funds. "Bitsy sets a new standard for cryptocurrency wallets. It is a game-changer because it gives users the freedom that bitcoin has always promised," said Patrick Byrne, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Overstock.com. "This new Bitsy wallet has extraordinary advantage in convenience versus anything currently on the market. In addition to setting a new standard for cryptocurrency wallets, integrating with Bitsy will allow Overstock to take the next step in its cryptocurrency journey by allowing the company to offer bitcoin for sale directly from the retail website."

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