• Reports of human rights abuses negatively affecting Congo as source of cobalt
• North American cobalt represents only feasible alternative source
• First Cobalt Corp. has commanding presence at Cobalt Camp

A December 2017 report issued by the U.S. Geological Survey shines the spotlight on cobalt. Titled ‘Critical mineral resources of the United States—Economic and environmental geology and prospects for future supply’, the report identifies the hard, lustrous silver-grey metal as one of 23 minerals “you need in your life” (http://ibn.fm/H2Qct). Undoubtedly! Cobalt finds use mostly in the cathodes of rechargeable batteries, demand for which, to power devices both great and small, continues to climb. From smartphones and tablets to electric vehicles (EVs) and virtual power plants, cobalt is working its way further into our lives. These market forces are also casting the limelight on cobalt mining company First Cobalt Corp. (TSX.V: FCC) (OTCQB: FTSSF). Since its cobalt properties lie in North America, the junior explorer avoids the negative publicity of mining African cobalt.

Since early 2016, when Amnesty International published an exposé of the exploitative practices rife in Congo’s cobalt mines, the pressure has been rising on marquee manufacturers that use the mineral to utilize alternative sources. Supplies from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the principal global source of mined cobalt (55 percent), are increasingly tainted by reports of child labor and other human rights abuses. Most recently, a televised CBS report further exposed the use of child labor in the DRC’s search for cobalt (http://ibn.fm/UuyRf).

Still, sources of cobalt are few and far between. After the DRC, China and Canada are poor runners up, contributing roughly six percent of supply each. Despite being third in consumption after China and Japan, the U.S. produces very little cobalt, and what it does produce is simply a byproduct of PGE (platinum group element) mining. With China’s production requisitioned by its domestic customers, U.S. and European companies must turn their attention to Canada, and its cobalt properties located in the aptly named Cobalt Camp, in the province of Ontario. The area, heavily mined for silver in the 1900s, got its name from the cobalt in the ores.

First Cobalt owns extensive properties there. The company is the largest landowner in Ontario’s Cobalt Camp with control of over 10,000 hectares (nearly 25,000 acres) of prospective land and 50 historic cobalt/silver mines.

“Never in the history of modern mining have you seen cobalt as a primary focus for us miners,” Trent Mell, president and CEO of First Cobalt, stated in a news release. “Our own little property itself that we have right now that we’re focused on could produce enough cobalt to supply the gigafactory that Elon Musk is building today”.

Mell is a mining executive and capital markets professional with extensive international transactional experience. Following his comments, NetworkNewsWire released an audio press release on First Cobalt’s moves to meet growing demand for cobalt (http://ibn.fm/9cQHx).

First Cobalt’s assets also include a mill and the only permitted cobalt extraction refinery in North America capable of producing battery materials. The refinery will require some modification before it can begin operating; however, this is a much less costly and speedier option than attempting to construct a new facility and get it permitted. It has the added advantage of all the environmental permits already being in place. This integrated approach of mining and refining is likely to place First Cobalt in a dominant position as U.S. and European manufacturers cast about for sources of the mineral.

The prospects are promising. The company recently announced commencement of its 2018 borehole geophysical and optical televiewer survey program, which will test holes drilled in Cobalt South and, for the first time, in Cobalt North (http://ibn.fm/8gMCI). The borehole program is intended to expand known zones of cobalt mineralization and further define the controlling structures in these two areas. The borehole geophysical data will also be used to assess ground geophysical methods for detecting blind cobalt mineralization elsewhere in the Cobalt Camp.

First Cobalt is catching the eye of investors and regulators. In 2017, its share price soared by 90 percent, according to Bloomberg (http://ibn.fm/3lGVW), and in February 2018, the company announced it had been named a 2018 TSX Venture 50 company in an annual ranking of the top 50 publicly traded companies on the TSX Venture exchange (http://ibn.fm/Htapv). The TSX Venture 50 lists the top 10 companies in five major industry sectors, identified as leaders in creating shareholder value based on market capitalization growth, share price appreciation and trading volume. From a total of 1,200 mining companies listed on the TSX-V, First Cobalt was ranked fourth on the list of leading mining companies for 2017.

For more information, visit the company’s website at http://ibn.fm/FTSSF

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• Unique solutions to enhance connectivity and deliver rich content
• Cutting edge technology connects disparate devices and operating systems across multiple networks
• Applications can impact range of businesses, including fintech and online gaming

The ubiquity of mobile devices has changed the way the world interacts and transacts business. However, with such a broad range of devices and operating systems, seamlessly and successfully connecting disparate devices and systems and delivering mobile content across multiple platforms has proven challenging and hampered effectiveness in multiple business verticals. Today’s mobile application and transaction solutions are limited, whether by user interaction or the number of devices actually supported. As more companies migrate to mobile strategies, delivery of a rich mobile experience has become imperative to communicating with the mass market and achieving successful customer engagement.

Consorteum Holdings, Inc. (OTC: CSRH), a software development and mobile publishing company, has developed the unique capability to deliver the holy grail of rich mobile content to end users and allow smartphones to be used in ways that couldn’t even have been imagined five years ago. Investing years in the development of software, business relationships and licensing agreements, Consorteum is laser focused on the delivery of mobile solutions to companies facing challenges in the fintech vertical. Consorteum provides mobile offerings, delivery of mobile content and mobile payments solutions with seamless interoperability between any mobile network and device.

One of the company’s first target markets is global online gambling, where the need for secure connectivity and content is obvious. It’s estimated that 164 million people worldwide will use mobile devices to access online gambling this year, and Consorteum intends to be an integral link in delivering services to a market that’s estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2021.

An even more lucrative market exists for Consorteum in mobile fintech, focusing on the programs and technology used to support and enable transactional services. The rise of fintech is changing the way consumers and companies do business. Whether it’s checking online accounts or setting up an online investment portfolio, people now expect to handle financial affairs as easily and conveniently as they do their email. It’s a huge opportunity for businesses, and, soon, no enterprise will succeed without the right fintech services in place.

359 Mobile Inc., one of Consorteum’s wholly owned subsidiaries, is developing an end- to-end fintech solution for various vertical markets. Given its background in the fintech arena and utilizing the capability of the 359 development team in conjunction with its Universal Mobile Interface™, Consorteum will be able to provide a transactional framework for the development of secure transaction processing on mobile devices.

Consorteum’s cutting edge solutions can be utilized across multiple business verticals, such as providing solutions in fintech, data analytics, secure payment processing, online gambling, compliancy lead transaction management and various digital social event sectors. Bridging the mobile divide by providing mobile connectivity, secure transactional processing and social connectivity, Consorteum’s solutions offer a wide range of businesses vast opportunities to effectively expand mobile transactions and potentially enrich investors along the way.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Consorteum.com

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• ‘Green’ payment system offers security and regulatory transparency
• Expanding legalization efforts mean more opportunity in market that’s expected to exceed $31 billion within the next three years
• Company working out cryptocurrency alternative to U.S. dollar financing

In late February, a federal judge issued the latest legal finding on the drive to overturn the U.S. government’s classification of marijuana as an illegal drug, delivering a ruling that rejected medical marijuana patients’ claims that the ban is an unconstitutional violation of their rights (http://ibn.fm/9hESk). The decision, based on a procedural finding that the plaintiffs had not gone through proper procedures with the Drug Enforcement Administration to challenge the ban and likely could not establish a constitutional right to use marijuana, further maintained the legal status quo of the cannabis plant, even as spreading drug availability under states’ rights movements continues to waft throughout the United States. Marijuana industry payment processing solution company Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG), whose CEO resides in Utah where similar measures are being debated, promotes the financing of cannabis industry transactions in state-legal locations and is optimistic about patient access possibilities elsewhere (http://ibn.fm/14pNO).

“Investors and patients need not panic or worry. This is a marathon, not a sprint,” CEO Jeremy Roberts said in an interview following announcement of the company’s new dispensary-friendly private-label debit system ‘Green’ in January, on the same day that U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the end of federal protections benefiting marijuana advocates in states where cannabis use is legal (http://ibn.fm/Rp1tn).

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions’ Green system is not a prepaid finance card or a gift card. The debit card “doesn’t function like a merchant account, it is one,” Roberts said, adding that the high-security transaction card can only be used for payment within a state where marijuana is legal and only for cannabis-related products from state-sanctioned vendors to help patients and businesses break the cash-only logjam hampering the industry. Green was called StateSourced in its previous incarnation, and that name remains fixed on the company’s website. However, the Green label denotes both a nod to the marijuana industry and the money flowing between customers and businesses.

“It takes state-sanctioned cannabis from the 19th century and gladly welcomes it to the 21st,” Roberts said (http://ibn.fm/uAFJt).

The Green system offers businesses and regulators the ability to track sales and tax collection information from the moment a buyer initiates a transaction at a vendor’s establishment and all the way through to the payment of taxes related to the sale. The system is built to handle 60 million transactions a month. Roberts hails his company’s approach as a commitment to abiding by the law in a “highly regulated” industry, whereas many other companies would rather avoid the associated headaches than put in the work to meet the federal government’s strict guidelines and regulations related to the business opportunities.

“People actually can and are willing to comply with the regulations (the Department of Treasury, the IRS and the Department of Justice) put forth,” Roberts said in a videotaped Small Cap Nation interview in February (http://ibn.fm/bELi6).

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions has also announced plans to include bitcoin payment processing in its platform. That increases its profile in a booming market that’s expected to exceed $31 billion within the next three years.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.MedicalCannabisPaymentSolutions.com

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• Lexaria enters agreement with Biolog for Lexaria’s DehydraTECH™ technology in return for royalties on sales revenue and licensing fees
• Biolog has exclusive rights to use the Lexaria technology for its particular applications for five years
• Lexaria is the only company worldwide with patent issued for oral delivery CBD and all other non-psychoactive cannabinoids

Based in Kelowna, British Columbia, Lexaria Bioscience Corp. (OTCQX: LXRP) (CSE: LXX) announced on February 27, 2018, its entry into a technology licensing agreement with Biolog, Inc. for the provision of Lexaria’s patented DehydraTECH™ technology (http://ibn.fm/nm1o2). Lexaria’s proprietary technology will be used in the formulation of a unique range of next-generation Biolog food and beverage cannabis infusion products to be sold in the United States.

California-focused Biolog (a Utah company, not to be confused with a California cell phenotyping company of the same name) has its own patented technologies for a unique line of dissolvable infusion products designed for precise per-unit ingredient dosing and ease of use. The company plans to integrate Lexaria’s DehydraTECH™ delivery technology in products of this type. Biolog’s new product range will include hemp-based, cannabidiol (CBD)-infused products and vitamins for distribution in those states where such products are legalized. Lexaria’s patented technology will offer these products superior bioabsorption, fast action and better taste.

“The versatility of Lexaria’s DehyrdaTECH (TM) technology is witnessed through its adoption to deliver vitamins in a nationally-available consumer product, or cannabinoids in many U.S. states,” Lexaria CEO Chris Bunka said in a news release. “Biolog’s products are a unique and novel method to deliver precisely measured amounts of active ingredients thoroughly infused into foods and beverages of virtually all kinds and we welcome Biolog to our growing family of technology innovators.”

Biolog has secured five-year exclusive rights to use Lexaria’s DehyrdaTECH™ technology for its particular applications within the U.S. In exchange, Lexaria will receive a royalty on revenue generated from sales of these products. CEO of Biolog Craig Machado expressed the company’s excitement in offering the market ‘Powered by Lexaria’ products. “We plan to provide more information about our upcoming products, which will allow processors and consumers to turn almost any food or beverage into a cannabis edible in the near future, as we get closer to formal product launch,” Machado added in the release.

Lexaria has been awarded patents in Australia and the United States for its DehyrdaTECH™ technology and has patents pending in over 40 other countries around the world. It has the distinction of being the only company in the world with a patent for the oral delivery of CBD and all other non-psychoactive cannabinoids. This proven technology enhances the taste, smell, bioabsorption, speed of action and bioavailability of active ingredients in ingestible products. It eliminates the need for sugars and sweeteners used in other technologies to mask bitter tastes and unpleasant odors. Bioabsorption of active compounds and cannabinoids is increased by up to 10 times, while the effects are registered within a fraction of the time taken with other delivery technologies.

DehyrdaTECH™ technology can either reduce the cannabinoid per serving unit cost or produce stronger effects in cases where serving levels are regulated. Consumers gain significant benefits from the enhanced taste of edibles and the speed of action. The technology can be applied to the manufacture of foods, liquids, emulsions, capsules and tablets. Lexaria has a range of products for testing and sales, including protein energy bars, CBD tablets and a high-absorption hemp oil capsule called TurboCBD.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LexariaEnergy.com

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• IEG Holdings targets the near prime loan market with unsecured $5,000 and $10,000 loans
• Established track record of 80 percent repeat customer business and low customer acquisition cost
• Looking to launch its own cryptocurrency – offer loans and accept loan repayments in ‘IE Crypto’

Most view the personal loan industry as a humdrum, by-the-numbers business with steady, predictable upside. IEG Holdings Corp. (OTCQB: IEGH) is disrupting that perception and is fast-becoming an online force in the fintech consumer loan industry. The company is not only challenging traditional brick-and-mortar consumer lending markets; it is also opening creative, cutting-edge avenues of opportunity with its plan to offer loans and accept loan repayments in its own IEG Holdings cryptocurrency.

Based in Las Vegas, IEG Holdings provides unsecured, five-year consumer loans of $5,000 and $10,000 under the brand name ‘Mr. Amazing Loans’ through its website (www.MrAmazingLoans.com). The company is licensed and/or holds certificates of authority to originate direct consumer loans in 20 states, and it boasts an exceptional 80 percent repeat customer rate.

Avoiding subprime lending, IEG Holdings targets the near prime loan market, servicing the needs of underbanked consumers that tend to be ignored by mainstream institutional credit providers. The company charges credit card-type fees that range from 12.0 percent to 29.9 percent APR to offset any defaults and deliver healthy returns on its loan portfolio. Importantly, the company’s customer acquisition cost is about half that of traditional brick-and-mortar lenders. IEGH has an automated online loan approval process, and contracts are transparent, without hidden costs.

Unsatisfied with just building a significantly scalable, lucrative niche market, IEG Holdings recently announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Investment Evolution Crypto (“IE Crypto”), has signed a leading blockchain software consultant to provide blockchain development services for IEG Holdings’ cryptocurrency (http://ibn.fm/FqeV3). IE Crypto plans to create its own IEG Holdings cryptocurrency with which to offer loans and accept loan repayments. This would position IEGH as one of the few loan companies in the world with its own legal cryptocurrency. The company also plans to develop and launch a new Philippines remittance and loan offering to U.S. and Australia-based Filipino overseas foreign workers (“OFW”), a population which accounts for a $28 billion annual remittance market.

Commenting on the latest Crypto developments in a news release, Paul Mathieson, chairman and chief executive officer of IEG Holdings, stated, “We are very excited to have moved to the development stage for our IEG Holdings cryptocurrency. We believe potentially combining the exciting new blockchain technology with a leading sophisticated online consumer finance system, individual US state lending licenses and exposure to the Philippines $28 billion OFW remittance sector is a very exciting proposition. We aim for IEGH to leverage off its existing fintech business credentials, specifically its extensive experience in online consumer loans, to potentially be a key player in the crypto/blockchain sector.”

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.InvestmentEvolution.com

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• Leading the industry forward as the first pure-play cannabis company to trade on the Nasdaq
• Canada set to legalize recreational cannabis
• Positioned for growth throughout the international medical marijuana market

Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX.V: MJN), a Toronto-based medical marijuana company, is the first pure-play cannabis company to trade on the Nasdaq. This transition has provided the company with legitimacy and enables investors to better assess CRON’s performance. Listing of CRON on the Nasdaq is a major move for the entire marijuana industry, according to The Motley Fool (http://ibn.fm/yI4i1).

With cannabis deals this year already doubling the total for 2017, and the expected legalization of recreational cannabis use in Canada looming, Cronos has seen sales soar. The company is one of the largest cannabis producers in Canada. It is estimated that the legalization of recreational marijuana use in Canada will generate from $4.2 billion to as much as $12 billion annually. The Canadian Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill to authorize legal use of recreational marijuana by June 7, 2018. If passed, this will make cannabis available for recreational use in late August or early September.

While CRON waits for the forecast growth in Canada, the company has positioned itself for growth throughout the international medical marijuana market. Its operations now touch four continents. With an exclusive distribution agreement, CRON is supplying medical marijuana to Pohl-Boscamp, a company that distributes to over 12,000 pharmacies in Germany. CRON also works with Israel’s Kibbutz Gan Shmuel, through Cronos Israel, developing what will be low-cost, high-quality production, coupled with efficient distribution, to meet worldwide demand. In addition, a joint venture with NewSouthern Capital PTY Ltd. was recently launched to market products to Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. The company holds wholly-owned subsidiaries Peace Natural and Original BC, with a partial ownership of Whistler Medical Marijuana Company.

As the marijuana market changes and grows in 2018, investors should be keeping a close eye on CRON and its partners. Cronos Group is rapidly expanding globally, building an iconic international brand portfolio and developing disruptive intellectual property.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TheCronosGroup.com

• Liberty subsidiary North Road Ventures inks new compliance agreement
• Agreement expands North Road’s existing business model
• Liberty’s diversified investment approach leverages opportunity in legal cannabis markets

Liberty Leaf Holdings Ltd. (CSE: LIB) (OTCQB: LIBFF) (FSE: HN3P) continues to advance its business agenda to capitalize on the burgeoning legal marijuana markets. Liberty Leaf is in the business of acquiring partnership interests in up-and-coming and established companies in the medicinal and recreational cannabis space. The company currently operates in Canada and is actively seeking to enter all of the legal cannabis markets in North America. The recent signing of an agreement between North Road Ventures, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Leaf, and Cannabis Compliance Inc. is another step forward in the advancement of Liberty’s unique business model (http://ibn.fm/RoKR3).

Liberty Leaf takes calculated and strategic investment positions in established, proven performers in both the medicinal and recreational legal cannabis markets. Liberty Leaf targets and then acquires and/or partners with established, revenue-producing marijuana businesses that have large upside potential. Liberty’s objective is to build a substantial, broad-based portfolio of multiple cannabis-sector businesses, including companies across the full spectrum of activities, from the cultivation and processing of legal medicinal and recreational cannabis to value-added CBD/THC pet products, as well as ancillary and supply-chain products. Liberty Leaf provides professional management, HR resources, marketing expertise and the necessary funding to accelerate growth.

Per the terms of the announced agreement, Cannabis Compliance will be responsible for ensuring Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-compliant processing/production of North Road’s cannabis-containing products. North Road is an increasingly large player in the expanding medical marijuana Industry and is expanding into the recreational market this year.

According to Will Rascan, president and CEO of Liberty Leaf, these new developments represent a further extension of North Road’s existing business model. “North Road plans to make available to both pharmacies and licensed retailers our exclusive medicinal-quality cannabis, cannabis-related products and racking jobber service,” Rascan stated in a news release. “The ability for us to expand on our model by including Natural Health Products (NHPs) for human and veterinary use as well as cosmetics/beauty products, topicals, concentrates, foods/edibles and other high-quality products for distribution holds tremendous growth potential for our company.”

With strategic investments in a broad spectrum of businesses in the explosive legal marijuana markets, Liberty Leaf offers investors an interesting option for diversified exposure across the entire cannabis value chain.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.LibLeaf.ca

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Direct-to-consumer, conflict-free, custom and branded jewelry company Reign Sapphire Corp. (OTCQB: RGNP) was originally established to leverage a ‘source-to-retail’ model for fine Australian sapphires. Utilizing a transparent, mine-to-market supply chain, Reign sapphires are guaranteed natural gems of certified origin, manufactured under guaranteed ethical and sustainable processes. RGNP operates through four key divisions:

• Reign Sapphire: ethically produced, direct mine-to-consumer sapphire jewelry targeting millennials
• Coordinates Collection: custom jewelry, inscribed with location coordinates commemorating life’s special moments
• Le Bloc: classic customized jewelry
• ION Collection by Jen Selter: recently launched Athleisure jewelry brand

RGNP’s portfolio also includes Reign Ventures, a joint venture platform for investment and development of jewelry technology-related products, and Reign Blockchain to authenticate sapphires as conflict-free. Entries on the digital record can include attributes for each sapphire, such as the color, carat and certificate number.

Reign Sapphire targets millennials and their desire to shop ethically. This desire has pushed the gem industry to embrace sustainability. Millennials want to know that the gemstones they buy are mined responsibly, labor practices are fair, communities benefit from the gems mined, gems are set in jewelry in a transparent and ethical manner, and environmental impact is taken into consideration. In order to have a supply chain that is transparent, a company must control all aspects of the process from exploration to cutting, setting and selling. From day one, the company has done just this. Conflict-free, natural sapphires are procured directly from certified mines. The environment, miners and locals affected by the gem trade are treated fairly and ethically. Master artisans handle the mined gems, which are finally sent to the U.S., where they are individually crafted in Los Angeles for the customer. A clean supply chain is maintained every step of the way.

The marketing/sales strategy behind RGNP’s brands is unique and cutting edge. Products are sold through a commission-based affiliate program utilizing personalized email campaigns and promotions, celebrity endorsement and gifting, digital advertising, sponsored ads, keyword purchases, creative PR events and media outreach. The company has a rapidly growing social media following across all of its brands, which is key to reaching millennials.

Coordinates Collection has recently expanded to include a men’s line. In a news release, CEO Joseph Segelman stated, “The data we track revealed the men’s demographic as untapped and initial market acceptance has been encouraging, this data has driven us to offer the Delta Collection in premium metals which also has significantly higher margins.” The company has launched the Coordinates’ Delta Collection, a line of men’s jewelry with its signature engraved location coordinates in Sterling Silver and 14k Gold. The more minimal designs are larger and intended to appeal to a broad range of male consumers who wish to commemorate a fixed time and place of life’s special moments.

RGNP is diligently customizing its marketing and products to the needs of millennials and those who wish to shop their values while simultaneously commemorating special life moments with high quality jewelry.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.ReignSC.com

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• REFG solves cash-handling issues with electronic system solution
• Introduction of Green as a platform with full merchant account functionality
• REFG’s CEO highlights plans to enter the bitcoin market

Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions (OTC: REFG) boasts an industry first. Through a state-of-the-art financial services system that is easy to set up and simple to use, the company’s solution to cannabis banking has shown how to solve cash-handling issues, offering electronic payment and e-commerce features. This gives the marijuana business direct and immediate access to funds while still complying with all federal (FinCEN) laws aimed at combatting both domestic and international money laundering and terrorist financing, among other financial crimes. REFG is not only compliant with these regulations; the company’s end-to-end payment processing solution has finally provided cannabis retailers and consumers with payment options other than cash. Although marijuana has been one of the fastest-growing industries over the last couple of years and is expected to continue growing at the same pace throughout 2018 and beyond, authorized businesses and vendors still have a hard time managing their finances and customers in the absence of banking services (http://ibn.fm/aU37R).

REFG emphasises that it is a “first-tier merchant processing cannabis industry pioneer, bringing to market the first and only comprehensive card processing operation of its kind; a state of the art system which tracks sales and tax collection, and empowers businesses with an advanced client management system.”

StateSourced, REFG’s proprietary, closed-loop merchant processing system is geared toward the cannabis industry. The system is not prepaid or availed through the use of gift cards, yet its card processing operations break logistical and operational bottlenecks often caused by cash-only transactions within state-sanctioned marijuana businesses. The Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions debit card can only be used for payment within a state in which marijuana has been legalized, and only for cannabis-related products from state-sanctioned vendors. Businesses accessing the company’s card system will notice an immediate advantage regarding reduced risks, the meeting of set regulatory requirements and the improvement of customer interactions.

In January of this year, the company launched Green, its platform with full merchant account functionality. This card processing system allows for online sales, client management, repeat billing and 100 percent secure electronic payments. This solution could solve the dilemma that legal marijuana distributors have faced through distribution that is now supported by innovative financial and banking solutions. Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions allows businesses to be more accountable with their cash flow while more accurately tracking sales.

On top of all of this, the system also helps to simplify payroll and bills, where businesses can pay expenses straight from their Green accounts. The system allows business to receive payments directly from patients, with branded cards available so that they can have the business’s brand with them wherever they go, in turn fostering customer loyalty. Recurring billing orders can be set up, in addition to integrated ecommerce shopping carts for online orders, proving that Green is a total banking solution.

To further expand its services to the state-legal medical marijuana sector, Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions has announced its plans to introduce bitcoin payment processing in its proprietary payment processing platform. Green currently offers customers an advanced payment solution that allows purchases with U.S. currency and will soon include bitcoin payment options, as well. CEO Jeremy Roberts has explained that the decision was made based on customer feedback, with numerous vendors showing great interest in introducing cryptocurrency payment options.

In November 2017, the global cryptocurrency market surpassed the $300 billion mark, resulting in a massive surge in the price of bitcoin. By December, the market capitalization for cryptocurrencies reached $600 billion. Roberts is confident that the capability of processing bitcoin will give the company an even bigger competitive advantage, thus making it even more attractive to medical cannabis vendors in a booming market, and, noting the further legalization of medical marijuana supported by studies, even greater market sizes can be expected. With fewer drug side-effects and further drug development, it is likely that the number of CBD products will increase, with more people likely to opt for safer treatments (http://ibn.fm/C9RI3).

The company’s savvy innovations and fast-developing systems spell a new era in online transactions that have thus far shown great potential for expansion in the global market. With the quick pace of technology in this digital age, effective payment solutions are becoming a necessity. Medical Cannabis Payment Solutions’ provision of an advanced financial services system that gives the cannabis business immediate access to funds while still complying with all federal laws not only combats unwanted and irregular online and electronic transactions, but also empowers businesses with an advanced client management system. Without a doubt, the company’s introduction of bitcoin currencies into its transaction platform will herald an expanding enterprise, bringing retailers and customers closer together through secure payments.

For additional information, view the company’s IR Kit at http://ibn.fm/REFG

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• Analysts call the listing a milestone for both Cronos Group and the entire cannabis industry
• Michael Gorenstein, CEO of Cronos Group, said that the company is the only ‘pure play’ marijuana company to be traded on a U.S. exchange
• Company has holdings or is involved in joint ventures in Canada, Germany, Israel and Australia

Cronos Group Inc. (NASDAQ: CRON) (TSX.V: MJN), a Toronto-based medical marijuana company, recently began trading on the Nasdaq, uplisting from the Nasdaq International Designation program as an OTC stock to the Nasdaq Global Market and becoming the first Canadian cannabis producer stock to be listed on a major U.S. exchange. Michael Gorenstein, CEO and president of Cronos Group, told CNN, “We’re the only pure play marijuana company,” to be traded on a U.S. exchange (http://ibn.fm/hHWLp).

CNN added that the listing was a milestone for both Cronos Group and the entire cannabis industry. Gorenstein said that the company is already exporting marijuana to Germany. It is also building facilities to grow cannabis in Australia and Israel.

Cronos Group holds several wholly-owned subsidiaries. These include 100 percent of Peace Naturals, a company licensed to produce and sell medical marijuana by the Access to Cannabis for Medical Purposes Regulations (“ACMPR”) in Canada. It owns 95 acres of land in Ontario, Canada. Another 100 percent-owned subsidiary is Original BC (“OGBC”), also licensed by ACMPR. It maintains 35 acres of land in British Columbia.

Cronos also owns 21.5 percent of Whistler Medical Marijuana Company (“WMMC”), also licensed by ACMPR to produce and sell medical marijuana and to cultivate cannabis oil.

Additionally, Cronos Group is a partner in a 50-50 joint venture based in Melbourne, Australia. It is also in a strategic joint venture with Kibbutz Gan Shmuel in Israel, which exports medical cannabis to 35 countries throughout Europe and Asia. Plus, it maintains an exclusive supply agreement with Pohl-Boskam, a German pharmaceutical products and medical devices company that distributes products to more than 12,000 German pharmacies.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TheCronosGroup.com