The mania surrounding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has now overflowed onto the underlying technology. The real value of cryptocurrencies is hotly in dispute, but there is consensus that the underlying blockchain technology has applications that extend far beyond its connections to cryptocurrency. IBM’s Martin Schroeter recently told CNBC (http://ibn.fm/Ln0L9), “Blockchain, the digital record-keeping method that exploded in popularity in conjunction with the cryptocurrency craze, will change the way the world makes transactions.” Unfortunately, the unscrupulous will always make every conceivable attempt to capitalize on a current craze and redouble efforts during transformative events.

Spring-boarding off the cryptocurrency craze, little-known companies have been announcing plans to enter the bitcoin industry or into its underlying distributed ledger blockchain technology. An encrypted electronic ledger, blockchain has the potential to dramatically reduce business costs, efficiently streamline operations and provide data security and reliability. Replicated across a network of multiple computer nodes, the records keeping system is decentralized, self-monitored by all the linked computers and eliminates the need for supervision and administration of records. Little wonder that IBM as well as multiple other well-known global companies have begun blockchain initiatives.

However, public companies that change their names or business models with no real purpose other than capitalizing on the hype surrounding blockchain technology are now under Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) scrutiny. Detailed in a recent Reuters article (http://ibn.fm/kldP6), SEC Chairman Jay Clayton cautioned that it was not acceptable for companies without a meaningful track record in the sector to dabble in blockchain technology, change their name, then offer investors securities without providing adequate disclosures around the risks involved.

This latest SEC salvo targets the nefarious underbelly of crypto-mania. The SEC has temporarily suspended trading in unwarranted high flyers and “is looking closely at the disclosures of public companies that shift their business models to capitalize on the perceived promise of distributed ledger technology and whether the disclosures comply with the securities laws, particularly in the case of an offering,” as noted by Clayton. Clayton also said the SEC had seen unsettling evidence that legal professionals have incorrectly advised clients they don’t have to comply with federal securities laws in initial coin offerings (ICOs) where cryptocurrency start-ups solicit funds from investors.

The SEC’s warnings are in line with other countries’ efforts around the globe to limit speculation in cryptocurrencies. The SEC has warned investors about cryptocurrency frauds and openly stated that ICO fundraisings should comply with securities laws.

If double-digit price swings and threats of government intervention aren’t enough to keep crypto investors on edge, a new research report from Ernst & Young (http://ibn.fm/301I2) reveals that more than 10 percent of funds raised through “initial coin offerings” are either lost or stolen in hacker attacks.

The SEC is right to reign in fraudulent crypto-mania. Until controls are established and markets regulated, caveat emptor (buyer beware).

• Company’s bitcoin payments solution allows underbanked cannabis merchants to accept bitcoin-backed card transactions
• Proprietary bitcoin exchange soft-launched in November 2017; official launch scheduled for Q1 2018
• Company recently announced LOI to acquire Bitcoin Beyond

SinglePoint, Inc. (OTC: SING) has evolved from a full-service mobile technology provider to a publicly traded holding company, diversifying into horizontal markets and building a robust portfolio and a diversified holding base by acquiring an interest in undervalued subsidiaries. Through subsidiary company SingleSeed, SinglePoint is successfully offering products and services to the cannabis industry, including, notably, a proprietary bitcoin payments solution that enables both cannabis merchants and consumers to make bitcoin-powered transactions using debit and credit cards. This was discussed in detail in a recent article (http://ibn.fm/Rc6xP).

This innovative solution is fully KYC-AML compliant and also has applicability that transcends the cannabis industry and can be deployed in various kinds of businesses to allow the completion of bitcoin transactions using payment cards. Such a solution is ideal for underbanked markets like the cannabis industry, which currently lacks traditional banking options in the United States due to its continued federal status as a Schedule I drug. Where U.S. cannabis vendors have primarily been forced to deal in cash, bitcoin solutions like that offered by SinglePoint allow customers to make convenient card-based purchases, just as they would in other types of stores while buying any other type of merchandise.

In any state where cannabis enjoys legal status, the SingleSeed payments platform can be used. In addition to making bitcoin-backed card purchases possible, the solution enables cannabis dispensaries to digitally track and manage their product inventories, performing tasks like uploading product data, photos and descriptions. The system further deducts items automatically from a dispensary’s product listings when a purchase is made.

SinglePoint’s proprietary solution, SingleSeed Payments (http://ibn.fm/73r3k), was soft-launched in November 2017, and the official launch of the payments solution is scheduled to take place during Q1 of 2018.

The benefits of SinglePoint’s bitcoin solution in providing payment options while cannabis remains federally illegal are clear. However, should cannabis be legalized at the federal level in the U.S. at some future point, the SingleSeed app will not cease to be needful but is actually positioned to expand as a useful tool for managing cryptocurrency-based retail cannabis payments. The company also has traditional payment solutions ready to go in the event that banks start accepting cannabis businesses for merchant processing.

The ultimate aim of SinglePoint is to offer a fully integrated solution that can be utilized for end-to-end management by businesses of all types.

SinglePoint’s management team continues to be bullish regarding the use of bitcoin and blockchain technologies as means of overcoming key obstacles within the cannabis market. The company plans to seek out acquisitions and partnerships with other entities during 2018 to continue bringing innovative solutions to this burgeoning market. One such effort was announced on January 23, when SinglePoint announced a letter of intent to acquire 100 percent of premier web-enabled, point-of-sale bitcoin payments platform Bitcoin Beyond (http://ibn.fm/TtIqO).

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

Let us hear your thoughts: SinglePoint, Inc. Message Board

• Negotiations underway to purchase a verified gold project with prospecting licenses
• IEGH’s cryptocurrency to be backed by gold metal, registered with SEC as a security
• Volatility of cryptocurrency could potentially be stabilized with precious metal backing

Consumer loan provider IEG Holdings Corp. (OTCQB: IEGH), through wholly owned subsidiary Investment Evolution Crypto, LLC. (“Crypto”), recently announced its intention to create its own gold metal-backed cryptocurrency that could potentially be utilized when offering loans and accepting loan repayments. While Crypto is in the development planning stages and exploring the opportunities presented by crypto/blockchain technologies, the company is already negotiating to purchase a bona fide gold project with established gold metal in the ground and prospecting licenses on record.

In a news release announcing the company’s venture (http://ibn.fm/flkVE), Paul Mathieson, IEG Holdings chairman and CEO, said, “We believe potentially combining the exciting new blockchain technology with the hard asset of gold metal, expected SEC registration, a leading sophisticated online consumer finance system and individual US state lending licenses is a very exciting proposition… In addition, we believe the future leaders of the crypto/blockchain sector will be companies that are materially compliant with all the existing and future related US government legislation. 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.”

This attention to detail and meeting regulatory necessities is the backbone of IEGH’s success as a publicly traded, global leader in consumer finance (http://ibn.fm/0pXBq). The company provides small online personal loans of $5,000 to $10,000 in the United States via a state-licensed operating subsidiary, Investment Evolution Corporation, under the consumer brand ‘Mr. Amazing Loans’.

The company originates, processes, and services consumer loans from its centralized Las Vegas headquarters. Loans are offered in 20 states via its online platform and distribution network. IEGH is a licensed direct lender with state licenses and/or certificates of authority to lend in each state and offers all loans within the prevailing statutory rates. The difference for consumers seeking a personal loan under Mr. Amazing Loans’ terms is the ability to repay the loan with low, fixed repayment schedules that fit into their lifestyle and budget. Since inception, the company has provided over $16 million in consumer loans – a cumulative loan volume increase of 192 percent from January 2015 to the end of 2017 (http://ibn.fm/UroRz).

The coming year includes some exciting business opportunities for IEG Holdings, its subsidiaries and investors. Exploration of the legalities, economic risks and benefits of accepting repayment of customer loans in the form of leading crypto/blockchain currencies such as bitcoin, and also possibly creating and issuing a precious metal-backed cryptocurrency, are seen as prime targets for 2018.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: IEG Holdings Corporation Message Board

• Company’s subsidiaries set sights on recreational use licensing, expansion
• Total marijuana market in Canada forecast to hit $2.8 billion by 2020
• Pet cannabis products for pain expected to form large market opportunity

Liberty Leaf Holdings Ltd. (OTCQB: LIBFF) (CSE: LIB) (FSE: HN3P) announced on January 22 that it had closed a private placement financing effort with $2 million in gross proceeds that will be used to speed completion of facility construction projects for its subsidiaries, North Road Ventures in the greater Vancouver area of Canada’s British Columbia and Just Kush Enterprises, located some 250 miles to the east. Just Kush has a license to cultivate medicinal-use marijuana at its Oliver facility and is applying for a license to produce recreational marijuana in anticipation of national legalization in July. North Road is a distributor of cannabis products to licensed retailers with plans to expand into the recreational market upon legalization.

“Liberty Leaf is pleased to have cornerstone investors from the cannabis industry participate in our equity offering,” Will Rascan, president and CEO of Liberty Leaf, stated in a news release about the closing (http://ibn.fm/XxHW7).

Liberty Leaf created and issued five million units priced at $0.40 each that comprise a common share and half of a transferable share purchase warrant, and buyers were granted the option of purchasing an additional common share of the company at a PPS of $0.60 for each whole warrant they hold during the next 24 months.

The company continues to seek out revenue-generating cannabis-related ventures and general working capital. Liberty Leaf’s focus is on establishing a diverse portfolio within the rapidly growing legal cannabis industry’s supply chain, including value-added marijuana-based pet pain products that could become the company’s largest market opportunity of all. North Road Ventures has stated in its recreational license application to Health Canada that it plans to double its cannabis product lines and increase its vault storage capacity by 500 percent. The increase is part of an effort to ensure supply line adequacy as recreational use legalization approaches, and the company cites difficulties in Nevada as an example of what it wants to avoid — Nevada’s governor issued a statement of emergency when it became clear recreational marijuana supplies were running low shortly after that state’s legalization decision, which put tax dollars on the line and drove the state tax commission to evaluate whether there were enough distributors to supply all of the dispensaries.

Recreational use has clearly been the great revenue driver thus far in locations where marijuana has been legalized. In Colorado, for example, where legalized recreational use is in its fourth year, the sales split is about 70 percent recreational to 30 percent medicinal, according to tax data cited by the company (http://ibn.fm/4F4eE), with aggregate cannabis sales totaling $227 million during the first two months of 2017 — a 30 percent increase from the prior year.

Statista projects that, if Canada legalizes recreational use marijuana in July as expected, the combined market for dried and oil/extract marijuana will reach C$2.8 billion within three years (http://ibn.fm/nhg4d).

Liberty Leaf also has professional partnerships with Esev Genetics, billed as “the world’s first genomic platform for high value crop,” and Blox Labs, a software solutions company focused on blockchain and other decentralized application technologies, to help ensure additional aspects of the supply chain.

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

• Proposed transdermal product will help veterans struggling with PTSD and suicidal thoughts
• Majority of suicides among military veterans are among those 50 and older
• Suicide rate for U.S. women veterans was 2.5 times higher than civilian adult women
• Presidential executive order signed January 9, 2018, focuses on providing mental health care to former service members

Topical and transdermal product development company Skinvisible, Inc. (OTCQB: SKVI) and its patented Invisicare® technology could provide significant relief to veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder through a proposed transdermal treatment the company expects to develop as it merges with Quoin Pharmaceuticals Ltd. The proposed merger, announced in November 2017 (http://ibn.fm/NBrxz), will create a robust product portfolio addressing major unmet medical needs, including the devastating number of veteran suicides that occur daily. The company anticipates that the merger will take place in early 2018.

Skinvisible, through its wholly owned subsidiary Skinvisible Pharmaceuticals, Inc., has already developed, licensed and sold multiple dermatology and health care products, as well as various medical treatments, using its patented Invisicare® technology (http://ibn.fm/fAWss). The proposed merger with Quoin Pharmaceuticals would combine Skinvisible’s patented and proven novel drug delivery technologies that enhance the delivery of various active ingredients with Quion’s strong pharmaceutical background in post-surgical pain and promising approach to PTSD treatment.

Quoin’s two lead products are targeting crises that result in the death of almost 120 people in the U.S. every day. Data released September 15, 2017, by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs (“VA”) show that the risk for suicide was 22 percent higher among veterans when compared to civilians. Among the 20 suicides per day reported to the VA in 2016, 14 of those veterans were not under VA care, VA Secretary Dr. David J. Shulkin stated in presenting the report (http://ibn.fm/KlsbS).

“These findings are deeply concerning, which is why I made suicide prevention my top clinical priority,” Shulkin continued. “This is a national public health issue that requires a concerted, national approach.”

Quoin’s proposed product, QRX002, will be a once-daily transdermal NMDA receptor antagonist for the treatment of suicidal ideation in military veterans with PTSD. About eight million adults are living with PTSD, with anywhere from 11 percent to 20 percent of military veterans experiencing the disorder (http://ibn.fm/eqdaf). Currently, the only approved medical treatments for PTSD are standard anti-depressants, which are either ineffective or act very slowly, resulting in a clear unmet medical need to address this growing crisis. Quoin believes that QRX002 may be a candidate for both orphan drug status and breakthrough therapy designation.

“Skinvisible has done an impressive job developing their technology and building a very robust patent portfolio,” Dr. Michael Myers, chairman and CEO of Quoin Pharmaceuticals, stated in a news release. “The utilization of their unique drug delivery technology could, we believe, enable us to achieve the performance targets of our proposed lead products whilst providing for strong patent protection.”

Highlighting the terrible cost that PTSD delivers to the nation’s veterans and their families, President Donald Trump signed an executive order on January 9, 2018, aimed at reducing veteran suicides (http://ibn.fm/X0uah). The mandate, ‘Supporting Our Veterans During Their Transition from Uniformed Service to Civilian Life’, offers more former service members access to mental health care and focuses on those who are soon-to-leave military service, since they have the highest risk for suicide.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: Skinvisible, Inc. Message Board

• Petroteq was a pioneer in the environmentally safe extraction of heavy oils with patented technologies
• Company’s blockchain initiative, PetroBLOQ, will be first blockchain platform developed exclusively for the supply chain needs of the oil and gas sector
• Examining company history of value creation, PetroBLOQ may be largest value driver yet

Cryptocurrencies have garnered enormous market attention lately. Some say cryptocurrencies are worthless, others say they’re the new global fiat medium of exchange. Time will tell. However, there is consensus that the underlying blockchain technology has applications that extend far beyond its connections to cryptocurrency. Companies around the globe are beginning to employ blockchain technology to streamline business and secure transactions.

Blockchain is an encrypted electronic ledger, replicated across a network of multiple computer nodes. This distributed ledger virtually eliminates the need for supervision and administration of records. Since this open and distributed record-keeping system is decentralized, blockchain is self-monitored by all of the linked computers. Blockchain can reduce costs whiles providing data security and reliability and eliminating the need for third party reconciliation (e.g. banks, clearing houses). “Blockchain, the digital record-keeping method that exploded in popularity in conjunction with the cryptocurrency craze, will change the way the world makes transactions,” IBM’s Martin Schroeter recently told CNBC (http://ibn.fm/BYOsA).

With such dynamic, complex and fungible markets, the oil and gas industry is likely to be one of the largest beneficiaries of blockchain. The recent article ‘Expectations for 2018 on Blockchain Applications in the Energy Industry’ (http://ibn.fm/FEKst) details both the industry challenges and the blockchain solutions being developed by Petroteq Energy Inc. (TSX.V: PQE) (OTCQX: PQEFF). Petroteq Energy, a multifaceted energy company, was a pioneer in the environmentally safe extraction of heavy oils from oil sands and oil shale deposits with its patented technologies that produce zero greenhouse gas and zero waste.

Petroteq’s new blockchain initiative, PetroBLOQ (www.PetroBLOQ.com), looks to set another industry milestone and will be the first blockchain-based platform developed exclusively for the supply chain needs of the oil and gas sector.

The oil and gas industry supplies vital commodities that are subject to constant price fluctuations, supply and demand imbalances and geopolitical pressures. Petroteq’s PetroBLOQ blockchain solution targets these complex variables as well as the risk and expense in the exploration and production of oil and gas. With over 35 billion barrels of oil produced each year, saving even a small percentage by managing supply and distribution can have a huge bottom line impact. Petroteq’s PetroBLOQ blockchain industry first solution aims to deliver cost and time savings, greater efficiency, flexibility and transparency and the ability to more effectively manage market fluctuations.

Petroteq has a history of creating value by identifying industry problems and delivering solutions, as it did with its patented, environmentally friendly heavy oil extraction technologies. Petroteq has intentions of creating enormous new value with its recent blockchain initiative, PetroBLOQ.

For more information, visit the company’s website at www.Petroteq.energy

Let us hear your thoughts: Petroteq Energy Inc. Message Board

• CIIX has created a Yelp-style app for marijuana dispensaries and cannabis strains to help it achieve big goals in 2018
• CIIX is committed to forward movement toward a cure for epilepsy
• Company is expanding its market reach in the U.S., Canada and China through hemp-based products

ChineseInvestors.com, Inc.’s (OTCQB: CIIX) mission is to become the leading publicly traded company targeting Chinese medicinal marijuana. Offering a variety of investor education products and services, Warren Wang, CEO and founder, would like to see 2018 bring with it double the revenue and expanded business. One of the ways CIIX is tackling this goal is through a Yelp-style app. Approved for download by the Apple App Store, this is the world’s first Chinese-language mobile cannabis navigation application. Within the app is a database of marijuana dispensaries and cannabis strains. The platform allows for review and discussion on cannabis products, allowing customers to find the best recommendations and nearby locations for medical and recreational cannabis.

CIIX is committed to the continual study of cannabidiol (CBD) oil to treat epilepsy and Alzheimer’s disease. It is the company’s goal, through the use of CBD oil, to be the first enterprise in China to decrease the suffering of epilepsy and Alzheimer’s patients. While the U.S. sometimes treats epilepsy through high risk surgical treatments, there is no similar practice in China. With nearly 10 million epilepsy patients, CIIX is focused on forward movement toward a cure, and its management team believes that CBD may hold the answer.

The company’s hemp-based health products are available in the U.S. and Canada, with promise of expansion. Marijuana use in China is illegal, but cannabis-based oils, including hemp-based CBDs, are legal. CIIX is committed to developing and distributing hemp-based products in hopes of helping people improve their overall health. It is targeting epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease, cirrhosis of the liver and various other health conditions. In January 2017, the company launched www.ChineseCBDoil.com, which continues to provide nutritional supplements containing CBD. The company is looking forward to the opening of a retail store in San Gabriel, California’s predominantly Chinese community in the coming months.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: ChineseInvestors.com, Inc. Message Board

• Hemp-derived cannabidiol (CBD) sales projected to surpass $1 billion in five years
• Grey Cloak Tech has acquired Eqova Life Sciences, an established producer of a range of clinical-grade CBD products
• This acquisition strengthens Grey Cloak’s position in this market sector and is likely to accelerate its growth

On the back of several forecasts of explosive growth in the cannabidiol (CBD) market, Grey Cloak Tech, Inc. (OTCQB: GRCK) has made a strategic decision to focus its efforts in this sector. The Hemp Business Journal reports projected growth of 700 percent by 2020, to reach annual sales of $2.1 billion, according to Forbes (http://ibn.fm/7ZeLy). Cannabis-derived CBD products comprise the bulk of the market at present, but the Brightfield Group (http://ibn.fm/66BMC) predicts a phenomenal compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 55 percent in hemp-derived CBD sales to pass the billion-dollar mark within five years.

On October 24, 2017, Grey Cloak announced that it had acquired 100 percent of Eqova Life Sciences, an established producer of a wide range of clinical-grade hemp CBD oil products supplying medical practitioners. Grey Cloak believes that these practitioners are underserved in sourcing high-quality CBD products. Eqova has developed its own high quality, branded hemp oil health products but has the capabilities to produce private labels for qualified partners.

Eqova’s products are not developed for recreational use, and the company only uses natural, standardized phytocannabinoid-rich hemp oil in its medical-grade, CBD-based products. It employs a rigorous product development cycle, where each ingredient is studied in isolation and in the context of other ingredients, use case and delivery method. Eqova has developed cutting-edge delivery methods for oral, topical, liposomal and sublingual applications. The company’s innovative products and commitment to stringent quality control ensures that medical practitioners receive high quality, consistent pharmaceutical-grade ingredients with standardized dosing to help their patients.

The products are thoroughly researched by a team of medical experts and manufactured in cGMP-compliant laboratories in the U.S. All of the company’s products contain no unnecessary or harmful fillers and no, or only trace amounts of, psychoactive ingredients like tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Each product delivers a consistent dose of active ingredients and is exclusively distributed through qualified health practitioners to ensure maximum safety.

On October 7, 2017, Eqova exhibited its CBD products at the Integrative Medicine Summit in Denver, Colorado. The summit was attended by more than 200 medical professionals and presented the company with an opportunity to debut its new product, CannaBio Salve, a topical ointment made with several aromatic natural oils. Eqova President Patrick Stiles said, “I was overwhelmed with the interest in our product line. Clearly the practitioner space is severely underserved, and our clinical brand addresses their concerns about the CBD and Full Spectrum Hemp Oil industry very well. The topics of the show were a perfect match for the Eqova line of products. Because of our unique positioning, and serving the practitioners we opened several new accounts.”

As further evidence of Grey Cloak’s commitment to the CBD market sector, the company announced earlier this month the launch of CBD.co, a marketplace for CBD-based products. Five days later, on January 8, 2018, Grey Cloak announced the launch of its new YouTube channel, CBD TV. This is intended to serve as a platform for CBD education, product reviews and interviews with top players in the CBD and hemp space.

In short, Eqova Life Sciences provides products that combine the powerful benefits of CBD with the scientific research to validate use cases, administered only under the care of a qualified medical practitioner. This acquisition is set to strengthen Grey Cloak’s position in the CBD market and accelerate its growth.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: Grey Cloak Tech, Inc. Message Board

• AI market expected to grow at CAGR of over 60 percent until 2022
• Financial portal that reports on over 50,000 global equities and North American ETFs
• Financial content from Euronext, The Wall Street Journal, Thomson Reuters, Yahoo Finance, et al

The pithy saw attributed to Mark Twain, “truth is stranger than fiction,” is in part a reminder that today’s technological landscape is born out of yesterday’s dreams. Examples abound, a list of even recent innovations would fill page after page. No field has escaped the relentless march of the future, not even fortune telling. For artificial intelligence (“AI”) now offers this old profession a new tool to understand what may lie ahead. As usual, a hint of what is possible comes from fiction. Writing in the Guardian, Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman confessed that no other book has shaped his professional life as much as Isaac Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy (http://ibn.fm/liue7). Set against a backdrop of galactic immensity, the overarching premise of Asimov’s magnum opus is that possible future outcomes can be probabilistically assessed by a study of currently available data. Now AnalytixInsight (TSX.V: ALY) (OTCQB: ATIXF) is offering the capacity to make that vision a reality by transforming data into actionable insights. The company has developed a proprietary, machine-learning technology that algorithmically analyzes big data and distills it to understand current trends, which is nothing less than predicting the future.

The company’s flagship product – CapitalCube.com – is a financial portal that provides comprehensive analysis that includes on-demand fundamental research, portfolio evaluation and screening tools on over 50,000 global equities and North American ETFs. CapitalCube’s online portal is meant to generate investment ideas by providing in-depth analysis, peer-to-peer performance evaluations, accounting and earnings reports, dividend strength and AI-supported information about likely corporate actions such as dividend changes, share buybacks and acquisitions. For the investment community, CapitalCube is offering the closest thing to a crystal ball.

Dr. Krugman is not the only one who thinks Asimov’s conception is becoming reality. Well-respected newspaper The Economist (http://ibn.fm/hLerN) writes, “The rise of mobile phones and social networks means budding psychohistorians do now have an enormous amount of data that they can search for information which might yield more modest patterns of predictability.” Psychohistorians were the mathematicians in Asimov’s fantastical world who used advanced analysis to uncover social trends.

Indeed, a sort of psychohistory is already being practiced, according to that Economist piece. Song Chaoming, a physicist at Northeastern University in Boston, has constructed an algorithm which can look at someone’s mobile-phone records and predict with an average of 93 percent accuracy where that person is at any moment of any day. Superficially, these results appear unexciting, since most people have regular routines. However, for the 50,000 people surveyed, the algorithm maintained an accuracy that never fell below 80 percent. Again, Dr. Vespignani, another researcher at Northeastern, has created a program called GLEAM (Global Epidemic and Mobility Model) that was able to predict outbreaks of the flu, with an accuracy that was never more than two weeks off. The program analyzed travel patterns to produce its remarkable results. Such successes are becoming the norm. The AI market is big and getting bigger. Growing at a CAGR of 62.9 percent from 2016 to 2022, the market is expected to balloon to $16 billion by 2022.

CapitalCube is relying on a freemium pricing model that allows free access to basic financial information, with additional in-depth analysis and predictive analytics provided for $25 per month, and customized peer analysis for $300 per month. The portal publishes 3,000 articles daily and has multi-language capabilities. Content partners include Africa Investor, Euronext NV, The Wall Street Journal, Thomson Reuters and Yahoo Finance.

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

Let us hear your thoughts: AnalytixInsight Inc. Message Board

Israeli stereo/quad-camera vision system developer Foresight Autonomous Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: FRSX), via wholly-owned subsidiary Foresight Automotive Ltd., is rapidly advancing the state of the art in ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) with a growing emphasis on the semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicle markets. The company’s unique QuadSight™ system (http://ibn.fm/wbNY9) leverages a host of proprietary 3D video analysis, advanced image processing algorithms, and sensor fusion technologies, in order to provide the automotive industry with one of the most sophisticated accident prevention and real-time situational awareness packages available today.

QuadSight, which was well received during its public debut at the recent CES 2018 show in Las Vegas, boasts nearly 100 percent object detection under all weather conditions (http://ibn.fm/uIOLr), thanks to the system’s dual pairs of stereoscopic infrared and daylight cameras. Moreover, QuadSight is capable of providing this groundbreaking capability with nearly zero false alerts, thanks to proprietary image-processing algorithms and sensor fusion techniques that greatly enhance the system’s core architecture, which was derived directly from already field-proven security technology.

Driverless Car Market Expanding Fast

The QuadSight specs are quite tantalizing given recent projections for the global autonomous vehicle market, such as last year’s $126.8 billion by 2027 target (39.6 percent CAGR) from Infoholic Research (http://ibn.fm/Dflt7) or a study last year by chip giant Intel and the research firm Strategy Analytics, which sees driverless vehicles behind a whopping $7 trillion in aggregate economic activity and new efficiencies by 2050, with $4 trillion from driverless ride-hailing and around $3 trillion from driverless delivery and business logistics (http://ibn.fm/pOrQ3). The ADAS market alone is on track to hit upwards of $79 billion by 2020 on a 28 percent-plus CAGR, with object detection and differentiation being a leading component, due in large part to steadily increasing demand for driver assistance systems that can create enhanced automotive safety (http://ibn.fm/7n6sR).

Driverless car tech was a main feature at this year’s CES – a striking reality that comes hot on the heels of Alphabet subsidiary Waymo’s announcement in November (http://ibn.fm/b9AK1) that it would begin testing fully driverless cars on public roads, as well as an announcement in early January that GM has petitioned the government to mass-produce a car called the Cruise AV (http://ibn.fm/NejTG), with no steering wheel or pedals (slated for as early as 2019) via San Francisco startup company Cruise, which GM acquired in 2016 for over $1 billion (http://ibn.fm/tgwzU). For a company like Foresight, with its cutting-edge quad-camera vision technology and a market cap just shy of $100 million, the prospect of an eventual buyout by an automotive sector major is mediated by the secure knowledge that the company is sitting on a veritable goldmine, which it can easily exploit on its own.

The Industry Needs the Right Set of Electronic Eyes

QuadSight is believed by management to be the industry’s most accurate quad-camera vision system. Such robust detection capability with exceptionally low false positive rates under virtually any weather condition, including complete darkness, rain, haze, fog and glare, would make any company similarly confident. The president, CEO and founder of market research and strategy consulting giant Yole Développement, Jean-Christophe Eloy, remarked at CES that “the potential impact of Foresight’s breakthrough cannot be overstated,” because QuadSight surpasses, in a single stroke, “so many other approaches that simply can’t address the real world need for all-weather, all-conditions driving.” A perfectly timed and seemingly street-ready solution like this is exactly what the burgeoning semi-autonomous and autonomous vehicle markets have been looking for (http://ibn.fm/ipnpl).

Because stereoscopic cameras are able to actually surpass a human’s ability to see and recognize 3D objects in real-time and to do so at short or long-range, irrespective of size and degree of motion, QuadSight is now being hailed as the salient ADAS answer for the industry’s long-term needs. To quote CEO and founder of Foresight Haim Siboni, who is also the CEO and founder of leading homeland security 3D video surveillance solutions innovator Magna B.S.P – the level of vision perfection attainable by QuadSight is “clearly the breakthrough that vehicle makers need to build consumer confidence in order to accelerate autonomous vehicle adoption.” If a QuadSight equipped car can actually see better than the customer and do so in all weather conditions, both the semi-autonomous market focused on driver assistance tech and the driverless market will likely be beating a path to Foresight’s doorstep.

Rails and Roads Could Benefit From ADAS

A hallmark of the company’s confidence in its ability to exploit its market position is the announcement in early January (http://ibn.fm/yqwBB) that Foresight increased its stake to 32.62 percent in train safety and railway accident prevention innovator Rail Vision Ltd. (http://ibn.fm/j44xu), via an aggregate $2.24 million exercise of warrants at Rail Vision’s behest. Foresight’s veteran management team can smell a good deal and was excited to move quickly with an expedited exercise of warrants, subsequent to Rail Vision’s successful trial in December of its unique vision-based system with a leading European railway company. Conducted under harsh winter weather conditions at both day and night, the system was able to rapidly distinguish and classify railway obstacles at distances of several hundred meters.

This successful pilot test has set the stage for a long-term follow up pilot test with the aforementioned European railway major, which intends to purchase the system upon completion of said test for use on its locomotive fleet. The Rail Vision stake increase by Foresight is particularly interesting given the recent fatal Amtrak crash near Tacoma in December (http://ibn.fm/6MNi8), the inquiry into which will focus on driver distraction and excessive speed. Driver assist systems for trains could become a big market considering there were 586 train accidents globally in the last five years alone (http://ibn.fm/dDjwV), 53 of which were due to derailments, many of which might have been prevented by a system capable of identifying obstructions in real-time and acting on its own to slow or even stop the train.

Global Market Potential is the Brass Ring for Foresight

The successful completion in September of a third pilot project (http://ibn.fm/ao1Bk) with one of the top three Chinese car manufacturers utilizing Foresight’s Eyes-On™ accident prevention system (http://ibn.fm/rtPhV) has opened the door for commercialization in that country. The pending commercialization of this advanced driver assistance system will benefit mightily from a wealth of localized field data acquired during the three testing phases, such as local weather and infrastructure data, as well as data on the driving habits and tendencies of Chinese drivers. Eyes-On met all pre-determined specific terms, conditions and specifications in the third pilot test, so investors should keep an ear to the ground for more news about the direction of pending commercialization. Foresight’s plan is to extend and broaden the company’s contacts with various manufacturers as commercialization of the system heats up, getting out ahead of the curve and securing as much global footprint as possible for this potentially life-saving technology.

Foresight also successfully executed a system demonstration project in August (http://ibn.fm/1hc8g) with Swedish electric vehicle (EV) startup Uniti (http://ibn.fm/PTrY4), which is developing an EV that is optimized for agility and overall performance in an urban setting. This open road test of the company’s ADAS has set the stage for a definitive agreement that will see Foresight’s multispectral all-weather condition system incorporated into Uniti’s EVs as the primary ADAS, a move which will lead to the system becoming the backbone of Uniti’s forthcoming fully autonomous EVs.

It is well worth investor’s time to make particular note here that the field-proven security technology of major shareholder Magna B.S.P, from which Foresight’s proprietary stereoscopic technology is derived, has been deployed globally for almost two decades now, and that the IP is backed up by several patents.

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