Detecting Deepfake Voice is Now Crucial to Security

Image Credit: Kenya Allmond (Flickr)

Deepfake Audio Has a Tell – Researchers Use Fluid Dynamics to Spot Artificial Imposter Voices

Imagine the following scenario. A phone rings. An office worker answers it and hears his boss, in a panic, tell him that she forgot to transfer money to the new contractor before she left for the day and needs him to do it. She gives him the wire transfer information, and with the money transferred, the crisis has been averted.

The worker sits back in his chair, takes a deep breath, and watches as his boss walks in the door. The voice on the other end of the call was not his boss. In fact, it wasn’t even a human. The voice he heard was that of an audio deepfake, a machine-generated audio sample designed to sound exactly like his boss.

Attacks like this using recorded audio have already occurred, and conversational audio deepfakes might not be far off.

Deepfakes, both audio and video, have been possible only with the development of sophisticated machine learning technologies in recent years. Deepfakes have brought with them a new level of uncertainty around digital media. To detect deepfakes, many researchers have turned to analyzing visual artifacts – minute glitches and inconsistencies – found in video deepfakes.

Audio deepfakes potentially pose an even greater threat, because people often communicate verbally without video – for example, via phone calls, radio and voice recordings. These voice-only communications greatly expand the possibilities for attackers to use deepfakes.

To detect audio deepfakes, we and our research colleagues at the University of Florida have developed a technique that measures the acoustic and fluid dynamic differences between voice samples created organically by human speakers and those generated synthetically by computers.

Organic vs. Synthetic voices

Humans vocalize by forcing air over the various structures of the vocal tract, including vocal folds, tongue and lips. By rearranging these structures, you alter the acoustical properties of your vocal tract, allowing you to create over 200 distinct sounds, or phonemes. However, human anatomy fundamentally limits the acoustic behavior of these different phonemes, resulting in a relatively small range of correct sounds for each.

In contrast, audio deepfakes are created by first allowing a computer to listen to audio recordings of a targeted victim speaker. Depending on the exact techniques used, the computer might need to listen to as little as 10 to 20 seconds of audio. This audio is used to extract key information about the unique aspects of the victim’s voice.

The attacker selects a phrase for the deepfake to speak and then, using a modified text-to-speech algorithm, generates an audio sample that sounds like the victim saying the selected phrase. This process of creating a single deepfaked audio sample can be accomplished in a matter of seconds, potentially allowing attackers enough flexibility to use the deepfake voice in a conversation.

This article was republished  with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of Logan Blue, PhD student in Computer & Information Science & Engineering, University of Florida and Patrick Traynor, Professor of Computer and Information Science and Engineering, University of Florida.

Detecting Audio Deepfakes

The first step in differentiating speech produced by humans from speech generated by deepfakes is understanding how to acoustically model the vocal tract. Luckily scientists have techniques to estimate what someone – or some being such as a dinosaur – would sound like based on anatomical measurements of its vocal tract.

We did the reverse. By inverting many of these same techniques, we were able to extract an approximation of a speaker’s vocal tract during a segment of speech. This allowed us to effectively peer into the anatomy of the speaker who created the audio sample.

Deepfaked audio often results in vocal tract reconstructions that resemble drinking straws rather than biological vocal tracts. Logan Blue (The Conversation)

From here, we hypothesized that deepfake audio samples would fail to be constrained by the same anatomical limitations humans have. In other words, the analysis of deepfaked audio samples simulated vocal tract shapes that do not exist in people.

Our testing results not only confirmed our hypothesis but revealed something interesting. When extracting vocal tract estimations from deepfake audio, we found that the estimations were often comically incorrect. For instance, it was common for deepfake audio to result in vocal tracts with the same relative diameter and consistency as a drinking straw, in contrast to human vocal tracts, which are much wider and more variable in shape.

This realization demonstrates that deepfake audio, even when convincing to human listeners, is far from indistinguishable from human-generated speech. By estimating the anatomy responsible for creating the observed speech, it’s possible to identify the whether the audio was generated by a person or a computer.

Why this matters

Today’s world is defined by the digital exchange of media and information. Everything from news to entertainment to conversations with loved ones typically happens via digital exchanges. Even in their infancy, deepfake video and audio undermine the confidence people have in these exchanges, effectively limiting their usefulness.

If the digital world is to remain a critical resource for information in people’s lives, effective and secure techniques for determining the source of an audio sample are crucial.

Digerati Technologies (DTGI) – Our View Of The Proposed Transaction


Monday, September 19, 2022

Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) is a provider of cloud services specializing in UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions for the business market. Through its operating subsidiaries, T3 Communications (T3com.com), Nexogy (Nexogy.com), SkyNet Telecom (Skynettelecom.net) and NextLevel Internet (nextlevelinternet.com), the Company is meeting the global needs of small businesses seeking simple, flexible, reliable, and cost effective communication and network solutions including cloud PBX, cloud telephony, cloud WAN, cloud call center, cloud mobile, and the delivery of digital oxygen on its broadband network.

Michael Kupinski, Director of Research, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Patrick McCann, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

A vehicle for up-listing. The company announced its plans to enter a business combination with Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc. (MEOA), a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC). The transaction, which will result in an up-list to the NASDAQ, should allow the company easier access to the capital markets going forward and potentially accelerate its roll-up strategy.

Transaction details. The SPAC holds $128 million cash in trust. However, there will be SPAC shareholder redemptions prior to the deal closing. We conservatively assume 95% redemption, which would result in proceeds of an estimated $6.4 million in cash. At that redemption rate, Digerati shareholders and warrant holders will retain a 73% equity stake, with 21% going to sponsor shares and 6% going to SPAC shareholders.


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This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

How New Technology Reduces Inflation Data

Image Credit: Kanesue (Flickr)

Why Apple Can Hold the Line on iPhone Prices and Keep Getting Relatively Cheaper

Inflation in the U.S. is surging to near a 40-year high, with prices on food, fuel and pretty much everything seeming to rise more every month.

Smartphones may be an exception.

Apple, for example, recently announced its new versions of the iPhone and other gadgets, and turned a lot of heads when it said it wouldn’t charge more despite higher costs to make the devices.

This is puzzling because companies typically raise prices in line with inflation – or at least enough to cover the increased costs of making their products.

Consumer price data tells an even more befuddling story. The latest consumer price index data suggests smartphone prices are actually down 20.4% in August from a year ago, according to an index released on Sept. 13, 2022. That’s the biggest drop of any detailed expenditure item the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks, and contrasts with the overall 8.3% increase in prices.

What’s going on?

As an economist teaching business school students, I enjoy exploring and explaining these economic puzzles. I believe there are two basic explanations – one for the data and another for Apple.

Why Consumer Prices on Smartphones Fell

The story behind the consumer price index data is easier to explain, if a bit technical.

The 20% drop over the past year isn’t unusual for smartphones. In fact, according to the index, they almost always go down from month to month. Since the end of 2019, smartphone prices have come down a whopping 40%.

And though smartphones are showing the biggest drop in the index, tech gear more broadly – from computers to smartwatches – also tend to fall over time. In the previous 12 months, televisions are down 19% and what the government calls information technology commodities are down 8.8%.

Part of the reason for their steady decline is found buried in the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. The consumer price index tries to measure a constant quality of goods and services in the economy. This means it seeks to track the price changes of the exact same set of goods and services each month. It’s comparing the price today with the price of the exact same thing a month or year ago.

For most goods, it’s not really an issue because their quality doesn’t change much over relatively small periods of time. For example, an apple you bite into today is pretty much the same as an apple you ate a year ago.

Smartphones and other technology-heavy gadgets are different. Because smartphones are constantly improving in quality – with the latest updates of an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy awaited breathlessly every year – it is more difficult to ensure you’re comparing prices of products of the exact same quality.

For rapidly improving items, the Bureau of Labor Statistics uses what are called “hedonic regression models” to estimate these changes in quality over time. Hedonic models measure the same amount of satisfaction. While this sounds complicated, the goal is simple: to figure out how much each new smartphone feature changes the price.

As a consumer, you are essentially doing this whenever you decide whether it is worth paying the extra money for that marginally better camera or extended battery life when buying a new phone.

And so, the 20.4% drop doesn’t mean you’re going to pay less for a new smartphone. But it does suggest you’re getting 20% more bang for your buck versus the same phone a year earlier. Whether it’s worth it is another question.

Why Apple Kept Prices Flat

That brings us to why Apple didn’t change its prices, even as the quality of the iPhone improved and supply chain costs went up.

Beyond the quality issues, one of the main ways supply chain problems are affecting phones is in the shortage of computer chips. If there is any product dependent on computer chips, it is smartphones. The shortage has resulted in delays to produce cars, trucks and many other consumer items.

The shortage has also increased the price of semiconductor parts. The U.S. government’s producer price index shows the price of semiconductor parts like chips and wafers steadily rising since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, after falling for years. Chip prices are likely going up 20% in the next year.

For these and other reasons, analysts were expecting Apple to increase its prices.

Instead, Apple released its latest iPhone models at the same prices as the last two models, or US$799 for the iPhone 14 and $999 for the pro version. Keeping prices constant during inflationary times means iPhones are getting relatively cheaper.

So why isn’t Apple increasing prices? Is it just being kind to its customers, who have fueled tremendous profits for the company over the past decade?

Probably not.

With a gross profit margin of over 40% – meaning that’s how much it makes over the cost of producing all its products and services – Apple can probably afford to absorb increased chip and other component costs.

My best guess, since the smartphone market is fairly competitive, is that Apple is keeping prices the same to build market share in the U.S. – beyond the record 50% it recently hit – so the iPhone remains one of the best-selling smartphones.

So while the cost of almost everything we buy is rising, you can take some comfort in knowing at least one item is getting both better over time and not succumbing to an inflationary price spiral.

This article was republished with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of Jay L. Zagorsky, Clinical associate professor, Boston University.

Proof-of-Stake Vs. Proof-of-Work

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What is Proof-of-Stake? A Computer Scientist Explains a New Way to Make Cryptocurrencies, NFTs and Metaverse Transactions

Proof-of-stake is a mechanism for achieving consensus on a blockchain. Blockchain is a technology that records transactions that can’t be deleted or altered. It’s a decentralized database, or ledger, that is under no one person or organization’s control. Since no one controls the database, consensus mechanisms, such as proof-of-stake, are needed to coordinate the operation of blockchain-based systems.

While Bitcoin popularized the technology, blockchain is now a part of many different systems, enabling interesting applications such as decentralized finance platforms and non-fungible tokens, or NFTs.

The first widely commercialized blockchain consensus mechanism was proof-of-work, which enables users to reach consensus by solving complex mathematical problems. For solving these problems, users are commonly provided stake in the system. This process, dubbed mining, requires large amounts of computing power. Proof-of-stake is an alternative that consumes far less energy.

At its core, blockchain technology provides three important properties:

Decentralized governance and operation – the people using the system get to collectively decide how to govern and operate the system.

Verifiable state – anyone using the system can validate the correctness of the system, with each user being able to ensure that the system is currently working as expected and has been since its inception.

Resilience to data loss – even if some users lose their copy of system data, whether through negligence or cyberattack, that data can be recovered from other users in a verifiable manner.

The first property, decentralized governance and operation, is the property that controls how much energy is needed to run a blockchain system.

Voting in Blockchain Systems

Blockchain systems use voting to decentralize governance and operation. While the exact mechanisms for how voting and consensus are achieved differ in each blockchain system, at a high level, blockchain systems allow each user to vote on how the system should work, and whether any given operation – accepting a new block into the chain, for example – should be approved.

Traditionally, voting requires that the identity of the people casting ballots can be known and verified to ensure that only eligible people vote and do so only once. Some blockchain systems allow users to present a digital ID to prove their identity, enabling voting with negligible energy usage.

However, in most blockchain systems, users are anonymous and have no digital ID that can prove their identity. What, then, stops an individual from pretending to be many individuals and casting many votes? There are several different approaches, but the most used is proof-of-work.

In proof-of-work, users get votes based on the amount of computational power they have in proportion to other users. They demonstrate their ownership of this computational power by solving difficult mathematical problems. If one user can solve twice as many problems as another user, they have twice the computational power as other users and get twice as many votes.

However, solving these mathematical problems is extremely energy intensive, leading to complaints that proof-of-work is not sustainable.

Proof-of-Stake

To address the energy consumption of proof-of-work, another way to validate users is needed. Proof-of-stake is one such method. In proof-of-stake, users validate their identities by demonstrating ownership of some asset on the blockchain. For example, in Bitcoin, this would be ownership of bitcoins, and in Ethereum, it is ownership of Ether.

Though this does require users to temporarily lock their assets in the blockchain for a period of time, it is far more efficient because it requires negligible energy expenditure. By the company’s estimation, moving from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake will reduce Ethereum’s energy consumption by 99.95%.

Ethereum’s ‘Merge’

This improved energy efficiency is why many blockchain systems intend to transition away from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake. Ethereum plans to make this change during the week of Sept. 15, 2022. This is known as the Merge. During this merge, operations will shift from being voted on using proof-of-work to being voted on using proof-of-stake. At the completion of the merge, only proof-of-stake will be used to vote on transactions.

The hope is that this will set up Ethereum to be sustainable for the foreseeable future.

This article was republished  with permission from  The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of Scott Ruoti, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, University of Tennessee

Planned Changes for a Greener Blockchain Leaves Uncertainties

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The Ethereum Merge Could Kick Off a Transformation in Crypto’s Battered Reputation

Cryptocurrencies might still be a very long way from their highs of 2021, but some of the major ones have staged some decent recoveries in the past couple of months. Notably ether (ETH), the second largest cryptocurrency after bitcoin, is trading at almost $US1,700 (£1,463) at the time of writing, having dropped as low as $US876 in mid-June.

Ether, which was created by Canadian/Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin, is the cryptocurrency used for transactions on Ethereum, the leading platform on which developers can applications using blockchain technology.

Blockchains are online ledgers that run without been controlled by any single company. Much of these applications revolve around smart contracts, which are automated contracts that remove the need for intermediaries such as lawyers and are seen as having huge potential for the future.

Ether Price ($US)

Source: Trading View

One of the main catalysts for ether’s rebound has been the Ethereum merge, a huge project to change the way the underlying blockchain operates. Where transactions on Ethereum are currently validated using an energy-intensive system known as proof-of-work (PoW), in which lots of very powerful computers compete to solve complex mathematical puzzles, from around September 15 it will shift to a new system known as proof of stake (PoS).

PoS basically means that transactions on the blockchain will be validated not by all these computations but by a network of investors whose commitment is demonstrated by the fact that they own at least 32 ether (yours for about $US54,000).

The idea is that this gives them an economic incentive to enhance the security of the network, and are therefore very unlikely to try and sabotage it. Whereas bitcoin transactions all depend on PoW, lots of newer cryptocurrencies use PoS, including Ethereum rivals such as Solana and Cardano.

Going Green

When the Ethereum merge takes place, power consumption on the blockchain will be reduced by 99%. Since it is currently the most used blockchain in terms of transactions, this will save a huge amount of electricity each year, corresponding to Chile’s power consumption.

As a result of the merge, some analysts expect ether to overtake bitcoin as the leading crypto in terms of the total value of all the coins (in crypto circles this is referred to as the “flippening”). Ether is currently worth just over US$204 billion, while bitcoin is worth US$396 billion.

Bitcoin vs Ether

Bitcoin = yellow, Ether = blue. Trading View

Until now, cryptocurrencies and bitcoin in particular have suffered from a bad reputation. Bitcoin was initially conceived with the egalitarian goal of allowing investors access to a financial system with no need for banks and with money that isn’t controlled by countries. It has been championed for its ability to enable billions of people without bank accounts to transact online, and to facilitate things like microfinance and ultra-cheap cross-border trading.

Yet bitcoin has come to be associated with environmental degradation and criminal activities. The mainstream media has endlessly linked the leading cryptocurrency – and by extension the whole space – with money laundering, online drug dealing, Ponzi schemes and exchange hacking.

Netflix documentaries have further reinforced this negative public image. Recent scandals in the crypto world, such as the fall of Ethereum rival Luna and the bankruptcy of Celsius and other crypto lenders, have not helped either.

One major consequence has been that major financial institutions like investment banks and pension funds have been cautious of ploughing money into this space, despite the leap forward in technology that blockchains represent.

But if the most widely adopted crypto platform successfully shifts to PoW in the coming days, many believe that this will overcome the biggest institutional objection and see much more money flowing into the space (there are already early signs, such as Fidelity’s new crypto fund for retail investors). This is likely to accelerate the global regulatory framework that would minimise undesirable activities.

By closing down the environmental objections to crypto, other advantages to ether are likely to come to the fore. The merge will offer a return to investors in the form of rewards in exchange for locking up their money for a period of time (“staking”).

Although you need to stake 32 ether to become one of the network’s validators, numerous companies have set up systems to enable smaller investors to pool their money so that they can participate. For example, Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, offers investors 6% annual percentage yield for pooled staking on ether.

Staking will therefore create a win-win situation with guaranteed returns and a very liquid system that makes it easy for people to move their money in and out of ether. This will further enhance the appeal of ether and PoS cryptos in general.

This could help to accentuate other positives around crypto, another of which is humanitarian donations. When Russia invaded Ukraine, for instance, the Ukrainian government called for donations in bitcoin and ether to support its efforts against invaders. This quickly attracted substantial amounts of money.

Tonga was similarly successful with a campaign after its volcanic eruption earlier this year. By being able to cross borders easily and cheaply, cryptocurrencies are the ideal vehicle for international donations.

Lingering Uncertainties

All that said, it is uncertain how the Ethereum blockchain will function after the merge in terms of transaction speeds and costs. One major problem with Ethereum in the past has been that transactions have been ludicrously expensive, sometimes running to thousands of US dollars at peak times in 2021.

The developers of the Ethereum Foundation do not expect the merge to make a big difference in these respects (currently “gas” fees are averaging between $US1 and $US4 per transaction depending on which platform you are using). Much more important is likely to be another shift in ethereum’s journey to “Ethereum 2.0” known as sharding, which is due to happen in 2023.

We will also have to wait and see how smooth the merge is. Synchronisation and update bugs could see problems such as validators disconnected from the blockchain. Negative stories like these could see investors staying away for fear of instability. But on the whole, while the merge will not be a miraculous event, it could help improve the image of cryptocurrencies and attract institutional and retail investors. At a time when sustainable investing is increasingly high priority, the ether merge and its attractive returns have the potential to put ether at the top of the list.

This article was republished  with permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the research-based findings and thoughts of Jean-Philippe Serbera, Senior Lecturer in Banking And Financial Markets, Sheffield Hallam University.

Release – Digerati Technologies to List on NASDAQ via Business Combination with Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc.

Research, News, and Market Data on DTGI

Transaction Results in $105 Million Enterprise Valuation for Digerati Technologies

SAN ANTONIO, TX (GlobeNewswire) – September 6, 2022 – Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) (“Digerati” or the “Company”), a provider of cloud services specializing in UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions for the small to medium-sized business (“SMB”) market, is pleased to announce its signing of a definitive business combination agreement with Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc. (NASDAQ: MEOA) (“MEOA”), which is the first Minority led special purpose acquisition company to list on NASDAQ with the mission of executing a business combination with a minority owned, led or founded business.

Highlights of the transaction include:

  • Transaction to result in Digerati becoming a listed company on NASDAQ and delisting from OTC Market.
  • Combined company to have an initial equity value of approximately $228 million translating into an enterprise value of approximately $145 million, assuming no redemptions by MEOA stockholders.
  • MEOA currently has approximately $129.9 million cash in trust as of September 2, 2022. 
  • New capital and being a NASDAQ listed company is expected to provide Digerati with flexibility for additional strategic and accretive acquisitions in the UCaaS sector.
  • The current Digerati management team will continue to operate the business.
  • The current Digerati Board of Directors will remain with one additional director to be appointed by the Company and Shawn D. Rochester, CEO of MEOA, joining the Company’s Board of Directors at the closing of the transaction.
  • All existing Digerati shareholders will receive 100% of their equity in the pro forma company.

Arthur L. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Digerati, stated, “This business combination that results in a NASDAQ listing for our Company positions us for continued growth in a rapidly expanding and highly-fragmented market. We believe being a NASDAQ listed company, along with our financial partnership with Post Road Group, will facilitate acceleration of our M&A strategy in a market with a healthy pipeline of acquisition candidates. This transaction will also contribute to organic growth as we continue providing small to medium-sized businesses with robust solutions and superior customer service tailored for this market segment. We believe this is an ideal transaction for current Digerati shareholders since it avoids a reverse stock split that is customary under a re-IPO event associated with an uplist to NASDAQ or NYSE.”

Shawn Rochester, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MEOA, said, “Digerati is well-positioned as an emerging provider of UCaaS solutions to the small and medium-sized business market. The proposed merger with MEOA capitalizes Digerati and, with improved access to capital, enables the Company to continue with its organic growth and acquisition strategy. The Digerati team has demonstrated operational and M&A expertise over the past few years and this transaction will better equip them to continue on their acquisitive path of increasing shareholder value. This proposed merger is also consistent with MEOA’s mission, vision and purpose because (1) in addition to its operational and M&A expertise, Digerati is a minority founded and led business with a very diverse management team (with its CEO, CFO and EVP being of Hispanic ethnicity) and an employee base that is almost 50% minority, (2) it also provides access to capital at scale to help unleash transformative growth for a minority led and founded business that has assembled a great management team, developed great products and solutions, and staked out a strong competitive position in the marketplace, and (3) Digerati’s UCaaS platform has the ability to help empower to over 20 million small businesses in America that are run by minorities and women through its first-class suite of communication products.”

Transaction Overview

The combined company is expected to have a total pro forma equity value of approximately $228 million translating into an enterprise value of approximately $145 million, with the proposed business combination to provide access to capital of up to approximately $121 million from the cash held in trust by MEOA, assuming no redemptions from MEOA stockholders. All references to available cash from the trust account and retained transaction proceeds are subject to any redemptions by the public stockholders of MEOA and payment of transaction fees and expenses. As part of the transaction, all Digerati shares owned by Digerati’s existing equity holders will be converted to common stock of the pro forma company.

The transaction, which has been approved by the Boards of Directors of both of Digerati and MEOA, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of CY 2022. The transaction remains subject to NASDAQ approving MEOA’s initial listing application in connection with the merger, approval by both MEOA and Digerati shareholders, as well as other customary closing conditions.

Additional information about the proposed transaction, including a copy of the business combination agreement, will be provided in a Current Report on Form 8-K to be filed by both Digerati and MEOA with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”).

Advisors

Maxim Group LLC acted as financial advisor and Lucosky Brookman LLP acted as legal counsel to Digerati in connection with the transaction. PGP Capital Advisors, LLC and Vaughan Capital Advisors, LLC acted as financial advisors to MEOA, and Pryor Cashman LLP acted as legal counsel for MEOA.

About Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc.

Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc. is a blank check company, also commonly referred to as a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, organized under the laws of the Delaware and formed for the purpose of effecting a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, share purchase, reorganization or similar business combination with companies that are minority owned, led or founded.

About Digerati Technologies, Inc.

Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) is a provider of cloud services specializing in UCaaS (Unified Communications as a Service) solutions for the business market. Through its operating subsidiaries NextLevel Internet (NextLevelinternet.com), T3 Communications (T3com.com), Nexogy (Nexogy.com), and SkyNet Telecom (Skynettelecom.net), the Company is meeting the global needs of small businesses seeking simple, flexible, reliable, and cost-effective communication and network solutions including, cloud PBX, cloud telephony, cloud WAN, cloud call center, cloud mobile, and the delivery of digital oxygen on its broadband network. The Company has developed a robust integration platform to fuel mergers and acquisitions in a highly fragmented market as it delivers business solutions on its carrier-grade network and Only in the Cloud™. For more information, please visit www.digerati-inc.com and follow DTGI on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.

INVESTMENT IN ANY SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE SEC OR ANY OTHER REGULATORY AUTHORITY NOR HAS ANY AUTHORITY PASSED UPON OR ENDORSED THE MERITS OF THE OFFERING OR THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

No Offer or Solicitation

This communication does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, or a solicitation of any vote or approval, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

Important Information and Where to Find It

This press release is being made in respect of the proposed business combination transaction involving MEOA and Digerati. The parties intend to file a registration statement on Form S-4 (or such other form as they might determine to be applicable) with the SEC, which will include a proxy statement for MEOA and Digerati shareholders and which will also serve as a prospectus related to offers and sales of the securities of the combined entity. MEOA will also file other documents regarding the proposed transaction with the SEC. A definitive proxy statement/prospectus will also be sent to the stockholders of MEOA and Digerati, seeking required stockholder approval. Before making any voting or investment decision, investors and security holders of MEOA and Digerati are urged to carefully read the entire registration statement and proxy statement/prospectus, when they become available, and any other relevant documents filed with the SEC, as well as any amendments or supplements to these documents, because they will contain important information about the proposed transaction. The documents filed with the SEC may be obtained free of charge at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov

In addition, the documents filed with the SEC may be obtained free of charge from MEOA’s website at https://www.meoaus.com and from Digerati’s website at https://digerati-inc.com.

Participants in the Solicitation

MEOA, Digerati and certain of their respective Directors and Executive Officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from stockholders, in favor of the approval of the merger. Information regarding MEOA’s and Digerati’s Directors and Executive Officers and other persons who may be deemed participants in the solicitation may be obtained by reading the registration statement and the proxy statement/prospectus and other relevant documents filed with the SEC when they become available. Free copies of these documents may be obtained as described above.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes certain statements that are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the applicable securities laws. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “believe,” “may,” “will,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “expect,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “future,” “outlook,” and similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. 

These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the terms and conditions of the proposed business combination and related transactions disclosed herein, the timing of the consummation of such transactions, assumptions regarding shareholder redemptions and the anticipated benefits and financial position of the parties resulting therefrom. These statements are based on various assumptions and/or on the current expectations of MEOA or Digerati’s management. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as and must not be relied on by any investor or other person as, a guarantee, an assurance, a prediction or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Actual events and circumstances are difficult or impossible to predict and will differ from assumptions. Many actual events and circumstances are beyond the control of MEOA and/or Digerati. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to general economic, financial, legal, political and business conditions and changes in domestic and foreign markets; the amount of redemption requests made by MEOA’s public shareholders; NASDAQ’s approval of MEOA’s initial listing application; changes in the assumptions underlying Digerati’s expectations regarding its future business; the effects of competition on Digerati’s future business; and the outcome of judicial proceedings to which Digerati is, or may become a party.

If the risks materialize or assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. There may be additional risks that Digerati and MEOA presently do not know or currently believe are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements reflect expectations, assumptions, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this press release. Digerati and MEOA anticipate that subsequent events and developments will cause these assessments to change. However, while Digerati and/or MEOA may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, each of Digerati and MEOA specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by applicable law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Digerati’s or MEOA (or their respective affiliates’) assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this press release. Accordingly, undue reliance should not be placed upon the forward-looking statements.

Facebook: Digerati Technologies, Inc.

Twitter: @DIGERATI_IR

LinkedIn: Digerati Technologies, Inc.

Investors

ClearThink

Brian Loper

bloper@clearthink.capital

(347) 413-4234 

Information Services Group Inc. (III) – 10b5-1 Plan for CEO Connors

Tuesday, September 6, 2022

Information Services Group – 0b5-1 Plan for CEO Connors

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

10b5-1 Plan. On August 31, 2022, Michael P. Connors, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Information Services Group, Inc. entered into a written stock selling plan in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, to sell a limited number of shares of the Company’s common stock. Rule 10b5-1 provides guidelines for officers, directors and other insiders to prearrange sales of securities in a manner that avoids concerns about initiating stock transactions while in possession of material nonpublic information.

Details. The Plan allows for the sale of a maximum of 1,200,000 shares of the Company’s common stock, commencing on October 3, 2022 and continuing until all such shares are sold or March 15, 2023, whichever occurs first. According to the 8-k filing, Mr. Connors is currently the Company’s second largest shareholder, beneficially owning approximately 10.9% of the Company’s total outstanding common stock as of August 31, 2022. A Form 4 filed August 3rd, indicates Mr. Connors held nearly 5.7 million III shares.

Get the Full Report

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Higher Education Among First to Embrace the Metaverse


Image Credit: Lilith Von Hexem (Flickr)


Six Benefits that the Metaverse Offers to Colleges and Universities

Even though it’s unclear what exactly the metaverse is and whether it even exists, colleges and universities have jumped onto the metaverse bandwagon. They have augmented in-person and remote video learning with features such as gamified interactive virtual worlds, virtual reality and mixed reality.

In one of the largest efforts thus far, 10 U.S. colleges and universities have teamed up with U.S. technology company Meta and Irish virtual reality platform Engage to create 3D digital versions of their campuses, known as a metaversity. Students will engage in learning wearing immersive virtual reality headsets.

This article was republished  with
permission from   The Conversation, a
news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It represents the
research-based findings and thoughts of  Nir Kshetri,
Professor of Management, University of North Carolina – Greensboro.

In my recent research, I have examined the metaverse and how it affects organizations and societies. I see six benefits that the metaverse offers to colleges.

 

1. Makes educational resources affordable

Colleges are facing budget constraints and lack access to resources necessary for learning. The metaverse can help them overcome such constraints.

For example, Nashville, Tennessee-based Fisk University hasn’t purchased cadavers due to high costs and maintenance challenges. The university is enhancing its pre-med program with virtual reality cadavers, which are a more affordable alternative.

In the virtual reality lab, a human heart can be pulled out from a cadaver’s chest cavity. It creates the sense that students can feel the weight of the heart in their hands and examine it. They can enlarge it. The class sees and touches the ventricle walls. Students can compare different hearts to understand the results of health decisions that humans made when they were alive. They engage in discussion and agree on the correct diagnosis.


Fisk University is using virtual cadavers for its pre-med program. Fisk University

Virtual cadavers don’t degrade and are easy to maintain. Additional features, such as surgical procedures and comparative learning between humans and animals, can be added over time.

 

2. Enhances student performance

Virtual training provides an effective means of visually demonstrating concepts with step-by-step instructions to illustrate tasks. They provide opportunities for learning by doing. Immersion in games can increase  engagement in learning activities.

Atlanta’s Morehouse College has piloted a metaversity that involves courses in world history, biology and chemistry. The college found that virtual reality classes increased student satisfaction, engagement and achievement compared to traditional and online formats and increased students’ academic performance. For instance, the virtual reality world history class had a 10% increase in students’ GPAs compared with the same class taught via Zoom and face-to-face the year before.

 

3. Makes virtual interactions more like real ones

The internet performs well for sending emails, spreadsheets and PDFs from one device to another to be reviewed or modified independently and asynchronously. It wasn’t built for person-to-person type live and interactive experiences, especially with many participants. Likewise, virtual spaces such as Zoom mostly allow a single conversation. In physical events, participants can move fluidly from one conversation to another.

Some universities are using metaverse technologies to overcome limitations of the internet and video meeting tools. Metaverse-related technologies bridge the gap between real-life and virtual interactions by allowing people to interact more naturally.

Professors and students at the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania use virtual meeting space Gather, which mimics features of real-life interactions. Users create avatars and navigate a virtual map that represents the physical environment, such as a building. The proximity chat feature make users feel that they are running into other students and professors in the hall. Users see and hear video and audio feeds of participants close to them. When they move away, the sounds cannot be heard and the video disappears. Unlike on Zoom, users aren’t forced to be in a single conversation. They can move fluidly between conversations as speakers or listeners.

The University of Pennsylvania’s computer and information science department used Gather to recreate Levine Hall, which is home to the department. The virtual building’s layout mimics classrooms, laboratories, elevators,  stairwells and other features of Levine Hall. The student-run hub of technological innovation, Weiss Tech House, has also been recreated virtually.

The Gather space accommodates 200 students and supports multiple conversations simultaneously. There are six virtual spaces that correspond the building’s six floors. Small groups can branch off into subgroups to work on tasks or engage in conversation.

 

4. Enables experimentation with hard-to-create phenomena

In some situations, learning in real-world environments, such as those involving chemical experiments and flying airplanes, is risky. In such cases, special equipment, such as virtual reality headsets, software and special gloves for haptic responses, can create immersive simulations of real environments. Learners feel as though the digital world is real.

These technologies can create scenarios that are impossible or impractical to create in the real world.

In Fisk University’s planned in-person history courses, students visit historically significant locations wearing virtual reality headsets. They include the Montgomery Bus Boycott; the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama; the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee; and the National Mall in Washington.

In chemistry classes, virtual reality allows visualization of how atoms are arranged in a protein. This insight helps pharmaceutical drug research.

 

5. Increases accessibility for remote students

Big gaps exist in higher education between rural and urban areas.

In 2015, 18% of men and 20% of women 25 and older living in rural areas of the U.S. had earned at least a bachelor’s degree compared with 32% and 33%, respectively, in urban areas.

Metaverse technologies can close this gap by making educational resources accessible to remote students. South Dakota State University expects that its metaversity will help reach the state’s rural students.


6. Attracts a young demographic

Children and young adults are the dominant populations in well-known metaverses, which are in the gaming sector.

About half of Roblox players are under 13 and 66% are under 16. Likewise, two-thirds of Fortnite’s players in 2021 were young adults. Compared with older generations, this demographic is more experience-driven and sees interesting and exciting learning opportunities in the metaverse.

Universities are using the metaverse to attract them. Southwestern Oregon Community College’s leaders think that its metaversity will increase enrollment. This is because higher proportions of younger generations, such as Generation Z, grew up with virtual reality technologies.

Younger generations show a higher level of interest and involvement in the metaverse. In a survey conducted in the U.S. in March 2022, 64% of Gen Z respondents were interested in having a digital avatar and 56% were interested in attending a music event in the metaverse. The proportions were 28% and 25% for baby boomers.

Unique experience provided by metaverse technologies, such as virtual reality, is thus appealing to younger generations and can become a key tool to attract them to universities.


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MustGrow Biologics Corp. (MGROF) – Reports 2Q22 Operating Results

Monday, August 29, 2022

MustGrow Biologics Corp. (MGROF)
Reports 2Q22 Operating Results

Joe Gomes, Senior Research Analyst, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Joshua Zoepfel, Research Associate, Noble Capital Markets, Inc.

Refer to the full report for the price target, fundamental analysis, and rating.

2Q22 Results. MustGrow reported a net loss of $1.4 million, or a loss of $0.03 per share, for the second quarter of 2022. We had estimated a loss of $905,000, or a loss of $0.02 per share. Still in the pre-revenue stage, MustGrow reported negligible revenue of $3,721 versus our estimate of zero.

Delta. The key line items that differed versus our projections were Professional fees, which came in at $377,824 compared to our estimate of $50,000, and Patent expenses, which came in at $134,339, versus our projection of $50,000. We anticipate continued volatility in the expense levels as MustGrow moves toward regulatory approval and revenue generation.

This Company Sponsored Research is provided by Noble Capital Markets, Inc., a FINRA and S.E.C. registered broker-dealer (B/D).

*Analyst certification and important disclosures included in the full report. NOTE: investment decisions should not be based upon the content of this research summary. Proper due diligence is required before making any investment decision. 

Giving US Citizens Data Privacy Protections


Image Credit: Anna Alexes (Flickr)


A New US Data Privacy Bill Aims to Give You More Control Over Information Collected About You

A new US data privacy bill aims to give you more control over information collected about you – and make businesses change how they handle data

Data privacy in the U.S. is, in many ways, a legal void. While there are limited protections for health and financial data, the cradle of the world’s largest tech companies, like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Meta (Facebook), lacks any comprehensive federal data privacy law. This leaves U.S. citizens with minimal data privacy protections compared with citizens of other nations. But that may be about to change.

With rare bipartisan support, the American Data and Privacy Protection Act moved out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce by a vote of 53-2 on July 20, 2022. The bill still needs to pass the full House and the Senate, and negotiations are ongoing. Given the Biden administration’s responsible data practices strategy, White House support is likely if a version of the bill passes.

This article was republished with
permission from The Conversation, a news site dedicated to sharing ideas from
academic experts. It was written by and represents the research-based opinions
of Anne Toomey McKenna, Visiting Professor of Law, University of Richmond.

As a legal scholar and attorney who studies and practices technology and data privacy law, I’ve been closely following the act, known as ADPPA. If passed, it will fundamentally alter U.S. data privacy law.

ADPPA fills the data privacy void, builds in federal preemption over some state data privacy laws, allows individuals to file suit over violations and substantially changes data privacy law enforcement. Like all big changes, ADPPA is getting mixed reviews from media, scholars and businesses. But many see the bill as a triumph for U.S. data privacy that provides a needed national standard for data practices.

 

Who and What will ADPPA Regulate?

ADPPA would apply to “covered” entities, meaning any entity collecting, processing or transferring covered data, including nonprofits and sole proprietors. It also regulates cellphone and internet providers and other common carriers, with potentially concerning changes to federal communications regulation. It does not apply to government entities.

ADPPA defines “covered” data as any information or device that identifies or can be reasonably linked to a person. It also protects biometric data, genetic data and geolocation information.


Protected data includes your location – Southernmost House, Key West (C. Watts, Flickr)

The bill excludes three big data categories: de-identified data, employee data, and publicly available information. That last category includes social media accounts with privacy settings open to public viewing. While research has repeatedly shown deidentified data can be easily reidentified, the ADPPA attempts to address that by requiring covered entities to take “reasonable technical, administrative, and physical measures to ensure that the information cannot, at any point, be used to re-identify any individual or device.”

 

How ADPPA Protects Your Data

The act would require data collection to be as minimal as possible. The bill allows covered entities to collect, use or share an individual’s data only when reasonably necessary and proportionate to a product or service the person requests or to respond to a communication the person initiates. It allows collection for authentication, security incidents, prevention of illegal activities or serious harm to persons, and compliance with legal obligations.

People would gain rights to access and have some control over their data. ADPPA gives users the right to correct inaccuracies and potentially delete their data held by covered entities.

The bill permits data collection as part of research for public good. It allows data collection for peer-reviewed research or research done in the public interest – for example, testing whether a website is unlawfully discriminating. This is important for researchers who might otherwise run afoul of site terms or hacking laws.

The ADPPA also has a provision that tackles the service-conditioned-on-consent problem – those annoying “I Agree” boxes that force people to accept a jumble of legal terms. When you click one of those boxes, you contractually waive your privacy rights as a condition to simply use a service, visit a website or buy a product. The bill will prevent covered entities from using contract law to get around the bill’s protections.


Looking to Federal Electronic Surveillance Law for Guidance

The U.S.’s Electronic Communications Privacy Act can provide federal law makers guidance in finalizing ADPPA. Like the ADPPA, the 1986 ECPA legislation involved a massive overhaul of U.S. electronic privacy law to address adverse effects to individual privacy and civil liberties posed by advancing surveillance and communication technologies. Once again, advances in surveillance and data technologies, such as artificial intelligence, are significantly affecting citizens’ rights.

ECPA, still in effect today, provides a baseline national standard for electronic surveillance protections. ECPA protects communications from interception unless one party to the communication consents. But ECPA does not preempt states from passing more protective laws, so states can choose to provide greater privacy rights. The end result: Roughly a quarter of U.S. states require consent of all parties to intercept a communication, thus providing their citizens increased privacy rights.

ECPA’s federal/state balance has worked for decades now, and ECPA has not overwhelmed the courts or destroyed commerce.

 

National Preemption

As drafted, ADPPA preempts some state data privacy legislation. This affects California’s Consumer Privacy Act, although it does not preempt the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act or state laws specifically regulating facial recognition technology. The preemption provisions, however, are in flux as members of the House continue to negotiate the bill.

ADPPA’s national standards provide uniform compliance requirements, serving economic efficiency; but its preemption of most state laws has some scholars concerned, and California opposes its passage.

If preemption stands, any final version of the ADPPA will be the law of the land, limiting states from more firmly protecting their citizens’ data privacy.


Private Right of Action and Enforcement

ADDPA provides for a private right of action, allowing people to sue covered entities who violate their rights under ADPPA. That gives the bill’s enforcement mechanisms a big boost, although it has significant restrictions.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the tech industry oppose a private right of action, preferring ADPPA enforcement be restricted to the Federal Trade Commission. But the FTC has far less staff and far fewer resources than U.S. trial attorneys do.

ECPA, for comparison, has a private right of action. It has not overwhelmed courts or businesses, and entities likely comply with ECPA to avoid civil litigation. Plus, courts have honed ECPA’s terms, providing clear precedent and understandable compliance guidelines.


How Big are the Changes?

The changes to U.S. data privacy law are big, but ADPPA affords much-needed security and data protections to U.S. citizens, and I believe that it is workable with tweaks.

Given how the internet works, data routinely flows across international borders, so many U.S. companies have already built compliance with other nations’ laws into their systems. This includes the E.U.’s General Data Protection Regulation – a law similar to the ADPPA. Facebook, for example, provides E.U. citizens with GDPR’s protections, but it does not give U.S. citizens those protections, because it is not required to do so.

Congress has done little with data privacy, but ADPPA is poised to change that.


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5G Helps Keep Internet Costs from Rising



Image Credit: Ted Eytan (Flickr)


Competition for Your Internet Business is Keeping Broadband Inflation at a Minimum

Wireless carriers are using the excess capacity on their fifth generation (5G) networks to compete with traditional broadband-internet providers such as cable. Meanwhile, the same cable companies are trying to gain inroads into cell service by promoting new and cheaper cellphone plans.

This competition benefits consumers experiencing high inflation rates in other products they consume by minimizing increases to their internet or cell services. Each of these services has few competitors depending on the region; the additional players, mostly large companies, are welcome by users but may depress earnings.

The consumer-price index (CPI), the most common consumer inflation measure, rose 8.5% from July 2021 to July 2022. The cost of internet service for the same period rose by only 1.7%, according to the Labor Department.


Cell Provider Gains

As 5G is rolled out into communities, cell service providers helped Verizon Communications Inc (VZ) and T-Mobile (TMUS)  sign up 2.2 million wireless-internet customers through mid-year 2022. These customers most often then ended their traditional broadband providers’ service. Often these services included add-on subscriptions that were in addition to the broadband connection and added to earnings. The mobile-phone companies’ wireless broadband signals from cell towers to personal routers are fast enough to satisfy most new customers and reduce the need for installation of cables throughout a home or business.

The impact to cable companies can be seen in their earnings. Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) lost residential customers last quarter for the very first time. Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) had its first decline in nearly a decade. The loss contributed to the cable industry’s worst quarter in years.

Also contributing to the drop, according to cable internet providers, are slower home sales and fewer people moving.

Comcast’s CEO, Brian Roberts, said he expects the pace of internet customers moving to wireless transmission to slow. This is because mobile carriers have capacity constraints that more quickly limit the number of internet users they can add. For instance, T-Mobile says its next-generation network is broad enough to cover 40 million homes and businesses.

“Demand continues to build from dissatisfied suburban cable customers to underserved customers in smaller markets and rural areas,” said T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert on an earnings conference call last month. T-Mobile said a little more than half of the 560,000 internet customers it added during the second quarter came from cable competitors.

Customer savings, on a percentage basis, can be sizeable. One example shows a customer who lowered their internet bill by moving to a 5G network from $85 to $50, which the new provider locked in for as long as they keep the service.

 

Broadband Direct Internet Provider Gains

Since before the pandemic, the large cable companies had spent years winning over customers for cellphone service who might have otherwise signed up for service with those more recognized for cell service. Comcast and Charter have gained nearly nine million mobile-phone subscribers since Comcast launched its wireless service in 2017.

Cable companies that now offer cell service aren’t using their own cell networks; they’re paying the wireless providers for access under reseller agreements. The relationships they have, help to sell the service, and it’s boosting their bottom lines – Verizon provides to Comcast and Charter, and T-Mobile sells space to Altice USA.


Ultimate Beneficiary

Internet providers, both wired and wireless, are experiencing competition in their traditional businesses. Both will bump up against capacity constraints as the level of new generation wireless being installed will have a maximum that is not large enough to continue indefinite expansion.

The consumers, for now, are the beneficiaries. For those that have rates that are locked in, they need not be concerned about inflation in their cable costs. However, rates have been known to decline.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

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Sources

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/telecommunications-industry-outlook.html

https://corporate.comcast.com/press/releases/xfinity-mobile-comcast-business-mobile-samsung-galaxy-z-flip4-galaxy-z-fold4

https://www.wsj.com/articles/wireless-carriers-want-to-be-your-home-internet-providerand-vice-versa-11661209313?mod=hp_lista_pos2

https://www.verizon.com/about/investors/quarterly-reports/2q-2022-earnings-conference-call-webcast

https://investor.t-mobile.com/events-and-presentations/news/news-details/2022/T-Mobile-5G-Swings-into-Yankee-Stadium/default.aspx

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Crypto’s Ledger Technology is Keeping Track of Stock Ownership



Image Credit: Marco Verch (Flickr)


Why Blockchain May Now be Keeping Tabs on that Stock You Just Bought

If you’re invested in stocks that clear or settle in the U.S., it’s extremely likely the Depository Trust and Clearing Corp. (DTCC) has been entrusted with keeping your assets safe. So when the DTCC announced progress on Project Ion this week, a move that introduces distributed ledger blockchain technology into trade clearing and tracking, the success or failure will impact you and perhaps the speed and accuracy of change in recorded ownership of shares. It also would be seen as a nod by a quasi-government entity to recording asset ownership using crypto.

 

About Project Ion

The Project Ion platform was developed as an alternative test settlement platform that is implemented with distributed ledger technology (DLT). It is now live, running parallel with standard DTCC settlements for DTCC members. Project Ion is currently processing an average of over 100,000 equity transactions per day and almost 160,000 transactions on peak days. While in parallel production, DTCC standard settlement systems remain the authoritative record.

The project was launched in 2020 and is testing on a small fraction of the billions of shares that change hands each day.

“Digitized assets and emerging technology like DLT are shaping and evolving the financial services landscape, and we remain committed to advancing innovative solutions that capitalize on opportunities, deliver new value and drive the industry forward,” said Murray Pozmanter, managing director and president of DTCC Clearing Agency Services.


Ramifications of Crypto Settlement

As a member of the Federal Reserve and counterparty to the major U.S. exchanges and markets, DTCC clears and settles virtually all broker-to-broker securities transactions, including registered stocks, listed corporate, muni bonds, and UIT trades in the country; the transaction volume is enormous.

The DTCC, a subsidiary of the Depository Trust Company (DTC) has always been out front adopting new technology in order to help improve speed and accuracy of trade settlements. Without the DTC we’d all still be taking physical delivery of stock certificates.

It is now looking to implement crypto-style tracking and is running live testing of a private blockchain to see whether it’s sufficient to clear and settle transactions in the $40 trillion equities market. This could also help move toward faster settlements and fewer securities lending issues.

Not to be overlooked this is a huge milestone for the blockchain technology. Traditional finance’s most trusted and relied upon center is embracing the ledger technology, the same technology that forms the foundation of bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and NFTs.   

Settling stock trades in the U.S. currently takes two days (T+2), which, when compared to the speed of cryptocurrency settlement, is like comparing travel by plane to travel on horseback. High-speed trading, done in fractions of a second, but settling in T+2 is clumsy and needs to improve. Last year brokers were forced to restrict meme stocks from trading because of a $3 billion collateral request from DTCC, which stockpiles money as a safeguard in case something bad happens during the two days while it’s processing a trade. Robinhood and others became involved in lawsuits as the restrictions had costs for their clients.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has proposed speeding up stock settlement times to something called T+0, or same day as executed. Last year, Robinhood (HOOD) CEO Vlad Tenev said that T+0 would’ve prevented volatile markets like those seen with meme-trader favorites GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC).

Project Ion is private and permissioned and has been developed with large financial firms, including BNY Mellon (BK), Charles Schwab (SCHW), Barclays (BCS), Citadel Securities, Citigroup (C) and Credit Suisse (CS). DTCC partnered with software provider R3 to launch Project Ion using R3’s Corda distributed ledger technology (DLT) software.

 

Take Away

Without DTC, which is the parent of DTCC, all public market trading on Wall Street literally stops. DTC is registered as a clearing agency with the Securities and Exchange Commission, but they are the clearing partner for all the major clearing houses. Organized as a limited purpose trust company under the New York Banking law and a member of the Federal Reserve System, they have quasi-government status. Its foray into using distributed ledger technology to clear trades shows acceptance of blockchain at the highest levels in finance and may one day make T+0 possible.

Paul Hoffman

Managing Editor, Channelchek

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Sources

https://www.dtcc.com/news/2022/august/22/project-ion

https://www.cftc.gov/sites/default/files/stellent/groups/public/@otherif/documents/ifdocs/dtccjurisdictionnar.pdf

https://www.sec.gov/rules/concept/s71502/ddirks1.htm

https://www.dtcc.com/clearing-services#:~:text=As%20the%20central%20counterparty%20for,handle%20today’s%20enormous%20trading%20volumes.


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Release – Voyager Announces Coinify Sale

 



Voyager Announces Coinify Sale

Research, News, and Market Data on Voyager Digital

 

NEW YORK, Aug. 17, 2022 /CNW/ – Voyager
Digital Ltd.
 (“Voyager” or the “Company”) (OTC Pink: VYGVQ) (FRA: UCD) today announced that European Holdings ApS, an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Voyager, agreed to sell all of its equity interests in Coinify ApS (“Coinify”) to Ascension ApS, an entity owned by certain members of Coinify management, for US$2 million in cash. An additional, conditional earn-out payment is stipulated in the event of a subsequent sale of Coinify by Ascension ApS within three years following the transaction, thus preserving potential upside for Voyager.

Coinify is a cryptocurrency platform operating in Europe, Asia and other regions, offering individual and corporate cryptocurrency trading, crypto payment processing services, and enterprise solutions via Coinify API. Coinify’s platform is separate and distinct from the Voyager platform.

Voyager purchased Coinify in August 2021; on August 16, 2022, Coinify’s sale was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is overseeing Voyager’s ongoing Chapter 11 restructuring process. The sale of Coinify reduces overall headcount by 15% and eliminates Voyager’s ongoing funding requirements for Coinify of up to US$500,000 per month.

Under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 (“MI 61-101”) the transaction is considered a related party transaction, as the purchaser is controlled by Mark Højgaard, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Hans Henrik Hoffmeyer, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, who are senior officers. The Company relied on the exemption from the minority approval and the formal valuation requirement available to it pursuant to sections 5.7(a) and 5.5(a) of MI 61-101.

About Voyager Digital Ltd.

Voyager Digital Ltd.’s (OTC Pink: VYGVQ) (FRA: UCD) US subsidiary, Voyager Digital, LLC, is a cryptocurrency platform in the United States founded in 2018 to bring choice, transparency, and cost-efficiency to the marketplace. Voyager offers a secure way to trade over 100 different crypto assets using its easy-to-use mobile application. To learn more about the company, please visit https://www.investvoyager.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Certain information in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements regarding future growth and performance of the business, momentum in the businesses, future adoption of digital assets, the terms of the term sheet and any definitive loan documentation and the Company’s anticipated results may constitute forward looking information (collectively, forward-looking statements), which can be identified by the use of terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “estimate,” “intend,” “continue” or “believe” (or the negatives) or other similar variations. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Voyager’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any of its future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this press release may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements. Forward looking statements are subject to the risk that the global economy, industry, or the Company’s businesses and investments do not perform as anticipated, that revenue or expenses estimates may not be met or may be materially less or more than those anticipated, that parties to whom the Company lends assets are able to repay such loans in full and in a timely manner, that trading momentum does not continue or the demand for trading solutions declines, customer acquisition does not increase as planned, product and international expansion do not occur as planned, risks of compliance with laws and regulations that currently apply or become applicable to the business and those other risks contained in the Company’s public filings, including in its Management Discussion and Analysis and its Annual Information Form (AIF). Factors that could cause actual results of the Company and its businesses to differ materially from those described in such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, a decline in the digital asset market or general economic conditions; changes in laws or approaches to regulation, the failure or delay in the adoption of digital assets and the blockchain ecosystem by institutions; changes in the volatility of crypto currency, changes in demand for Bitcoin and Ethereum, changes in the status or classification of cryptocurrency assets, cybersecurity breaches, a delay or failure in developing infrastructure for the trading businesses or achieving mandates and gaining traction; failure to grow assets under management, an adverse development with respect to an issuer or party to the transaction or failure to obtain a required regulatory approval. Readers are cautioned that Assets on Platform and trading volumes fluctuate and may increase and decrease from time to time and that such fluctuations are beyond the Company’s control. Forward-looking statements, past and present performance and trends are not guarantees of future performance, accordingly, you should not put undue reliance on forward-looking statements, current or past performance, or current or past trends. Information identifying assumptions, risks, and uncertainties relating to the Company are contained in its filings with the Canadian securities regulators available at www.sedar.com. The forward-looking statements in this press release are applicable only as of the date of this release or as of the date specified in the relevant forward-looking statement and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after that date or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, except as required by law. The Company assumes no obligation to provide operational updates, except as required by law. If the Company does update one or more forward-looking statements, no inference should be drawn that it will make additional updates with respect to those or other forward-looking statements, unless required by law. Readers are cautioned that past performance is not indicative of future performance and current trends in the business and demand for digital assets may not continue and readers should not put undue reliance on past performance and current trends.

Contacts

Voyager Digital,
Ltd.
Voyager Investor Relations Team 
investor.relations@investvoyager.com

Voyager Public Relations Team
pr@investvoyager.com

SOURCE Voyager Digital Ltd.