TAAL Distributed Information Technologies Inc. delivers value-added blockchain services, providing professional-grade, highly scalable blockchain infrastructure and transactional platforms to support businesses building solutions and applications upon the BitcoinSV platform, and developing, operating, and managing distributed computing systems for enterprise users.
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.
Shareholder Approval. Yesterday, TAAL Distributed Information Technologies announced that shareholders voted to approve the previously announced plan of arrangement in which Calvin Ayre, owner of 38.5% of the outstanding common, will indirectly acquire all of the remaining shares at a price of C$1.07 per share, effectively taking the Company private.
Overwhelming Approval. The Transaction required approval by: (i) two-thirds of the votes cast by shareholders (the “Special Resolution”); and (ii) a simple majority of the votes cast by minority shareholders, being all shareholders other than Mr. Ayre, whose votes were required to be excluded pursuant to applicable securities laws (the “Minority Vote”). On the Special Resolution, a total of 27,060,141 common shares were voted in favor of the transaction, representing approximately 97.8% of the votes cast on the Special Resolution. On the Minority Vote, a total of 11,416,835 common shares were voted in favor of the transaction, representing approximately 95.0% of the votes cast by minority 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.
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.
Strong fiscal Q1 results. The company reported revenue of $8.1 million and adj. EBITDA of $795,000 a year-over-year increase of 115% and 161%, respectively. Revenue was in line with our estimate of $8 million while adj. EBITDA exceeded our estimate of $0.47 million by 71%, illustrated in Figure #1 Q1 Variance.
Next Level & SkyNet. Management stated that they have successfully integrated SkyNet and Next level internet and that improved margins are a result of the integration. While we were anticipating improved margins from the SkyNet acquisition, the improvement was ahead of expectations. Gross margins in the latest quarter were 64.9% versus our estimate of 60%.
Equity Research is available at no cost to Registered users of Channelchek. Not a Member? Click ‘Join’ to join the Channelchek Community. There is no cost to register, and we never collect credit card information.
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.
Owners of electric vehicles (EVs) are accustomed to plugging into charging stations at home and at work and filling up their batteries with electricity from the power grid. But someday soon, when these drivers plug in, their cars will also have the capacity to reverse the flow and send electrons back to the grid. As the number of EVs climbs, the fleet’s batteries could serve as a cost-effective, large-scale energy source, with potentially dramatic impacts on the energy transition, according to a new paper published by an MIT team in the journal Energy Advances.
“At scale, vehicle-to-grid (V2G) can boost renewable energy growth, displacing the need for stationary energy storage and decreasing reliance on firm [always-on] generators, such as natural gas, that are traditionally used to balance wind and solar intermittency,” says Jim Owens, lead author and a doctoral student in the MIT Department of Chemical Engineering. Additional authors include Emre Gençer, a principal research scientist at the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI), and Ian Miller, a research specialist for MITEI at the time of the study.
The group’s work is the first comprehensive, systems-based analysis of future power systems, drawing on a novel mix of computational models integrating such factors as carbon emission goals, variable renewable energy (VRE) generation, and costs of building energy storage, production, and transmission infrastructure.
“We explored not just how EVs could provide service back to the grid — thinking of these vehicles almost like energy storage on wheels — but also the value of V2G applications to the entire energy system and if EVs could reduce the cost of decarbonizing the power system,” says Gençer. “The results were surprising; I personally didn’t believe we’d have so much potential here.”
Displacing New Infrastructure
As the United States and other nations pursue stringent goals to limit carbon emissions, electrification of transportation has taken off, with the rate of EV adoption rapidly accelerating. (Some projections show EVs supplanting internal combustion vehicles over the next 30 years.) With the rise of emission-free driving, though, there will be increased demand for energy. “The challenge is ensuring both that there’s enough electricity to charge the vehicles and that this electricity is coming from renewable sources,” says Gençer.
But solar and wind energy is intermittent. Without adequate backup for these sources, such as stationary energy storage facilities using lithium-ion batteries, for instance, or large-scale, natural gas- or hydrogen-fueled power plants, achieving clean energy goals will prove elusive. More vexing, costs for building the necessary new energy infrastructure runs to the hundreds of billions.
This is precisely where V2G can play a critical, and welcome, role, the researchers reported. In their case study of a theoretical New England power system meeting strict carbon constraints, for instance, the team found that participation from just 13.9 percent of the region’s 8 million light-duty (passenger) EVs displaced 14.7 gigawatts of stationary energy storage. This added up to $700 million in savings — the anticipated costs of building new storage capacity.
Their paper also described the role EV batteries could play at times of peak demand, such as hot summer days. “V2G technology has the ability to inject electricity back into the system to cover these episodes, so we don’t need to install or invest in additional natural gas turbines,” says Owens. “The way that EVs and V2G can influence the future of our power systems is one of the most exciting and novel aspects of our study.”
Modeling Power
To investigate the impacts of V2G on their hypothetical New England power system, the researchers integrated their EV travel and V2G service models with two of MITEI’s existing modeling tools: the Sustainable Energy System Analysis Modeling Environment (SESAME) to project vehicle fleet and electricity demand growth, and GenX, which models the investment and operation costs of electricity generation, storage, and transmission systems. They incorporated such inputs as different EV participation rates, costs of generation for conventional and renewable power suppliers, charging infrastructure upgrades, travel demand for vehicles, changes in electricity demand, and EV battery costs.
Their analysis found benefits from V2G applications in power systems (in terms of displacing energy storage and firm generation) at all levels of carbon emission restrictions, including one with no emissions caps at all. However, their models suggest that V2G delivers the greatest value to the power system when carbon constraints are most aggressive — at 10 grams of carbon dioxide per kilowatt hour load. Total system savings from V2G ranged from $183 million to $1,326 million, reflecting EV participation rates between 5 percent and 80 percent.
“Our study has begun to uncover the inherent value V2G has for a future power system, demonstrating that there is a lot of money we can save that would otherwise be spent on storage and firm generation,” says Owens.
Harnessing V2G
For scientists seeking ways to decarbonize the economy, the vision of millions of EVs parked in garages or in office spaces and plugged into the grid for 90 percent of their operating lives proves an irresistible provocation. “There is all this storage sitting right there, a huge available capacity that will only grow, and it is wasted unless we take full advantage of it,” says Gençer.
This is not a distant prospect. Startup companies are currently testing software that would allow two-way communication between EVs and grid operators or other entities. With the right algorithms, EVs would charge from and dispatch energy to the grid according to profiles tailored to each car owner’s needs, never depleting the battery and endangering a commute.
“We don’t assume all vehicles will be available to send energy back to the grid at the same time, at 6 p.m. for instance, when most commuters return home in the early evening,” says Gençer. He believes that the vastly varied schedules of EV drivers will make enough battery power available to cover spikes in electricity use over an average 24-hour period. And there are other potential sources of battery power down the road, such as electric school buses that are employed only for short stints during the day and then sit idle.
The MIT team acknowledges the challenges of V2G consumer buy-in. While EV owners relish a clean, green drive, they may not be as enthusiastic handing over access to their car’s battery to a utility or an aggregator working with power system operators. Policies and incentives would help.
“Since you’re providing a service to the grid, much as solar panel users do, you could be paid for your participation, and paid at a premium when electricity prices are very high,” says Gençer.
“People may not be willing to participate ’round the clock, but if we have blackout scenarios like in Texas last year, or hot-day congestion on transmission lines, maybe we can turn on these vehicles for 24 to 48 hours, sending energy back to the system,” adds Owens. “If there’s a power outage and people wave a bunch of money at you, you might be willing to talk.”
“Basically, I think this comes back to all of us being in this together, right?” says Gençer. “As you contribute to society by giving this service to the grid, you will get the full benefit of reducing system costs, and also help to decarbonize the system faster and to a greater extent.”
Actionable Insights
Owens, who is building his dissertation on V2G research, is now investigating the potential impact of heavy-duty electric vehicles in decarbonizing the power system. “The last-mile delivery trucks of companies like Amazon and FedEx are likely to be the earliest adopters of EVs,” Owen says. “They are appealing because they have regularly scheduled routes during the day and go back to the depot at night, which makes them very useful for providing electricity and balancing services in the power system.”
Owens is committed to “providing insights that are actionable by system planners, operators, and to a certain extent, investors,” he says. His work might come into play in determining what kind of charging infrastructure should be built, and where.
“Our analysis is really timely because the EV market has not yet been developed,” says Gençer. “This means we can share our insights with vehicle manufacturers and system operators — potentially influencing them to invest in V2G technologies, avoiding the costs of building utility-scale storage, and enabling the transition to a cleaner future. It’s a huge win, within our grasp.”
The research for this study was funded by MITEI’s Future Energy Systems Center.
NEW YORK, Dec. 19, 2022 /CNW/ — Voyager Digital Ltd. (“Voyager” or the “Company”) (OTC Pink VYGVQ; FRA: UCD2) announced today that its operating company Voyager Digital LLC selected U.S. exchange BAM Trading Services Inc. (doing business as “Binance.US”) as the highest and best bid for its assets after a review of strategic options with the core objective of maximizing the value returned to customers and other creditors on an expedited timeframe.
Binance.US is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, and is incorporated in Delaware. It is an independent legal entity and has a licensing agreement with Binance.com.
The Binance.US bid, which sets a clear path forward for Voyager customer funds to be unlocked as soon as possible, is valued at approximately $1.022 billion and is comprised of (i) the fair market value of Voyager’s cryptocurrency portfolio at a to-be-determined date in the future, which at current market prices is estimated to be $1.002 billion, plus (ii) additional consideration equal to $20 million of incremental value. The Company’s claims against Three Arrows Capital remain with the bankruptcy estate, and any future recovery on these and other non-released claims will be distributed to the estate’s creditors.
The Binance.US bid aims to return crypto to customers in kind, in accordance with court-approved disbursements and platform capabilities.
Binance.US will make a $10 million good faith deposit and will reimburse Voyager for certain expenses up to a maximum of $15 million. Should the deal not close by April 18, 2023 subject to a one-month extension, the agreement allows Voyager to immediately move to return value to customers.
Voyager Digital LLC will seek Bankruptcy Court approval to enter into the asset purchase agreement between Voyager Digital LLC and Binance.US at a hearing on January 5, 2023. The sale to Binance.US will be consummated pursuant to a Chapter 11 plan, which will be subject to a creditor vote and is subject to other customary closing conditions. Binance.US and the Company will work to close the transaction promptly following approval of the chapter 11 plan by the Bankruptcy Court.
This sale agreement follows Voyager’s July 5, 2022 entrance into a voluntary restructuring process aimed at returning maximum value to customers. Additional information about the timeline and customer access to crypto will be shared as it becomes available. A copy of the asset purchase agreement and other pleadings filed in this case may be obtained free of charge by visiting the Voyager case website https://cases.stretto.com/Voyager.
Voyager was advised by Kirkland & Ellis LLP, Moelis & Company LLC, and Berkeley Research Group. Binance.US was advised by Latham & Watkins LLP.
Forward Looking Statements Certain information in this press release, including, but not limited to, statements regarding the Chapter 11 Plan, the proposed transaction with Binance.US, the timeline for the proposed transaction with Binance.US, the approvals required for the proposed transaction with Binance.US the activities on the Binance.US platform following the closing of the proposed transaction with Binance.US, including the coins that will be supported, the listing review of the VGX token and the future sale of the private keys related to the VGX Token Smart Contracts, 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, the crypto marketplace is a 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 the Chapter 11 process or the proposed transaction 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 risks, including those 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, an adverse development with respect to an issuer or party to the transaction or failure to obtain a required regulatory approvals. 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.
SOURCE Voyager Digital Ltd.
For further information: Contacts: Voyager Digital, Ltd., Voyager Public Relations Team, pr@investvoyager.com
Nuclear Power Plant Start Will be Delayed as Reliable US Fuel Production Needs to Improve
The energy and fuel shortages stemming from the Russia/Ukraine war extend beyond oil and gas. A sharp impact is also being felt in the nuclear energy world as uranium is less available for new and existing plants. In the US, TerraPower’s natrium reactor completion date is now estimated at least two years beyond the original plan. This is because of problems securing the proper fuel. TerraPower is a start-up co-founded by Bill Gates with support from Warren Buffett to revolutionize nuclear reactor design and methods. The natrium reactor being built as a test of the technology is being built in Kemmerer, Wyoming, which is considered a coal town. The original completion date was 2028.
What is Now Expected
The company expects the natrium demonstration reactor operation to be delayed by at least two years because there will not be sufficient commercial capacity to produce high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel to test come the original 2028 in-service date.
TerraPower’s CEO and President Chris Levesque said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year caused “the only commercial source of HALEU fuel” to no longer be a viable part of the supply chain. The company is now working with the US Department of Energy (DOE), Congress, and project stakeholders to explore potential alternative sources. Levesque said, “while we are working now with Congress to urge the inclusion of $2.1 billion to support HALEU in the end-of-year government funding package, it has become clear that domestic and allied HALEU manufacturing options will not reach commercial capacity in time to meet the proposed 2028 in-service date for the Natrium demonstration plant.”
The company has not provided a new schedule but expects to in 2023, when there may be more clarity of what will be available and when. “But given the lack of fuel availability now and that there has been no construction started on new fuel enrichment facilities, TerraPower is anticipating a minimum of a two-year delay to being able to bring the Natrium reactor into operation,” Levesque warned.
About the Plant and its Fuel
Kemmerer in Wyoming was selected in 2021 as the preferred site for the Natrium demonstration project, featuring a 345 MWe sodium-cooled fast reactor with a molten salt-based energy storage system. TerraPower remains fully committed to the project and is “moving full steam ahead” on the construction of the plant, licensing applications and engineering and design work, Levesque added. Work scheduled to begin in Spring 2023 on the large sodium facility will continue as planned, and TerraPower expects “minimal disruption” to the current projected start-of-construction date.
HALEU fuel is enriched to between 5% and 20% uranium-235, and is the fuel type which will fuel most of the next-generation reactor designs. The DOE has projected a national need for more than 40 tonnes of HALEU before the end of the decade to support the current administration’s goal of 100% clean electricity by 2035.
Funding the Construction
Gates helped found TerraPower in 2006 and has been the company’s chairman. TerraPower’s goal is to provide more affordable, secure, and environmentally friendly nuclear energy globally. The plant is expected to cost $4 billion. To date, $1.6 billion has been appropriated by Congress, and private funding of $830 has been raised by TerraPower.
Wyoming US Senator John Barrasso responded to the announcement saying the US ” must reestablish itself as the global leader in nuclear energy. Instead of relying on our adversaries like Russia for uranium, the United States must produce its own supply of advanced nuclear fuel.” He said he has sent a letter to Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Joe Manchin requesting an oversight hearing early next year to ensure that DOE is “working aggressively” to make HALEU available for the USA’s first advanced reactors. He also said he has written to Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm today “blasting DOE for not moving fast enough to ensure a domestic supply of HALEU”.
Take Away
The Natrium project by Bill Gate’s company, with support from US tax dollars and Warren Buffett, is being constructed as a test. One thing the test bore out is that securing a reliable fuel supply needs a good deal more work.
Natrium plants are smaller and use current technology. These plants are expected to be built faster and cheaper than a traditional large-scale nuclear power plant. When first announced last year, Gates and Buffett said that once successfully demonstrated, the plant could be quickly expanded or replicated elsewhere.
Why Fusion Ignition is Being Hailed as a Major Breakthrough in Fusion – a Nuclear Physicist Explains
American scientists have announced what they have called a major breakthrough in a long-elusive goal of creating energy from nuclear fusion.
The U.S. Department of Energy said on Dec. 13, 2022, that for the first time – and after several decades of trying – scientists have managed to get more energy out of the process than they had to put in.
But just how significant is the development? And how far off is the long-sought dream of fusion providing abundant, clean energy? Carolyn Kuranz, an associate professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Michigan who has worked at the facility that just broke the fusion record, helps explain this new result.
What Happened in the Fusion Chamber?
Fusion is a nuclear reaction that combines two atoms to create one or more new atoms with slightly less total mass. The difference in mass is released as energy, as described by Einstein’s famous equation, E = mc2 , where energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. Since the speed of light is enormous, converting just a tiny amount of mass into energy – like what happens in fusion – produces a similarly enormous amount of energy.
Fusion is the same process that powers the Sun. NASA/Wikimedia Commons
Researchers at the U.S. Government’s National Ignition Facility in California have demonstrated, for the first time, what is known as “fusion ignition.” Ignition is when a fusion reaction produces more energy than is being put into the reaction from an outside source and becomes self-sustaining.
The technique used at the National Ignition Facility involved shooting 192 lasers at a 0.04 inch (1 mm) pellet of fuel made of deuterium and tritium – two versions of the element hydrogen with extra neutrons – placed in a gold canister. When the lasers hit the canister, they produce X-rays that heat and compress the fuel pellet to about 20 times the density of lead and to more than 5 million degrees Fahrenheit (3 million Celsius) – about 100 times hotter than the surface of the Sun. If you can maintain these conditions for a long enough time, the fuel will fuse and release energy.
The fuel is held in a tiny canister designed to keep the reaction as free from contaminants as possible. U.S. Department of Energy/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The fuel and canister gets vaporized within a few billionths of a second during the experiment. Researchers then hope their equipment survived the heat and accurately measured the energy released by the fusion reaction.
So What Did They Accomplish?
To assess the success of a fusion experiment, physicists look at the ratio between the energy released from the process of fusion and the amount of energy within the lasers. This ratio is called gain.
Anything above a gain of 1 means that the fusion process released more energy than the lasers delivered.
On Dec. 5, 2022, the National Ignition Facility shot a pellet of fuel with 2 million joules of laser energy – about the amount of power it takes to run a hair dryer for 15 minutes – all contained within a few billionths of a second. This triggered a fusion reaction that released 3 million joules. That is a gain of about 1.5, smashing the previous record of a gain of 0.7 achieved by the facility in August 2021.
How Big a Deal is this Result?
Fusion energy has been the “holy grail” of energy production for nearly half a century. While a gain of 1.5 is, I believe, a truly historic scientific breakthrough, there is still a long way to go before fusion is a viable energy source.
While the laser energy of 2 million joules was less than the fusion yield of 3 million joules, it took the facility nearly 300 million joules to produce the lasers used in this experiment. This result has shown that fusion ignition is possible, but it will take a lot of work to improve the efficiency to the point where fusion can provide a net positive energy return when taking into consideration the entire end-to-end system, not just a single interaction between the lasers and the fuel.
Machinery used to create the powerful lasers, like these pre-amplifiers, currently requires a lot more energy than the lasers themselves produce. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, CC BY-SA
What Needs to Be Improved?
There are a number of pieces of the fusion puzzle that scientists have been steadily improving for decades to produce this result, and further work can make this process more efficient.
First, lasers were only invented in 1960. When the U.S. government completed construction of the National Ignition Facility in 2009, it was the most powerful laser facility in the world, able to deliver 1 million joules of energy to a target. The 2 million joules it produces today is 50 times more energetic than the next most powerful laser on Earth. More powerful lasers and less energy-intensive ways to produce those powerful lasers could greatly improve the overall efficiency of the system.
Fusion conditions are very challenging to sustain, and any small imperfection in the capsule or fuel can increase the energy requirement and decrease efficiency. Scientists have made a lot of progress to more efficiently transfer energy from the laser to the canister and the X-ray radiation from the canister to the fuel capsule, but currently only about 10% to 30% of the total laser energy is transferred to the canister and to the fuel.
Finally, while one part of the fuel, deuterium, is naturally abundant in sea water, tritium is much rarer. Fusion itself actually produces tritium, so researchers are hoping to develop ways of harvesting this tritium directly. In the meantime, there are other methods available to produce the needed fuel.
These and other scientific, technological and engineering hurdles will need to be overcome before fusion will produce electricity for your home. Work will also need to be done to bring the cost of a fusion power plant well down from the US$3.5 billion of the National Ignition Facility. These steps will require significant investment from both the federal government and private industry.
It’s worth noting that there is a global race around fusion, with many other labs around the world pursuing different techniques. But with the new result from the National Ignition Facility, the world has, for the first time, seen evidence that the dream of fusion is achievable.
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, Carolyn Kuranz, Associate Professor of Nuclear Engineering, University of Michigan. Carolyn Kuranz receives funding from the National Nuclear Security Administration and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She serves on a review board for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She is a member of the Fusion Energy Science Advisory Committee.
SAN ANTONIO, Dec. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) (“Digerati” or the “Company”), a unified communications and cloud services (UCaaS) provider for the small to medium-sized business (SMB) market, today announced the roll-out of a new Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) solution. This new Omni-Channel CCaaS offering, which will initially be available through Digerati’s subsidiary NextLevel Internet, will enhance the portfolio of solutions the Company is currently offering to the SMB marketplace.
NextLevel’s new intelligent Contact Center suite of services uses a combination of artificial intelligence (AI), workflow automation, virtual agents, intelligent call routing, integrations, reporting, and employee collaboration tools to help businesses reduce costs and improve the customer experience, all without the need to add additional resources. As a cloud-based solution, NextLevel’s Contact Center allows its business users to deliver superior customer care from anywhere.
“This new product further extends our approach of being a single-source solution provider in the UCaaS and CCaaS space,” said Arthur L. Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Digerati. “This latest product announcement enhances our existing call center solution with a truly robust omni-channel contact center solution.”
NextLevel’s new CCaaS solution makes adding, expanding, and integrating various communications channels easier and less resource intensive. In addition to traditional contact center voice functionality, this new omni-channel product that encompasses the next-generation in CCaaS technology supports multiple digital channels, including chat, email, SMS, social media, and other messaging apps.
Derek Gietzen, NextLevel’s President, said, “The new Contact Center product gives businesses of all sizes the advantage of an enterprise-grade cloud contact center solution that is powerful, affordable, and yet easy to deploy. It lets employees focus on delivering a great client experience with every engagement. We are excited about the new revenue and upsell opportunities with this new offering.”
About Digerati Technologies, Inc.
Digerati Technologies, Inc. (OTCQB: DTGI) is a provider of cloud services specializing in UCaaS 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, CCaaS, 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.
Facebook: Digerati Technologies, Inc. Twitter: @DIGERATI_IR LinkedIn: Digerati Technologies, Inc.
How Do Floating Wind Turbines Work? Five Companies Just Won the First US Leases for Building them off California’s Coast
Northern California has some of the strongest offshore winds in the U.S., with immense potential to produce clean energy. But it also has a problem. Its continental shelf drops off quickly, making building traditional wind turbines directly on the seafloor costly if not impossible.
Once water gets more than about 200 feet deep – roughly the height of an 18-story building – these “monopile” structures are pretty much out of the question.
A solution has emerged that’s being tested in several locations around the world: wind turbines that float.
In California, where drought has put pressure on the hydropower supply, the state is moving forward on a plan to develop the nation’s first floating offshore wind farms. On Dec. 7, 2022, the federal government auctioned off five lease areas about 20 miles off the California coast to companies with plans to develop floating wind farms. The bids were lower than recent leases off the Atlantic coast, where wind farms can be anchored to the seafloor, but still significant, together exceeding US$757 million.
So, how do floating wind farms work?
Three Main Ways to Float a Turbine
A floating wind turbine works just like other wind turbines – wind pushes on the blades, causing the rotor to turn, which drives a generator that creates electricity. But instead of having its tower embedded directly into the ground or the seafloor, a floating wind turbine sits on a platform with mooring lines, such as chains or ropes, that connect to anchors in the seabed below.
These mooring lines hold the turbine in place against the wind and keep it connected to the cable that sends its electricity back to shore.
Most of the stability is provided by the floating platform itself. The trick is to design the platform so the turbine doesn’t tip too far in strong winds or storms.
Three of the common types of floating wind turbine platform. Josh Bauer/NREL
There are three main types of platforms:
A spar buoy platform is a long hollow cylinder that extends downward from the turbine tower. It floats vertically in deep water, weighted with ballast in the bottom of the cylinder to lower its center of gravity. It’s then anchored in place, but with slack lines that allow it to move with the water to avoid damage. Spar buoys have been used by the oil and gas industry for years for offshore operations.
Semisubmersible platforms have large floating hulls that spread out from the tower, also anchored to prevent drifting. Designers have been experimenting with multiple turbines on some of these hulls.
Tension leg platforms have smaller platforms with taut lines running straight to the floor below. These are lighter but more vulnerable to earthquakes or tsunamis because they rely more on the mooring lines and anchors for stability.
Each platform must support the weight of the turbine and remain stable while the turbine operates. It can do this in part because the hollow platform, often made of large steel or concrete structures, provides buoyancy to support the turbine. Since some can be fully assembled in port and towed out for installation, they might be far cheaper than fixed-bottom structures, which require specialty vessels for installation on site.
The University of Maine has been experimenting with a small floating wind turbine, about one-eighth scale, on a semisubmersible platform with RWE, one of the winning bidders.
Floating platforms can support wind turbines that can produce 10 megawatts or more of power – that’s similar in size to other offshore wind turbines and several times larger than the capacity of a typical onshore wind turbine you might see in a field.
Why Do We Need Floating Turbines?
Some of the strongest wind resources are away from shore in locations with hundreds of feet of water below, such as off the U.S. West Coast, the Great Lakes, the Mediterranean Sea and the coast of Japan.
Some of the strongest offshore wind power potential in the U.S. is in areas where the water is too deep for fixed turbines, including off the West Coast. NREL
The U.S. lease areas auctioned off in early December cover about 583 square miles in two regions – one off central California’s Morro Bay and the other near the Oregon state line. The water off California gets deep quickly, so any wind farm that is even a few miles from shore will require floating turbines.
Once built, wind farms in those five areas could provide about 4.6 gigawatts of clean electricity, enough to power 1.5 million homes, according to government estimates. The winning companies suggested they could produce even more power.
But getting actual wind turbines on the water will take time. The winners of the lease auction will undergo a Justice Department anti-trust review and then a long planning, permitting and environmental review process that typically takes several years.
The first five federal lease areas for Pacific coast offshore wind energy development. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management
Globally, several full-scale demonstration projects with floating wind turbines are already operating in Europe and Asia. The Hywind Scotland project became the first commercial-scale offshore floating wind farm in 2017, with five 6-megawatt turbines supported by spar buoys designed by the Norwegian energy company Equinor.
Equinor Wind US had one of the winning bids off Central California. Another winning bidder was RWE Offshore Wind Holdings. RWE operates wind farms in Europe and has three floating wind turbine demonstration projects. The other companies involved – Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, Invenergy and Ocean Winds – have Atlantic Coast leases or existing offshore wind farms.
While floating offshore wind farms are becoming a commercial technology, there are still technical challenges that need to be solved. The platform motion may cause higher forces on the blades and tower, and more complicated and unsteady aerodynamics. Also, as water depths get very deep, the cost of the mooring lines, anchors and electrical cabling may become very high, so cheaper but still reliable technologies will be needed.
But we can expect to see more offshore turbines supported by floating structures in the near 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, Matthew Lackner, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, UMass Amherst.
SAN ANTONIO, TX (GlobeNewswire) – December 8, 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 provide an update to its previously announced signing of a definitive business combination agreement with Minority Equality Opportunities Acquisition Inc. (NASDAQ: MEOA) (“MEOA”).
The Company and MEOA have made significant progress since the business combination agreement was executed on August 30, 2022. Key accomplishments include:
MEOA’s filing of the S-4 registration statement for the business combination on November 30, 2022.
Filing by MEOA of its Charter Amendment approved by the shareholders of MEOA on November 29, 2022.
The transaction results in a $105 million enterprise valuation for Digerati and has been approved by the boards of directors of both of Digerati and MEOA, with an expected closing in the first quarter of CY 2023, subject to shareholder, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and Nasdaq approval. The S-4 registration statement for the business combination is currently under review by the SEC. For further information on the transaction and related filings, please visit the links below.
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™.
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.
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. As mentioned above, the parties have filed a registration statement on Form S-4 with the SEC, which includes a proxy statement for MEOA and Digerati shareholders and also serves 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 from MEOA’s website at https://www.meoaus.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.
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Is there money to be made for investors in the business of controlling pain? There is a decreased willingness or ability of doctors to prescribe opioids because of the risk of addiction. This is just one reason the companies making breakthroughs in controlling or alleviating pain are set to get a bigger chunk of the growing industry. The other driver is an aging populous with increased longevity. The non-opioid pain management developments include novel medicines and medical devices to treat, prevent, or assess causes. Investors could benefit from growing their awareness in this healthcare space, particularly some of the smaller companies concentrating on the pain management sector.
The pain management (PM) industry is rapidly growing. Estimates on the potential for the industry were captured in a report by Zion Market Research. The report shows the trajectory of the pain management therapeutics industry is likely to amass earnings of about $81.9 billion by 2026. This is an increase of $16.3 billion over 2019 earnings. Reduced opioid use has opened a path for inventive new therapeutics to become the new go-to where an opioid would have been prescribed previously. This provides investors with an even broader spectrum of publicly traded opportunities to review.
Segments in Pain Management
Treatment of chronic pain has a large base as a major healthcare service. This base provides a solid footing for the business of pain management therapeutics. Pain-relieving drugs such as opioids have been the “go to” medication for patients with severe pain. But their usage needs to be short-term or limited to treat pain in the terminally ill. The reduced and safer use of opioids leave many sufferers needing new alternatives.
As with any other investment space there is a wide swath of segmentation and sectors within the business. The primary pharmaceutical segments in pain management include:
Anesthetics
NSAIDS
Anticonvulsants
Anti-migraine agents
Antidepressants
Non-narcotic analgesics
Neuropathic Pain
Arthritic Pain
Cancer pain
Post-operative Pain
Chronic Back Pain
Fibromyalgia
Migraines
The anticipated growth of pain management therapeutics within North American healthcare is expected to happen on several fronts. Players include the nimble, creative small growth companies as well as the huge established names. Large companies involved in the segment include Novartis AG, Purdue Pharma L.P., AstraZeneca Plc., Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline Plc., Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., Pfizer Inc., Depomed, Inc., Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc., Endo International Plc., Merck & Co., Inc., and Abbott Laboratories. These are big corporations where successful individual products aren’t as impactful to the bottom line or stock price movement.
The smaller, more nimble prospects, where developments have a greater impact on value could be worth learning about. There are a number of them that have developed solutions that are just now becoming adopted and substituted for old methods of treatment. Below is a list of five companies in this space that may be worth becoming familiar with:
Baudax Bio Inc.
(BXRX) is a pharmaceutical company. It is focused on innovative products for acute care settings. Baudax Bio markets ANJESO®, the first and only 24-hour, non-opioid, intravenous (IV) COX-2 preferential non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) for the management of moderate to severe pain. In addition to ANJESO®, the Company has a pipeline of other innovative pharmaceutical assets including two clinical-stage, novel neuromuscular blocking (NMBs) agents and a proprietary chemical reversal agent specific to these NMBs.
BXRX is currently trading at $3.45 and has a market cap of $1.73 million.
PainReform Ltd
PRFX is a clinical-stage specialty pharmaceutical company. It is focused on the reformulation of established therapeutics. The company’s product PRF-110 is based on the local anesthetic ropivacaine, targeting the post-operative pain relief market. PRF-110 is an oil-based, viscous, clear solution that is deposited directly into the surgical wound bed before closure to provide localized and extended post-operative analgesia.
PRFX is currently trading at $0.41 and has a market cap of $4.36 million.
NanoVibronix
NAOV is engaged in manufacturing of noninvasive biological response-activating devices which target wound healing and pain therapy, without the assistance of medical professionals. The primary products of the company include WoundShield which is patch-based therapeutic ultrasound device to help regenerate tissue and healing by using ultrasound to increase local capillary perfusion and tissue oxygenation; PainShield which is a disposable patch-based therapeutic ultrasound technology to treat pain, muscle spasm and joint contractures; and UroShield which is an ultrasound-based product designed to prevent bacterial colonization and biofilm in urinary catheters, increase antibiotic efficacy and decrease pain. Most of the company’s revenue comes from the U.S.
NAOV is currently trading at $0.37 with a market cap of $12.14 million.
electroCore Inc.
ECOR is a commercial-stage bioelectronic medicine company with a platform for non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation therapy initially focused on neurology and rheumatology. The company’s product gammaCore is FDA-cleared for adjunctive use for the preventive treatment of cluster headache and for the acute treatment of pain associated with episodic cluster headache and migraine headache in adult patients.
ECOR is trading at $0.28 and has a market cap of $20.27 million.
Bioelectronics Corp.
BIEL is an electroceutical company. It develops wearable, neuromodulation devices to safely mitigate neurological diseases. Its product line includes Actipatch Musculoskeletal Pain Therapy, Allay menstrual pain therapy, Smart insole heel pain therapy and Recovery RX post-operative and Chronic wounds therapy. The company sells its products to wholesale distributors, directly to hospitals and clinics, and consumers.
BIEL tades for under $0.01 a share, but has a market cap of $59.36 million and average trading volume of 13.4 million shares.
Take Away
Investing based on trends that are building is one method to develop a longer-term investment portfolio. One trend that is likely to continue is the move away from addictive opioids used for pain management and towards both pharmaceutical and device-based solutions. As with many sectors this year, stock valuations are down. Does this make one or more of them a smart buy?
Small and microcap investing come with its challenges. Help sort through the plusses and minuses of life sciences companies, both in biotech and medical devices, as two top equity analysts discuss what they look for when evaluating the fundamentals of a company’s prospects. The free event held online on December 15th will also include analysts with expertise in other industries sharing what they deem important in the industries they cover. All in all, it will help small, and microcap investors in the life sciences and other sectors better understand what the seasoned veterans look at.
An Alternative View of Today’s Economy by Cathie Wood
Cathie Wood made the argument that investors comparing the current economic crosscurrents to the 1970s are developing forecasts based on the wrong data-set. Speaking at the Finimize Modern Investor Summit via video, the ARK Invest funds founder instead suggested the current economy and inputs are similar to a different period – she then made a case for her reasoning.
“If you go back to the 19-teens (1912-1922), then the period was very similar to the period we’re in today,” she said at the Investor Summit. That period featured a war, a pandemic (Spanish flu), and supply-chain problems. “It was the most prolific period for innovation in history,” she said, pointing to the disruptive impact of electricity, the telephone, and the car.
Wood explained that inflation went from 24% in June 1920 to -15% in June 2021. She made clear she isn’t forecasting deflation this severe; however, she is expecting year-over-year inflation to swing into negative territory, with prices going down. “What has happened during the last few years is going to flip, and we think that the market will flip back to a preference for growth stocks and our innovation strategy,” she said.
Wood also elaborated on a tweet she issued earlier about how deep the inversion was of the yield curve.
Twitter @CathieDWood
“That’s the bond market saying, ‘hello, Fed, are you watching?'” She said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is trying to be the reincarnation of Paul Volcker at a time when it’s not appropriate. “I think that’s a mistake because this is not a 15-year problem; it’s a 15-month one,” said Wood. She highlighted that commodity prices are tumbling, supply chains are improving, and companies are
Ark Invest funds have been positioned in a more concentrated waiting pattern while Wood waits for inflation dynamics to be supportive of innovation. She gave an example; the innovation fund, for instance, has been narrowed to 32 companies from 58, Wood said, as she highlighted that the firm has become less convinced China is supportive of innovation.
Take Away
It’s worth reviewing the differing opinions of several investors that have made above-average returns in their careers. While almost no one is always correct, there are many different right ways to make money in any market.
The Ark flagship fund is down 63% this year; in the past, Wood has indicated her funds’ time period to measure return is five years, not one. Perhaps investors with a longer holding period can garner useful ideas from her pounding the deflation drum, while investors with a shorter time horizon are concerned about inflation.
Robinhood’s One Percent Match Program is an Industry First – Can it Attract More Buy and Hold Users?
Robinhood (HOOD) has entered the IRA market and is offering a 1% match on each dollar contributed to a retirement account on its platform. For someone putting away $5,000 in a qualified account, the funds would also be credited with an additional $50. The thought on this new product is that this seemingly small amount could compound dramatically over the years into much more than the original incentive.
While Individual Retirement Accounts (Roth and Traditional) are standard brokerage offerings, Robinhood is a decidedly different animal than most. A high percentage of its 22.9 million users tend to view themselves as shorter-term traders or investors in highly speculative assets. This customer trait tends to buck the trend at other brokerage firms that see a higher percentage of assets parked in market-indexed ETFs instead of individual stocks. In one quarter of 2021, 26% of Robinhood’s revenue came from trading in Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that started out as a goof on crypto.
Developing an account base with larger, more stable assets per account is important for the company’s development. Robinhood users generally hold less in their accounts than at other brokerage firms. Shortly before the company went public last year, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) said in a report that the median Robinhood user had $240 in their account. A move toward longer-term savings that builds over time could help increase the average size. And it is important enough to the company that they decided they would compensate investors with the first-of-its-kind a matching program.
“We recognize that this is a pretty big moment for us as a company,” said Sam Nordstrom, an executive in product management at Robinhood. “Retirement is something that folks take very seriously, and we fully expect them to need to trust the institutions that help them save for retirement. So we’re looking to earn that trust over a period of time.”
What’s the IRA Match?
The Robinhood IRA Match provides an extra 1% paid by the brokerage firm. It’s not counted toward the account holders annual contribution limits and is typically available to invest immediately.
The IRA contribution limits for 2022 are $6,000 for people under age 50, which means they can earn up to $60 extra. For people age 50 and over, the limit is $7,000, which means they can earn up to $70 on top of their contributions.
Take Away
Developing a more diverse customer base by offering standard brokerage products has investment app Robinhood providing IRAs to its offerings on the platform.
In typical Robinhood style, they rolled out the offerings just before IRA season with a twist. And the twist may be just what it takes to earn new accounts and attract rollover assets from existing qualified money.
Darknet Markets Generate Millions in Revenue Selling Stolen Personal Data, Supply Chain Study Finds
It is common to hear news reports about large data breaches, but what happens once your personal data is stolen? Our research shows that, like most legal commodities, stolen data products flow through a supply chain consisting of producers, wholesalers and consumers. But this supply chain involves the interconnection of multiple criminal organizations operating in illicit underground marketplaces.
The stolen data supply chain begins with producers – hackers who exploit vulnerable systems and steal sensitive information such as credit card numbers, bank account information and Social Security numbers. Next, the stolen data is advertised by wholesalers and distributors who sell the data. Finally, the data is purchased by consumers who use it to commit various forms of fraud, including fraudulent credit card transactions, identity theft and phishing attacks.
This trafficking of stolen data between producers, wholesalers and consumers is enabled by darknet markets, which are websites that resemble ordinary e-commerce websites but are accessible only using special browsers or authorization codes.
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, Christian Jordan Howell
Assistant Professor in Cybercrime, University of South Florida and David Maimon, Professor of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Georgia State University.
We found several thousand vendors selling tens of thousands of stolen data products on 30 darknet markets. These vendors had more than US$140 million in revenue over an eight-month period.
The stolen data supply chain, from data theft to fraud. Christian Jordan Howell, CC BY-ND
Darknet Markets
Just like traditional e-commerce sites, darknet markets provide a platform for vendors to connect with potential buyers to facilitate transactions. Darknet markets, though, are notorious for the sale of illicit products. Another key distinction is that access to darknet markets requires the use of special software such as the Onion Router, or TOR, which provides security and anonymity.
Silk Road, which emerged in 2011, combined TOR and bitcoin to become the first known darknet market. The market was eventually seized in 2013, and the founder, Ross Ulbricht, was sentenced to two life sentences plus 40 years without the possibility of parole. Ulbricht’s hefty prison sentence did not appear to have the intended deterrent effect. Multiple markets emerged to fill the void and, in doing so, created a thriving ecosystem profiting from stolen personal data.
Example of a stolen data ‘product’ sold on a darknet market. Screenshot by Christian Jordan Howell, CC BY-ND
Stolen Data Ecosystem
Recognizing the role of darknet markets in trafficking stolen data, we conducted the largest systematic examination of stolen data markets that we are aware of to better understand the size and scope of this illicit online ecosystem. To do this, we first identified 30 darknet markets advertising stolen data products.
Next, we extracted information about stolen data products from the markets on a weekly basis for eight months, from Sept. 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021. We then used this information to determine the number of vendors selling stolen data products, the number of stolen data products advertised, the number of products sold and the amount of revenue generated.
In total, there were 2,158 vendors who advertised at least one of the 96,672 product listings across the 30 marketplaces. Vendors and product listings were not distributed equally across markets. On average, marketplaces had 109 unique vendor aliases and 3,222 product listings related to stolen data products. Marketplaces recorded 632,207 sales across these markets, which generated $140,337,999 in total revenue. Again, there is high variation across the markets. On average, marketplaces had 26,342 sales and generated $5,847,417 in revenue.
The size and scope of the stolen data ecosystem over an eight-month period. Christian Jordan Howell, CC BY-ND
After assessing the aggregate characteristics of the ecosystem, we analyzed each of the markets individually. In doing so, we found that a handful of markets were responsible for trafficking most of the stolen data products. The three largest markets – Apollon, WhiteHouse and Agartha – contained 58% of all vendors. The number of listings ranged from 38 to 16,296, and the total number of sales ranged from 0 to 237,512. The total revenue of markets also varied substantially during the 35-week period: It ranged from $0 to $91,582,216 for the most successful market, Agartha.
For comparison, most midsize companies operating in the U.S. earn between $10 million and $1 billion annually. Both Agartha and Cartel earned enough revenue within the 35-week period we tracked them to be characterized as midsize companies, earning $91.6 million and $32.3 million, respectively. Other markets like Aurora, DeepMart and White House were also on track to reach the revenue of a midsize company if given a full year to earn.
Our research details a thriving underground economy and illicit supply chain enabled by darknet markets. As long as data is routinely stolen, there are likely to be marketplaces for the stolen information.
These darknet markets are difficult to disrupt directly, but efforts to thwart customers of stolen data from using it offers some hope. We believe that advances in artificial intelligence can provide law enforcement agencies, financial institutions and others with information needed to prevent stolen data from being used to commit fraud. This could stop the flow of stolen data through the supply chain and disrupt the underground economy that profits from your personal data.
