Aim Explorations (AXN-V) DMG Blockchain Solutions has closed a $28.06-million subscription-receipt financing at 80 cents. The financing is in connection with the company's qualifying transaction: acquiring DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. Aim had originally planned to sell $3-million worth of receipts at 30 cents in September, but then later in September, the blockchain hype allowed it to increase the financing to $4.2-million at 35 cents. But wait, there's more: it then increased the financing to $10-million worth at 80 cents and then finally to $25-million worth at 80 cents. It ended up selling still more, and now Aim says it has received orders for 861,500 shares at 80 cents ($689,200), which it plans to close with the QT, around Feb. 9, 2018.
DMG has a network of 260 servers in Western Canada where it claims to be already mining bitcoin. Since Aim first announced the QT plans (see Shell Summary for Sept. 20, 2017), the price of bitcoin has climbed by $10,000 (U.S.) to $14,722 (U.S.). It hit an all-time high of $17,856 (U.S.) on Dec. 15. DMG also says it is developing blockchain-based software for fleet management and payment processing, but those plans are still in the early stages. No company has yet to launch a commercial application for blockchain other than trading cryptocurrency. The State of Vermont, the U.S. Postal Service and the Bank of Canada have been studying uses for blockchain technology, but all three organizations have said that while interesting it is still too early to implement.
DMG was co-founded by Dan Reitzik of Vancouver and Chris Filiatrault of Tokyo. Both men will join the board on closing of the QT. Proposed chairman Mr. Filiatrault lives in Tokyo, where he opened the country's first bitcoin ABM in 2014.
That was a bad time for bitcoin in Japan, thanks to Frenchman Mark Karpeles and his Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange, Mt. Gox. Mt. Gox allowed customers to buy and sell bitcoin. It also held bitcoin for customers in what were supposed to be secure hot wallets. In 2014, reports surfaced that hackers had stolen more than 650,000 bitcoins during the exchange's three years in operation. Mt. Gox collapsed. One of the main features of bitcoin is its anonymity, so the hack was untraceable. The other features are decentralization and security. However, Mt. Gox was not a secure third party. More than 24,000 customers lost their bitcoin. Mr. Karpeles blamed hackers, however he has since been charged with misappropriating $2.6-million worth of bitcoin, and moving $166,000 worth of client money into his personal account. He has pled not guilty. His trial began in Japan this past July. According to Japanese media outlets, he still hopes to resurrect Mt. Gox, under new management and ownership. He estimates it will cost $245-million.
There are now seven bitcoin ABMs in Japan. There are 10 in Vancouver, one of which is beside the men's room at the Butcher & Bullock pub on West Pender St., previously the Abbotsford Hotel's Bombay Bicycle Club.
Returning to Aim Exploration, Mr. Balderson listed the company in September, 2012, with a $200,000 initial public offering at 10 cents. He is a former broker, spending 2001 to 2005 with Union Securities Ltd. He listed his first four capital pool shells, all junior mining deals, between 2007 and 2011. They comprise Zimtu Capital Corp. (ZC-V) Argentum Silver Corp. (ASL-V), Sunvest Minerals Corp. (SSS-V) and Goldeneye Resources Corp. (GOE-V). All four shells are considered successes, as IPO shareholders had time to sell their shares for a profit. His fifth shell seems positioned to be a success as well. It rolled back 1 for 2 in March, 2017, so the break-even price for IPO shareholers is 20 cents. From the looks of today's oversubscribed financing, IPO shareholders will have the opportunity to sell at a profit. |
