Cannacord Genuity, recently reported a rise in its net income of more than 500% year-over-year, thanks to the courtship of the cannabis and blockchain sectors—Breaking revenue records and shattering analyst expectations along the way.
As both cannabis and blockchain breathed new life into markets throughout 2017, tech developers diligently worked to marry the two exciting sectors into one, giving rise to solutions from companies including, International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX.V: EMH) (OTC: EMHTF), Future Farm Technologies Inc. (CSE: FFT) (OTC: FFRMF), MassRoots, Inc. (OTC: MSRT), and Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET).
In many ways interest in cannabis and blockchain has been driven by a massive influx of new investors on the market coming from the Millennial generation—TD Ameritrade saw a rise of 72% in new accounts from Millennials year-over-year, largely driven by these two sectors.
The market is responding in kind with several blockchain-derived applications in the cannabis sector, including International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) pitching for its use in supply management, and Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET) is gearing towards offering big data analytics and transaction solutions through Cannapay Financial Inc., and Cannabis Big Data Holdings Inc., its partially-owned subsidiaries.
There are multiple entrants in the race for big cannabis/blockchain contracts, from private companies, to publicly-traded stocks like International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET), and others like Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX.V: EMH) (OTC: EMHTF), Future Farm Technologies Inc. (CSE: FFT) (OTC: FFRMF), and MassRoots, Inc. (OTC: MSRT).
CANNABIS AND BLOCKCHAIN SURGING
Presently, the cannabis sector is growing rapidly—faster than any other industry on the planet. And it’s not even fully recreational legal yet.
According to Arcview Market Research’s 2017 report on the marijuana market, sales hit $6.7 billion in 2016 (a rise of 34% from the previous year). The report suggests that the legal marijuana market in North America will be worth nearly $23 billion by 2021.
And blockchain’s ceiling isn’t even close to being in sight, as the market collectively wraps its head around this still-new concept.
However, the security of blockchain for transaction recording, and handling of big data, has lured industries large and small—including the London Bullion Market Association, which is looking to blockchain to keep track of roughly $200 billion worth of gold dug from remote mines, traded by middlemen, and melted down by recyclers.
So for the newly-emerging super commodity of cannabis, the need to safely and securely handle massive quantities of transactions, supplies, and inventories is essential, for the good of the entire sector.
Earlier this year, Cannapay Financial Inc. signed a definitive agreement to receive $4 million for licensing and product pre-sales with Cannabis Big Data Holdings Inc. The deal as it was announced allows Cannabis Big Data to combine the technology licensed from Cannapay and big data analytics hardware and software from private company Fobisuite to provide insights for cannabis retailers and producers and allow retail partners to transact in cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Both Cannapay and Cannabis Big Data are partially-owned subsidiaries of Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET).
The first major to throw in its hat for a cannabis-blockchain combo was International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). In November, IBM, being a massive U.S. blue-chip company, added significant confidence in combination, when it touted blockchain as a supply-management tool of choice for cannabis.
Later, Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX.V: EMH) (OTC: EMHTF) formed a joint venture with a private partner called CannaChain—designed to be a foundational blockchain-based supply chain management system and e-commerce marketplace for the legal cannabis industry.
Next, it was smaller entities such as MassRoots, Inc. (OTC: MSRT) that started as more of a social media platform for cannabis consumers to share and review strains, that also added a blockchain asset with a technology for seed-to-sale tracking as well as tracking sales at dispensaries.
Much like Cannapay’s system that incorporates the Glance Coin, a cryptocurrency developed by Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET), there is another cannabis-based cryptocurrency from Future Farm Technologies Inc. (CSE: FFT) (OTC: FFRMF) called the FlipCoin.
However, it’s through the FinTech expertise and all-star management team of Glance that the Glance Coin’s implementation through Cannapay that likely has a leading chance of widespread adoption.
CANNAPAY AND BIG DATA
Built off of Glance Pay—a system that’s already being successfully used in restaurant transactions around North America—Cannapay and the Glance Coin cryptocurrency are being strategically paired with analytics hardware and software from private-co Fobisuite, to provide insights for cannabis retailers and producers.
“This is an enormous opportunity, it isn’t every day that an industry is born. And thanks to previous recreational legalization in states such as California, we are already starting to witness big data at work and prove the use case,” says Penny Green, President and CEO of Cannapay Financial Inc., and co-founder of Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET).
As the legal cannabis sector begins to truly take off, collecting data on consumption across markets and demographics, will be increasingly valuable to suppliers and marketers alike.
According to a recent Forbes article, Californian cannabis consumers spend most of their marijuana buds called “flower” by the industry. Cannabis flowers currently account for 55% of California cannabis sales—$375 million in Q2 of 2017.
But it’s the differentiations of buying behavior, and all types of other forms of data that are set to become quite valuable to retailers across the continent. For example, the strains: Indica is more popular in California than its fellow cannabis cousin Sativa, while the opposite may be true in other parts of the country.
“By integrating our technology with Fobisuite, we plan to offer big data analytics for networks of related businesses, merging purchase baskets with historical data, social media and mobile data to create unique customer journeys. Big data enables mass-customization on the most granular level,” adds Green.
By getting out ahead of the legalization wave, Glance Technologies (OTC: GLNNF) (CSE: GET) and its subsidiaries, have a great chance at cornering the cannabis-blockchain combination market, much like they’ve already done with the restaurant industry in Glance Pay.
With multiple angles and consumer bases to choose from, there’s plenty of room in the cannabis-blockchain combo space for tomorrow’s developers to thrive.
COMPARABLES
International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM)
IBM is also involved in blockchain technology, and is projected to benefit from the BaaS market that is estimated to reach $20 billion in sales in the next decade. Recently, IBM has been working on a cross-border payment system that uses blockchain and has been working with Kroger, Nestle, Wal-Mart and other companies to use blockchain technology to further streamline and improve the food supply chain.
Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. (TSX.V: EMH) (OTC: EMHTF)
Emerald Health, together with its subsidiaries, produces and sells medical marihuana and cannabis oils in Canada. The company was formerly known as T-Bird Pharma Inc. and changed its name to Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. in June 2015. The company has a joint venture partnership with Village Farms for greenhouse space, and with Abattis Resources for their jointly-owned subsidiary, Northern Vine Labs. Emerald Health Therapeutics, Inc. is headquartered in Victoria, Canada and is a subsidiary of Emerald Health Sciences Inc.
Future Farm Technologies Inc. (CSE: FFT) (OTC: FFRMF)
Future Farm Technologies operates as an indoor plant growth technology company providing indoor controlled environment agriculture systems that utilize minimal land, water, and energy regardless of climate, location, or time of year. It also manufactures concentrated cannabis oil and purified distillate, and develops and sells apps on IOS and Android platforms. Future Farm Technologies Inc. was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada.
MassRoots, Inc. (OTC: MSRT)
MassRoots operates a technology platform for the medical cannabis community. Its platform enables users to share their cannabis content, follow various dispensaries, and stay connected with the legalization movement; and its mobile apps enable consumers to make educated cannabis purchasing decisions through community-driven reviews. The company's network is accessible as a free mobile application through the iOS App Store, the Amazon App Store, and the Google Play Marketplace, as well as a Website at MassRoots.com In addition, the company engages in developing Blockchain-based solutions for the cannabis industry. MassRoots, Inc. was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.
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