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I didn't call on you to answer the question. LOL
Educate me, what's wrong with that quote you provided.
Here is a WAG of what's about to unfold. India gets all the bugs worked out for solar first with Jabbour. Proof that Micro-Reactors can support large scale commercial operation is put to bed. Funds from India production support development of US based Solterra Renewable Technologies, Inc. solar division.
"Quantum Materials’ subsidiary, Solterra Renewable Technologies Inc. is singularly positioned to lead the development of truly sustainable and cost-effective solar technology as the first company to introduce a new dimension of cost reduction by replacing silicon wafer based solar cells with low cost, highly efficient Quantum Dot based solar cells by proprietary roll-to-roll printing techniques invented by our CSO, Dr. Ghassan Jabbour."
Jabbour heads up Solterra in US as CEO. He hires some of his past students that will add value to the company to support its explosive growth. Steve continues to explore new opportunities without focusing on the solar division. Again, just a WAG.
This is worth the read as we enter a new path of discovery in something many of us know very little about. Particularly if you are going to venture off that path on your own.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-exit-scams-how-to-avoid-falling-victim
Isn't that just human nature? Look at all the marriages that start out with great bliss and euphoria and then turn into crap and divorce. This is just at the company level.
Oh, I'm sure of my facts even though you are partially correct. It was registered at one point in Texas but not by Steve or at the company address. Thus why it was probably forfeited. It was under Craig Lindberg (CFO)at his house and possibly with his wife, his wife never worked for the company as far as I can remember. Shady at best with their intentions and probably another reason none of them are employed any longer.
https://clustrmaps.com/a/19238j/
Ready to EAT CROW? SRTI was never registered in Texas as you say in #76961. It has always been registered in Delaware:
Solterra Renewable Technologies, Inc. (“Solterra”) was organized in the State of Delaware on the 19th day of May 2008.
UPDATE – The references to the company name Hague, ticker – HGUE were changed in April 2010 to Quantum Materials Corp, ticker – QTMM
Hague was registered in Nevada before the name change to QMC.
I thought I couldn't have said it better than you, but actually I can. You said "That you are incapable is of acknowledging that there is a world outside of your fantasy narrative is all telling." I would say that you are incapable of acknowledging there is a world outside of your fantasy narrative that is all telling.
Still cheaper per gigawatt, by a lot, to build solar than nuclear powered generating stations.
"Between 2002 and 2008, for example, cost estimates for new nuclear plant construction rose from between $2 billion and $4 billion per unit to $9 billion per unit, according to a 2009 UCS report, while experience with new construction in Europe has seen costs continue to soar."
I think OnePlus is the enemy. LOL The one that is known for stealing the technology.
Smartphone maker OnePlus is preparing to release a smart TV. Surprised? You’re not the only one. The Chinese firm, which is behind the likes of the OnePlus 7 and OnePlus 7 Pro, announced the project almost a year ago, but recently confirmed its name: OnePlus TV (there were fan-submitted alternatives on the table, but they weren’t great).
What exactly the OnePlus TV will be and do is still a bit of a puzzle, but here’s everything we know about it so far.
OnePlus TV release date
The OnePlus TV will launch in September, but it will initially only be available to consumers based in India. We’re still waiting on an official release date.
However, tech tipster @Samsung_News_ has claimed that the OnePlus TV will launch in India on September 26. India is one of OnePlus’ key markets, and in the past the company has offered India-based consumers exclusive access to Avengers- and Star Wars-themed variants of the OnePlus 5T and OnePlus 6.
OnePlus says its TV will come to North America, Europe and China “as soon as we establish partnerships with most of local and regional content providers”. According to @Samsung_News_, the OnePlus TV will launch in both the US and European markets on October 10, before going on sale on October 15.
Not yet anyways but they will be. Flexible-rollable solar sheets for power will be in ones emergency kit in the future.
Where did the power to run those huge fans come from? They also have a foot print, one unit is not going to solve the problem.
I'll take bi-facial, high efficiency solar when it comes over the other proposals at this time. However, any method of producing electricity that is less polluting to the environment is a plus for all.
Whether there is climate change or not from man or nature itself, the fact that solar will reduce pollution is a given. The management of this company, Squires and Jabbour are very strong believers in the "cradle to grave" philosophy also. So argue all you want, it's what actually gets developed that can improve the quality of the air in the future that counts.
I personally believed one volcanic eruption like Mt. Saint Helens did more environmental damage than years of mans pollution. However, worldwide man produces 71 million tons a day according to this statement and Mt. St. Helens produced 1000 tons a day. Maybe I was wrong.
"They also release carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas that's primarily blamed for global warming. Mount St. Helens produces between 500 and 1,000 tons a day of carbon dioxide, Gerlach estimates. Worldwide, people and their activities pump 26 billion tons of carbon dioxide a year into the atmosphere, he said.Dec 2, 2004"
If they heed the evacuation order - ZERO. WSAA?
Not true - "Few" synonyms:a small number, a handful, a sprinkling, one or two, a couple, two or three.
They know it's not happening for over a year plus. The facility isn't even ready.
I would think they would charge a usage fee. They are not doing this for free so people can feel good.
I clearly didn't word this properly.
I think Capstan's co-founder Jay Williams sees a double reward from QTMM stock and their initial public offering of bitcoins.
Has anyone noticed the "Crypto" button in the IHub header before? I just realized it was there for the first time. Whole new world developing.
After ten+ years and in the hole on this I have a better chance of dropping dead first before she would agree to that.
Where has QMC or Capstan indicated that they intent to enter the Bitcoin/cryptocurrency business?
Anti-counterfeiting or blockchain security seem possible, but "selling" Bitcoins?
Is the cryptocurrency business already built into Capstan Enterprise software package that QMC acquired?
I think you would buy their token for the right to some percent of the QD security they will offer. It would be an initial coin offering (ICO) but I don't know what they would call it or if it is the bitcoin. My take away from the article is every organization has their own coin offering.
The birth of a new member or Dapp in the blockchain community is called an ICO. It is a fundraising event based on token sales that could potentially huge gains for the well-informed and daring investors.
Quantum dots will play a significant part in authenticity verification of materials in the world of Blockchain. That opens up a whole new realm for manufacturers to control their product and reputation. Near the bottom is how we could participate in this new Dapp world involving bitcoins for new business developments. I think Capstan's co-founder Jay Williams sees a double reward from QTMM stock and their initial public offering of bitcoins. This is my thinking out loud.
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/dapps/
What Are Dapps? The New Decentralized Future
Suji.Velu
What are Dapps you might ask? Imagine having your car working away, transporting passengers while you’re at work. Imagine having your computer utilizing its spare capacity to serve businesses and people across the globe. Imagine being paid for browsing the web and taking ownership of your, arguably invaluable, attention. Imagine a world like that. That world is not far away.
A paradigm shift in the way we view software models is approaching. When Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, made us reassess our definition of Store of Value (SoV), it also revealed a sneak peek of the future: a world running on decentralized applications (Dapps). These distributed, resilient, transparent and incentivized applications will prove themselves to the world by remapping the technological landscape.
Want to learn about Dapps in greater detail? Check out our dedicated blockchain courses on Dapps and Ethereum.
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Understanding Blockchain
Before we can even fathom what Dapps do, we need to be familiar with its underlying technology—the blockchain. Put simply, a blockchain is a ledger of records organized in ‘blocks’ that are linked together by cryptographic validation. It is a digital storage of consensus truth. The key is to understand that this ledger is neither stored in a centralized location nor managed by any single entity, hence its distributed-ness. The block validation system results in new transactions being added irreversibly and old transactions preserved forever for all to see, hence its transparency and resilience. Open-source software that leverage on the blockchain technology are called Dapps.
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The Birth of Decentralized Applications
As the concept is still in its infancy, there might not be one definition of what a Dapp is. However, there are noticeable common features of Dapps:
Open Source. Ideally, it should be governed by autonomy and all changes must be decided by the consensus, or a majority, of its users. Its code base should be available for scrutiny.Decentralized. All records of the application’s operation must be stored on a public and decentralized blockchain to avoid pitfalls of centralization.Incentivized. Validators of the blockchain should be incentivized by rewarding them accordingly with cryptographic tokens.Protocol. The application community must agree on a cryptographic algorithm to show proof of value. For example, Bitcoin uses Proof of Work (PoW) and Ethereum is currently using PoW with plans for a hybrid PoW/Proof of Stake (PoS)5 in the future.
If we adhere to the above definition, the first Dapp was in fact Bitcoin itself. Bitcoin is an implemented blockchain solution that arose from problems revolving around centralization and censorship. One can say Bitcoin is a self-sustaining public ledger that allows efficient transactions without intermediaries and centralized authorities.
Train to Become A Blockchain Developer
Start Your Free Trial Today!
The Ethereum Network
While Bitcoin paved the way forcryptocurrencies and theblockchain technology,Ethereum was the one that first showed everyone the true potential of blockchain technology. Ethereum allowed developers from all over the world to run their Dapps on top of their platform. Ethereum developers can code smart contracts on Ethereum, which serves as the blueprint for the Dapp.
In Ethereum’s white paper, it was stated that the intention ofEthereum is to create an alternative protocol for building decentralized applications with emphasis on development time, security, and scaling. You may think of Ethereum as, for the lack of a better analogy, the Mother of Dapps. Armed with its very own language, Solidity, Ethereum enables developers to form smart contacts using the Turing-complete Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). With these tools available, developers made Dapps that have real-life use cases, ranging from asset management to resource planning.
Examples of successful Ethereum-based Dapps that have achieved millions of dollars in market cap include Golem, Augur, BAT, etc.
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Other Smart Contract Platforms
Ethereum paved the way for a host of smart contract platforms. We are going to focus on EOSand Tron because along withEthereum, these two platforms are the ones which have the most developer activity.
Helmed by STEEM creator Dan Larimer, EOS is one of the most exciting projects out there. Their main aim is to provide developers with a highly scalable platform, which Ethereum has failed to do thus far.
Tron has also leveraged scalability to garner a huge audience for themselves. However, what sets them apart in the cryptospace is the aggressive marketing and promotion by their founder Justin Sun.
Before we go any further, let’s look into Ethereum, EOS, Tron, and see the Dapp activity going inside each of those platforms.
Ethereum vs EOS vs Tron
See link for details if interested.
To Kickstart a Dapp Project:
Create a whitepaper. Your whitepaper should address a problem you wish to solve. It should clearly state the intentions and goals of the Dapp. Describe the plans for your Dapp’s token distribution, and how you intend to go about doing it. Decide on a mechanism for establishing consensus, and recruit your management and development team. Be honest with any technical difficulties you foresee and state your technical requirements clearly.Gain a following. Discuss your plan and form a community. Value feedback and revise your plans accordingly.Start a crowd-sale. Once the Dapp has gained enough momentum, decide on a date to receive token funding. The Dapp’s crowd sale website should have all the information that an investor may need.Bring your ideas to fruition. Begin development and welcome new developers and interest groups.
Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)
The birth of a new member or Dapp in the blockchain community is called an ICO. It is a fundraising event based on token sales that could potentially huge gains for the well-informed and daring investors.
In an ICO, the token value is arbitrarily determined by the start-up team. When the token gets listed on the exchange, the value is then corrected via price dynamics. The eventual value will be settled on by the participants of the network, other than accredited agencies.
No matter the accuracy of an ICO valuation, the fact remains that ICO itself is a driving factor of interest and innovation in the blockchain scene. ICO is the much-needed catalyst in opening a well of possibilities and extending the value that blockchain offers.
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How to Participate in ICOs
To engage in an ICO, follow the steps below:
Stay up to date. Find out their Slack group, Twitter handles and official website. Keep up with their ICO announcements and plans.Prepare a wallet. Do not use an exchange wallet as the address of an exchange wallet may change without you noticing. Some hardware wallets are not capability-wise ready for ICO tokens. This leaves making a wallet on myetherwallet.com as the best option. Ensure that the wallet has the necessary amount to transfer, including the gas price. For example, if you wish to transfer 10 ETH for the ICO tokens, make sure you have more than 10 ETH inside your wallet to pay the gas fee. Oversights like these are common and will result in failure of purchase.Be on time. Some popular ICOs are over in an hour. To increase your chances of securing ICO tokens, do prepare and make the transfers as early as possible.Safekeep your tokens. Keep your wallet safe. Once the token is listed and available on exchanges, you may transfer your tokens from the wallet to an exchange to start trading.
In choosing the right ICO to invest in, ask yourself the following questions:
Are my investments safe?Preservation of capital should be the priority of the investor. Can you trust the dev team with your money? Are you leaving your money with founders who were involved in scams?Is there a long-term plan? Do they have the abilities and the team makeup that the project demands?Is this just a well-marketed project? Sometimes all it takes is a professional looking website for inexperienced investors to be sold. Will the team be able to deliver its promises?What is my exit plan? As a high-risk investment, ICOs may require you to define an investment horizon or timeline. At which price point do you intend to exit?Does it hold a unique advantage? As the Dapp scene matures, newcomers with similar value propositions will join the market. What is the edge that this Dapp would have over future competitors?
As it stands, the current ICO scene is massively hyped. To protect yourself from capital losses, perform the necessary research and pick your ICO with care.
A Decentralized Dapps Future Awaits
The inevitable onslaught of blockchain adoption will render numerous practices obsolete. It may be a bold and distant conjecture, but services such as banking will be made redundant as the world learns to operate and finance itself by self-sustaining, trust-less and decentralized networks. Large corporations hurrying to secure their place in the blockchain movement is only a testament to that.
Perhaps another topic worth giving some thought over: by outsourcing information and value transfer to the blockchain, we increase efficiency by reducing middlemen services, but at what cost? As the services, a human can provide decreases and the value of a human erodes, can we say confidently that our lives will improve? No matter the answer to that question, we can only take the leap of faith, with blockchain as the next step forward and towards a world unified by shared data.
$QTMM Can anyone really read all these? If you can then DON'T MISS THIS ONE! Quantum Materials Corp is getting into Bitcoin security, for that matter any financial monetary product. This could blow the roof off of the industry. Marrying Blockchain with a means of physical identity verification. Brings a while new meanings to MEGA GROWTH of a company.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/08/15/1902364/0/en/Quantum-Materials-Corp-Acquires-Blockchain-Technology-to-Address-New-Market-Opportunities.html
$QTMM might be TOO pricey @.02 However getting into Bitcoin security? For that matter any financial monetary product it's a steal. This could blow the roof off of the industry. Marrying Blockchain with a means of physical identity verification. Brings a whole new meanings to MEGA GROWTH of a company.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/08/15/1902364/0/en/Quantum-Materials-Corp-Acquires-Blockchain-Technology-to-Address-New-Market-Opportunities.html
$QTMM getting into Bitcoin security? For that matter any financial monetary product. This could blow the roof off of the industry. Marrying Blockchain with a means of physical identity verification. Brings a whole new meanings to MEGA GROWTH of a company.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/08/15/1902364/0/en/Quantum-Materials-Corp-Acquires-Blockchain-Technology-to-Address-New-Market-Opportunities.html
$QTMM getting into Bitcoin security? For that matter any financial monetary product. This could blow the roof off of the industry. Marrying Blockchain with a means of physical identity verification. Brings a while new meanings to MEGA GROWTH of a company.
https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2019/08/15/1902364/0/en/Quantum-Materials-Corp-Acquires-Blockchain-Technology-to-Address-New-Market-Opportunities.html
Just was browsing the net from my phone and came across this Advertisement. Something is up even though it may not currently be the share price. Links for the 8 categories below did not copy over.
Ad·www.qmcdots.com/
Quantum Dots High Volume | Patented process technology
Cadmium Free Quantum dots, Nanoparticles, silver, gold, zinc etc Tetrapod QD's. Make An Inquiry. Subscribe For Updates.
Anti-Counterfeiting
Informative video
Business Development
Solar Cells
Officers & Board
Company
Product Applications
The Environment
Should I tell people about an opportunity to possibly benefit after the stock moves up instead of in the trash level it is now? Silence helps no one here. It's up to each individual to decide what action they take and they can only do that if they know about an opportunity.
Open looks like it's up .03+
LOAD UP then spread the word of the next big $$$$ maker.
Well they could use help in the promotion department but I wouldn't get my hopes up, just yet. They could use a word wizard there, have you thought about offering your services?
You could be right. Even if 1/2 of 1 percent look into the company that's still 75 new potential investors. At least it will help.
FYI One of todays Seeking Alpha posts:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4286691-quantum-materials-corp-looks-set-turnaround
PS. He only has 15,000 followers
Pictures, graphs and charts not included in the below post.
Quantum Materials Corp. Looks Set For A Turnaround
Aug. 19, 2019 5:04 PM ET |
About: Quantum Materials Corp. (QTMM)
Matt Bohlsen
Investment advisor, portfolio strategy, growth at reasonable price
Marketplace
Trend Investing
(15,088 followers)
Summary
What are quantum dots [QDs] and their applications? Quantum dots fluoresce (generate light) when energy is applied to them or generate energy when light is applied.
The global quantum dots market accounted for $734 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $22 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 62.6%.
Quantum Materials Corp.'s business and licensing plans.
Looking for a portfolio of ideas like this one? Members of Trend Investing get exclusive access to our model portfolio. Get started today »
This article first appeared on Trend Investing on July 11 therefore all data is as of this date.
Quantum Materials Corp. (OTCQB:QTMM) - Price = CAD 0.028
Quantum Materials Corp. ("QMC") is a US company headquartered in San Marcos, Texas, USA, that designs and develops quantum dots and other nano-materials using a patented process capable of producing commercial quantities of these materials with high performance characteristics at low cost and rapid scale up. Target markets are major end-use markets such as displays, lighting applications (e.g.: LEDs), solar, security & surveillance, batteries, sensors, and biotechnology/medical applications.
Quantum Materials Corp. state they are a "leading American nanomaterial & cadmium free quantum dot manufacturer."
Solterra Renewable Technologies Inc. is the wholly-owned subsidiary of Quantum Materials. Solterra is developing next-gen quantum dot solar cells printing by roll-to-roll processes. The "goal" is that by using quantum dots the efficiency of solar cells can be significantly improved above conventional solar cells. You can read more here.
As shown on the chart below, the stock price has suffered for a decade. I would be the first to agree this is a warning sign for investors to have added caution; however, it can also be explained in part as the company has undergone a long journey to develop and then market their products, etc. Given production and revenues are just around the corner, the timing appears right for a small entry.
Quantum Materials Corp. price graph
Source: Google Finance
What are quantum dots [QDs] and their applications?
Quantum dots [QDs] are super tiny semiconductor particles a few nanometres in size, having optical and electronic properties that differ from larger LED particles. Quantum dots are artificial atoms ranging in size from <1.5 to > 40 nanometers made up of 1 to 50 atoms. One nanometer is 10 to the power -9 meter or "a millionth of a millimeter". Approximately 10,000 QDs would fit across the diameter of a human hair.
When the quantum dots are illuminated by UV light, some of the electrons receive enough energy to break free from the atoms creating a conductance band in which electrons are free to move through a material and conduct electricity.
In simple terms:
Quantum Dots fluoresce (generate light) when energy is applied to them or generate energy when light is applied.
You can read more on quantum dots here.
Quantum dots applications
Quantum Materials Corp. develops and manufactures several types of quantum dots. The company has patented chemistry that enables production of highly uniform tetrapod quantum dots with excellent yields. The structure of a tetrapod quantum dot consists of a central core with 4 rods protruding from the center, significantly different from the spherical quantum dots sold on the market today. It is important to note that the tetrapods are superior in energy absorption and emission than related spherical or rod-like structures.
Displays
For all types of displays (TVs, etc.), quantum dots have the potential to be the next big thing, by bringing better image quality to displays. Tetrapod quantum dots are an advanced nanoscale material that improves the performance and energy efficiency of very high-resolution computer, TV and smartphone displays. Quantum Materials' patent-pending automated production technology produces uniform, narrow bandwidth quantum dots with bright emission, less aggregation, purer colors (including high-luminous red) and precise color rendition. Their higher brightness means fewer quantum dots are required to achieve the same level of performance needed, for more cost savings.
Note: Quantum Materials does not use the tetrapods in displays, but instead a 100% cadmium free RoHS compliant spherical quantum dot is used for displays.
Solar
Quantum dot solar cells can absorb solar energy from the visible spectrum to the invisible infrared and ultraviolet bands even at night, thus allowing for 24 hour per day energy production.
According to NREL & QMC, quantum dot solar, at ~66%-70%, has a 'theoretical' potential conversion efficiency nearly twice as great as all non-quantum dot solar cell technologies. This, coupled with the ability to print quantum dot solar cells with conventional printing equipment, will result in the lowest cost solar technology bar none. Quantum Materials has equipment which is capable of producing 100 kg per day at very competitive costs.
Quantum Materials subsidiary Solterra Renewable Technologies, Inc. is in the development and mass-production of quantum dot solar cells by roll-to-roll printing on flexible films. The company say that their roll to roll printing and low cost of continuous flow quantum dot production process is expected to produce the lowest cost thin film solar solution once at scale.
Other applications
There are numerous other applications such as solid state lighting (improves LEDs performance and hence lowers cost), security and surveillance (nano dots can be secretly embedded in clothing, etc.), anti-counterfeiting, water purification, medical (cancer and disease detection and possibly treatment using fluorescence of quantum dot markers), conductive inks, and many others. An area I find most interesting is that quantum dots in batteries can increase power performance and rapid charging abilities.
Quantum Materials is focused on the following applications:
a) Thin film electronics which includes, solar, display, lighting and energy storage (super capacitors); using thin film roll to roll printing for these applications.
b) Anti-counterfeiting, track and trace. This technology combines their materials technology and its ability to emit a non-clonable mark with a robust software based ledger.
Global Quantum dots market outlook
Research and Markets quote from the Quantum Dot - Global Market Outlook (2017-2023) report:
"The Global Quantum Dots Market accounted for $734 million in 2016 and is expected to reach $22 billion by 2023 growing at a CAGR of 62.6%. Factors such as rising demand for optimized devices with better performance and resolution quality and ability to emit brighter light increases energy efficiency are fueling the market growth. However, huge price of the technology, small price of competing technologies and use of heavy metals as raw material are hampering the market growth."
Quantum dots market size forecasts
Source: Private company chart (no link)
Quantum Materials business plan
Quantum Materials is the developer of the quantum dots technology. The company's plan is to sell licenses and equipment, charge royalties, and/or sub-contract out manufacturing of their products.
Quantum Materials Corp.'s licensing plans
Quantum Materials has signed a licensing agreement for large scale volume production of quantum dots in Assam, India. The agreement is with Amtronics India, which formed Qamronics India Pvt. (JV between Amtronics India and Assam Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. (AMTRON) which is state-owned) for the purpose of building the Assam, India, production facility.
Management
Stephen Squires - Founder, Chairman & CEO of Quantum Materials Corp., CEO of Quantum Materials Asia Co., Ltd., and Managing Director and Founder of Solterra Renewable Technologies, Inc.
Mr. Squires has over 30 years experience in advanced materials, nanotechnology and other emerging technologies. From 1983 to 2001, Mr. Squires was Founder and CEO of Aviation Composite Technologies Inc., which he grew to have over 200 employees and $20 million in revenue. ACT was merged with USDR Aerospace in 2001. In the late 1970s, at McDonnell Douglas, he developed and adapted advanced materials for combat aircraft applications.
David Doderer - Director
David Doderer has over 20 years of research & development experience in the emerging technologies of biotech and nanotech with an emphasis on exploring the properties of nanomaterials and quantum dots, and integrating them within projects.
Dr. Ghassan Jabbour - Board Member
Professor Jabbour is Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in the Electrical Engineering department at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He was the Founding Director of the Solar and Photovolatic Engineering Center, Named Professor of Materials Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering at KAUST. Dr. Jabbour was one of the founding PIs for the Flexible Display Center [FDC] at Arizona State University [ASU], the Director of Flexible and Organic Electronics Development at FDC, Director of Advanced Photovoltaics Center [ASU], and a Professor of the School of Materials [ASU]. Prof. Jabbour has had many distinguished honors and awards.
Source: Company website
Largest Shareholders and insiders
Insiders hold ~6.5% which is not bad.
Source: 4-traders
Valuation
Quantum Materials has a market cap of USD 16.5m with 581m shares outstanding (as of May 10, 2019), and is not yet earnings positive.
Cash levels shown as of end March 2019 were low at USD 135,292; however, the company is expecting USD 500,400 as shown in their account receivables.
It is a bit early for me to have a price target. I was not able to find any analyst's price targets.
Quantum Materials current financials
Note the net income has an error and should read negative USD 9.401 million, not billion.
Note the latest Quarterly Report shows total liabilities at USD 7,192,413.
Source: Bloomberg
Catalysts
2019 - Possible off-take announcements. The company stated in January 2019 that they were "in discussions with a number of the industry’s leading electronics OEMs in an effort to identify the optimum industry partner that will be capable of delivering this solution to a very broad market."
2019 - Possible further license agreements and/or quantum dot off-take agreements.
Late 2019/early 2020 - Commencement of quantum dot production in Assam, India.
Latest News and achievements
July 2018 - Advanced remote phosphor QD-LED development – surpassed 10,000 hours continuous on-time.
October 2018 - (For displays) Achieved industry leading 91% Rec. 2020 coverage on chip with cadmium-free QD remote phosphor.
December 2018 - Completed licensing agreement with Amtronics India to establish large scale QD production in Assam, India, for 3rd generation solar, displays and SSL.
Note: Qamronics India Pvt. has been established to manufacture quantum dot semiconductors and quantum dot thin film solar cells using patented technologies licensed from Quantum Materials Corp. USA.
Note: Amtronics has decades of experience throughout the Middle East and Asia in developing and managing infrastructure and commercial construction projects, scaling technologies and has developed exceptional operational expertise.
On April 29, 2019, Quantum Materials announced:
"Quantum Materials Corp. unveils industry’s first 100% cadmium-free 55 inch Quantum Dot LCD Display with 95% Rec. 2020 Performance. Quantum Materials Corp. CEO Stephen B. Squires stated that “We are extremely excited to announce this level of QD performance in a totally cadmium-free display product. We have received very encouraging indications of interest from OEM electronics manufacturers that are looking to increase the color rendering capabilities of their displays without adding cadmium and upon reaching this milestone, we believe we are now in a position to partner to commercialize this technology in order to get our QD materials into consumer displays. With the advent of this low cost, high performance offering, we believe we can materially disrupt the industry and create a market condition wherein QD enhanced technology can become a de-facto standard in consumer displays."
On June 13, 2019, Quantum Materials announced:
"Quantum Materials Corp. announces $1 million order for two high volume quantum dot production systems. The $1M order has been placed by Amtronics LLC and has been secured with a letter of credit issued by Assam Electronic Development Corporation Limited. The two systems are scheduled to be delivered to Amtronics LLC on or before June 30, 2019 and will be deployed at the Quantum Materials Corp’s licensee’ new Tech City site in Assam, India, currently under construction with a target completion date of November 2019... Quantum Material's is the leader in high volume, low cost, quantum dot production using its patented continuous flow process technologies. Their QDX dots have been engineered to provide long-term reliability making them ideally suited for solar, energy storage, lighting and display applications... Commenting on the news, M.K. Yadava, CEO of Assam Electronics Development Corp., stated: "We are excited to see our vision taking shape in this exciting new venture to build next generation technology utilizing quantum dot materials. We are making excellent progress in constructing the new quantum dot facilities here at Tech City and with weather permitting, we believe the new facility will be completed according to schedule with an opening date on or about Nov 2019.""
Risks
The company is burning cash (loss making) and currently funded by shareholders. Funding risk remains in the short term.
Technology change.
The usual risks of new development and production companies - technical issues, licensing/production problems, competition.
Management and currency risks.
Sovereign risk is low to medium (headquarters in USA, Qamronics is in India).
Stock market risks - dilution, lack of liquidity, market sentiment.
Investors can view the company presentation here, the latest quarterly report here, and an older CEO interview here.
Competitors
Quantum dot producers
Advano, American Dye Source Inc., Antibodies Incorporated, Attonuclei, Avantama AG, CAN GmbH, China Beijing Beida Jubang Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Creative Diagnostics, CrystalPlex Corporation, Cytodiagnostics, Dow Chemical Company, Dotz Nano Ltd., DuPont, Emfutur Technologies, Evident Thermoelectrics, Fuji Pigment Co., Ltd., Green Science Alliance Co. Ltd., Hansol Chemical Co. Ltd., IQDEMY Quantum Technology SA, KRI, Inc., Merck KGaA/EMD Performance Materials, Mesolight, Lab21 Limited, Najing Tech, Nano Elements Source LLC, Nano Chem Tech Inc., Nanoco Group Plc, Nanooptical Materials Inc., NanoPhotonica, Inc., Nanosquare Inc., Nanosys Inc., Navillum Nanotechnologies LLC, Nexdot SAS, Nippon Chemical Industrial Co., Ltd., NN-Labs, LLC, Ocean Nanotech LLC, Particle Works, PhosphorTech Corporation, Quantum Solutions, Shanghai Simbatt Energy Technology Co., Ltd., Shoei Chemical Inc., Sigma-Aldrich, Sinon Therapeutics, Solvay SA, StoreDot Ltd., Thermo Fisher Scientific, Tianjin Zhonghuan Electronic Lighting Technology Co., UbiQD, LLC, Unique Materials, Wah Hong Industrial Corporation, Wuhan Jiayuan Quantum Dots Co., Ltd., XF Nano, Zhonghuan Quantum.
Quantum dot product developers
Acer Inc, AUO Optronics, BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., Efun Technology Co., Ltd., HiSense, Innolux Corporation, LG Display Co. Ltd., LMS Co. Ltd., Lumileds, Luminit, ML System S.A Zaczernie, Nano-Lit Technologies, Natcore Technology, Inc., NS Materials Inc., Osram Opto Semiconductors, QD Laser Inc., QD Solar QMAT Inc., Quantag, Ranovus, Raytheon Company, Revolution Lighting Technologies, Samsung, TCL Corporation, Tianma Microelectronics Co. Ltd., TPV-Vision.
Conclusion
Quantum Materials shareholders have had a rough past decade and certainly the financials look typical of an R&D company burning cash; however, it looks increasingly likely the company is about to turn the corner.
The quantum dot sector is expected to surge at a CAGR of 62.6%. Competition is fierce; however, Quantum Materials has a competitive edge with their better performing quantum dots (with no cadmium) and a low cost flow production process which is soon to be put into large scale production in India.
Connecting the "dots" - The late 2018 news of a licensing agreement to establish large scale quantum dot production in Assam, India, the June 2019 $1 million order for two high volume quantum dot production systems, the Assam site development by Qamronics, all lead me to believe quantum dot related revenues (license fees and royalties, etc.) are not far away (~2020). This is confirmed by the company saying the India factory has a "completion date of November 2019". The CapEx of the India land and factory is to be shouldered by Qamronics India.
It is too early to give an accurate valuation for the company; however, given the enormous potential upside in the sector, buying now on a market cap of USD 16m appears to leave plenty of upside and minimal downside. Given the poor share price and financial performance to date, investors would be wise to invest cautiously on this high risk/high reward nanotech company.
I intend to follow up very soon with a CEO interview exclusive for Trend Investing members.
As usual, all comments are welcome.
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Disclosure: I/we have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
Additional disclosure: The information in this article is general in nature and should not be relied upon as personal financial advice.
I think he should contact Steve to be the author for all documents and company publications so they are word perfect. It would free up the lawyer's and save the company money having them to review it.
BLOCKCHAIN explained:
https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
#5 Supply chain auditing,#9 IoT, #12 Anti-money laundering could all be possible QD ties in the future.
Is Blockchain Technology the New Internet?
The blockchain is an undeniably ingenious invention – the brainchild of a person or group of people known by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto. But since then, it has evolved into something greater, and the main question every single person is asking is: What is Blockchain?
By allowing digital information to be distributed but not copied, blockchain technology created the backbone of a new type of internet. Originally devised for the digital currency, Bitcoin, (Buy Bitcoin) the tech community has now found other potential uses for the technology.
In this guide, we are going to explain to you what the blockchain technology is, and what its properties are that make it so unique. So, we hope you enjoy this, What Is Blockchain Guide. And if you already know what blockchain is and want to become a blockchain developer please check out our in-depth blockchain tutorial and create your very first blockchain.
Understanding Blockchain Technology
“The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.” – Don & Alex Tapscott, authors Blockchain Revolution (2016).
A blockchain is, in the simplest of terms, a time-stamped series of immutable record of data that is managed by cluster of computers not owned by any single entity. Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) are secured and bound to each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain).
So, what is so special about it and why are we saying that it has industry disrupting capabilities?
The blockchain network has no central authority — it is the very definition of a democratized system. Since it is a shared and immutable ledger, the information in it is open for anyone and everyone to see. Hence, anything that is built on the blockchain is by its very nature transparent and everyone involved is accountable for their actions.
Blockchain Explained
A blockchain carries no transaction cost. (An infrastructure cost yes, but no transaction cost.) The blockchain is a simple yet ingenious way of passing information from A to B in a fully automated and safe manner. One party to a transaction initiates the process by creating a block. This block is verified by thousands, perhaps millions of computers distributed around the net. The verified block is added to a chain, which is stored across the net, creating not just a unique record, but a unique record with a unique history. Falsifying a single record would mean falsifying the entire chain in millions of instances. That is virtually impossible. Bitcoin uses this model for monetary transactions, but it can be deployed in many others ways.
Think of a railway company. We buy tickets on an app or the web. The credit card company takes a cut for processing the transaction. With blockchain, not only can the railway operator save on credit card processing fees, it can move the entire ticketing process to the blockchain. The two parties in the transaction are the railway company and the passenger. The ticket is a block, which will be added to a ticket blockchain. Just as a monetary transaction on blockchain is a unique, independently verifiable and unfalsifiable record (like Bitcoin), so can your ticket be. Incidentally, the final ticket blockchain is also a record of all transactions for, say, a certain train route, or even the entire train network, comprising every ticket ever sold, every journey ever taken.
But the key here is this: it’s free. Not only can the blockchain transfer and store money, but it can also replace all processes and business models which rely on charging a small fee for a transaction. Or any other transaction between two parties.
Here is another example. The gig economy hub Fivver charges 0.5 dollars on a 5 transaction between individuals buying and selling services. Using blockchain technology the transaction is free. Ergo, Fivver will cease to exist. So will auction houses and any other business entity based on the market-maker principle.
Even recent entrants like Uber and AirBnB are threatened by blockchain technology. All you need to do is encode the transactional information for a car ride or an overnight stay, and again you have a perfectly safe way that disrupts the business model of the companies which have just begun to challenge the traditional economy. We are not just cutting out the fee-processing middle man, we are also eliminating the need for the match-making platform.
Because blockchain transactions are free, you can charge minuscule amounts, say 1/100 of a cent for a video view or article read. Why should I pay The Economist or National Geographic an annual subscription fee if I can pay per article on Facebook or my favorite chat app. Again, remember that blockchain transactions carry no transaction cost. You can charge for anything in any amount without worrying about third parties cutting into your profits.
Blockchain may make selling recorded music profitable again for artists by cutting out music companies and distributors like Apple or Spotify. The music you buy could even be encoded in the blockchain itself, making it a cloud archive for any song purchased. Because the amounts charged can be so small, subscription and streaming services will become irrelevant.
It goes further. Ebooks could be fitted with blockchain code. Instead of Amazon taking a cut, and the credit card company earning money on the sale, the books would circulate in encoded form and a successful blockchain transaction would transfer money to the author and unlock the book. Transfer ALL the money to the author, not just meager royalties. You could do this on a book review website like Goodreads, or on your own website. The marketplace Amazon is then unnecessary. Successful iterations could even include reviews and other third-party information about the book.
In the financial world the applications are more obvious and the revolutionary changes more imminent. Blockchains will change the way stock exchanges work, loans are bundled, and insurances contracted. They will eliminate bank accounts and practically all services offered by banks. Almost every financial institution will go bankrupt or be forced to change fundamentally, once the advantages of a safe ledger without transaction fees is widely understood and implemented. After all, the financial system is built on taking a small cut of your money for the privilege of facilitating a transaction. Bankers will become mere advisers, not gatekeepers of money. Stockbrokers will no longer be able to earn commissions and the buy/sell spread will disappear.
How Does Blockchain Work?
Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a network of computers. Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update this spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the blockchain.
Information held on a blockchain exists as a shared — and continually reconciled — database. This is a way of using the network that has obvious benefits. The blockchain database isn’t stored in any single location, meaning the records it keeps are truly public and easily verifiable. No centralized version of this information exists for a hacker to corrupt. Hosted by millions of computers simultaneously, its data is accessible to anyone on the internet.
To go in deeper with the Google spreadsheet analogy, I would like you to read this piece from a blockchain specialist.
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“The traditional way of sharing documents with collaboration is to send a Microsoft Word document to another recipient, and ask them to make revisions to it. The problem with that scenario is that you need to wait until receiving a return copy before you can see or make other changes because you are locked out of editing it until the other person is done with it. That’s how databases work today. Two owners can’t be messing with the same record at once.That’s how banks maintain money balances and transfers; they briefly lock access (or decrease the balance) while they make a transfer, then update the other side, then re-open access (or update again).With Google Docs (or Google Sheets), both parties have access to the same document at the same time, and the single version of that document is always visible to both of them. It is like a shared ledger, but it is a shared document. The distributed part comes into play when sharing involves a number of people.
Imagine the number of legal documents that should be used that way. Instead of passing them to each other, losing track of versions, and not being in sync with the other version, why can’t *all* business documents become shared instead of transferred back and forth? So many types of legal contracts would be ideal for that kind of workflow. You don’t need a blockchain to share documents, but the shared documents analogy is a powerful one.” – William Mougayar, Venture advisor, 4x entrepreneur, marketer, strategist and blockchain specialist
The reason why the blockchain has gained so much admiration is that:
• It is not owned by a single entity, hence it is decentralized
• The data is cryptographically stored inside
• The blockchain is immutable, so no one can tamper with the data that is inside the blockchain
• The blockchain is transparent so one can track the data if they want to
The Three Pillars of Blockchain Technology
The three main properties of Blockchain Technology which has helped it gain widespread acclaim are as follows:
• Decentralization
• Transparency
• Immutability
Pillar #1: Decentralization
Before Bitcoin and BitTorrent came along, we were more used to centralized services. The idea is very simple. You have a centralized entity which stored all the data and you’d have to interact solely with this entity to get whatever information you required.
Another example of a centralized system is banks. They store all your money, and the only way that you can pay someone is by going through the bank.
The traditional client-server model is a perfect example of this:
When you google search for something, you send a query to the server who then gets back at you with the relevant information. That is simple client-server.
Now, centralized systems have treated us well for many years, however, they have several vulnerabilities.
• Firstly, because they are centralized, all the data is stored in one spot. This makes them easy target spots for potential hackers.
• If the centralized system were to go through a software upgrade, it would halt the entire system
• What if the centralized entity somehow shut down for whatever reason? That way nobody will be able to access the information that it possesses
• Worst case scenario, what if this entity gets corrupted and malicious? If that happens then all the data that is inside the blockchain will be compromised.
So, what happens if we just take this centralized entity away?
In a decentralized system, the information is not stored by one single entity. In fact, everyone in the network owns the information.
In a decentralized network, if you wanted to interact with your friend then you can do so directly without going through a third party. That was the main ideology behind Bitcoins. You and only you alone are in charge of your money. You can send your money to anyone you want without having to go through a bank.
Pillar #2: Transparency
One of the most interesting and misunderstood concepts in blockchain technology is “transparency.” Some people say that blockchain gives you privacy while some say that it is transparent. Why do you think that happens?
Well… a person’s identity is hidden via complex cryptography and represented only by their public address. So, if you were to look up a person’s transaction history, you will not see “Bob sent 1 BTC” instead you will see “1MF1bhsFLkBzzz9vpFYEmvwT2TbyCt7NZJ sent 1 BTC”.
The following snapshot of Ethereum transactions will show you what we mean:
So, while the person’s real identity is secure, you will still see all the transactions that were done by their public address. This level of transparency has never existed before within a financial system. It adds that extra, and much needed, level of accountability which is required by some of these biggest institutions.
Speaking purely from the point of view of cryptocurrency, if you know the public address of one of these big companies, you can simply pop it in an explorer and look at all the transactions that they have engaged in. This forces them to be honest, something that they have never had to deal with before.
However, that’s not the best use-case. We are pretty sure that most of these companies won’t transact using cryptocurrencies, and even if they do, they won’t do ALL their transactions using cryptocurrencies. However, what if the blockchain technology was integrated…say in their supply chain?
You can see why something like this can be very helpful for the finance industry right?
Pillar #3: Immutability
Immutability, in the context of the blockchain, means that once something has been entered into the blockchain, it cannot be tampered with.
Can you imagine how valuable this will be for financial institutes?
Imagine how many embezzlement cases can be nipped in the bud if people know that they can’t “work the books” and fiddle around with company accounts.
The reason why the blockchain gets this property is that of cryptographic hash function.
In simple terms, hashing means taking an input string of any length and giving out an output of a fixed length. In the context of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, the transactions are taken as an input and run through a hashing algorithm (bitcoin uses SHA-256) which gives an output of a fixed length.
Let’s see how the hashing process works. We are going to put in certain inputs. For this exercise, we are going to use the SHA-256 (Secure Hashing Algorithm 256).
As you can see, in the case of SHA-256, no matter how big or small your input is, the output will always have a fixed 256-bits length. This becomes critical when you are dealing with a huge amount of data and transactions. So basically, instead of remembering the input data which could be huge, you can just remember the hash and keep track.
A cryptographic hash function is a special class of hash functions which has various properties making it ideal for cryptography. There are certain properties that a cryptographic hash function needs to have in order to be considered secure. You can read about those in detail in our guide on hashing.
There is just one property that we want you to focus on today. It is called the “Avalanche Effect.”
What does that mean?
Even if you make a small change in your input, the changes that will be reflected in the hash will be huge. Let’s test it out using SHA-256:
You see that? Even though you just changed the case of the first alphabet of the input, look at how much that has affected the output hash. Now, let’s go back to our previous point when we were looking at blockchain architecture. What we said was:
The blockchain is a linked list which contains data and a hash pointer which points to its previous block, hence creating the chain. What is a hash pointer? A hash pointer is similar to a pointer, but instead of just containing the address of the previous block it also contains the hash of the data inside the previous block.
This one small tweak is what makes blockchains so amazingly reliable and trailblazing.
Imagine this for a second, a hacker attacks block 3 and tries to change the data. Because of the properties of hash functions, a slight change in data will change the hash drastically. This means that any slight changes made in block 3, will change the hash which is stored in block 2, now that in turn will change the data and the hash of block 2 which will result in changes in block 1 and so on and so forth. This will completely change the chain, which is impossible. This is exactly how blockchains attain immutability.
Maintaining the Blockchain – Network and Nodes
The blockchain is maintained by a peer-to-peer network. The network is a collection of nodes which are interconnected to one another. Nodes are individual computers which take in input and performs a function on them and gives an output. The blockchain uses a special kind of network called “peer-to-peer network” which partitions its entire workload between participants, who are all equally privileged, called “peers”. There is no longer one central server, now there are several distributed and decentralized peers.
Why do people use the peer-to-peer network?
One of the main uses of the peer-to-peer network is file sharing, also called torrenting. If you are to use a client-server model for downloading, then it is usually extremely slow and entirely dependent on the health of the server. Plus, like we said, it is prone to censorship.
However, in a peer-to-peer system, there is no central authority, and hence if even one of the peers in the network goes out of the race, you still have more peers to download from. Plus, it is not subject to the idealistic standards of a central system, hence it is not prone to censorship.
If we were to compare the two:
Image courtesy: Quora
The decentralized nature of a peer-to-peer system becomes critical as we move on to the next section. How critical? Well, the simple (at least on paper) idea of combining this peer-to-peer network with a payment system has completely revolutionized the finance industry by giving birth to cryptocurrency.
The use of networks and nodes in cryptocurrencies.
The peer-to-peer network structure in cryptocurrencies is structured according to the consensus mechanism that they are utilizing. For cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum which uses a normal proof-of-work consensus mechanism (Ethereum will eventually move on to Proof of Stake), all the nodes have the same privilege. The idea is to create an egalitarian network. The nodes are not given any special privileges, however, their functions and degree of participation may differ. There is no centralized server/entity, nor is there any hierarchy. It is a flat topology.
These decentralized cryptocurrencies are structured like that is because of a simple reason, to stay true to their philosophy. The idea is to have a currency system, where everyone is treated as an equal and there is no governing body, which can determine the value of the currency based on a whim. This is true for both bitcoin and Ethereum.
Now, if there is no central system, how would everyone in the system get to know that a certain transaction has happened? The network follows the gossip protocol. Think of how gossip spreads. Suppose Alice sent 3 ETH to Bob. The nodes nearest to her will get to know of this, and then they will tell the nodes closest to them, and then they will tell their neighbors, and this will keep on spreading out until everyone knows. Nodes are basically your nosy, annoying relatives.
So, what is a node in the context of Ethereum? A node is simply a computer that participates in the Ethereum network. This participation can be in three ways
• By keeping a shallow-copy of the blockchain aka a Light Client
• By keeping a full-copy of the blockchain aka a Full Node
• By verifying the transactions aka Mining
However, the problem with this design is that it is not really that scalable. Which is why, a lot of new generation cryptocurrencies adopt a leader-based consensus mechanism. In EOS, Cardano, Neo etc. the nodes elect leader nodes or “super nodes” who are in charge of the consensus and overall network health. These cryptos are a lot faster but they are not the most decentralized of systems.
So, in a way, cryptos have to make the trade-off between speed and decentralization.
Who Will Use The Blockchain?
As web infrastructure, you don’t need to know about the blockchain for it to be useful in your life.
Currently, finance offers the strongest use cases for the technology. International remittances, for instance. The World Bank estimates that over $430 billion US in money transfers were sent in 2015. And at the moment there is a high demand for blockchain developers.
The blockchain potentially cuts out the middleman for these types of transactions. Personal computing became accessible to the general public with the invention of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), which took the form of a “desktop”. Similarly, the most common GUI devised for the blockchain are the so-called “wallet” applications, which people use to buy things with Bitcoin, and store it along with other cryptocurrencies.
Transactions online are closely connected to the processes of identity verification. It is easy to imagine that wallet apps will transform in the coming years to include other types of identity management.
What is Blockchain? And What New Applications Will It Bring Us?
The blockchain gives internet users the ability to create value and authenticates digital information. What new business applications will result from this?
#1 Smart contracts
Distributed ledgers enable the coding of simple contracts that will execute when specified conditions are met. Ethereum is an open source blockchain project that was built specifically to realize this possibility. Still, in its early stages, Ethereum has the potential to leverage the usefulness of blockchains on a truly world-changing scale.
At the technology’s current level of development, smart contracts can be programmed to perform simple functions. For instance, a derivative could be paid out when a financial instrument meets certain benchmark, with the use of blockchain technology and Bitcoin enabling the payout to be automated.
#2 The sharing economy
With companies like Uber and Airbnb flourishing, the sharing economy is already a proven success. Currently, however, users who want to hail a ride-sharing service have to rely on an intermediary like Uber. By enabling peer-to-peer payments, the blockchain opens the door to direct interaction between parties — a truly decentralized sharing economy results.
An early example, OpenBazaar uses the blockchain to create a peer-to-peer eBay. Download the app onto your computing device, and you can transact with OpenBazzar vendors without paying transaction fees. The “no rules” ethos of the protocol means that personal reputation will be even more important to business interactions than it currently is on eBay.
#3 Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding initiatives like Kickstarter and Gofundme are doing the advance work for the emerging peer-to-peer economy. The popularity of these sites suggests people want to have a direct say in product development. Blockchains take this interest to the next level, potentially creating crowd-sourced venture capital funds.
In 2016, one such experiment, the Ethereum-based DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization), raised an astonishing $200 million USD in just over two months. Participants purchased “DAO tokens” allowing them to vote on smart contract venture capital investments (voting power was proportionate to the number of DAO they were holding). A subsequent hack of project funds proved that the project was launched without proper due diligence, with disastrous consequences. Regardless, the DAO experiment suggests the blockchain has the potential to usher in “a new paradigm of economic cooperation.”
#4 Governance
By making the results fully transparent and publicly accessible, distributed database technology could bring full transparency to elections or any other kind of poll taking. Ethereum-based smart contracts help to automate the process.
The app, Boardroom, enables organizational decision-making to happen on the blockchain. In practice, this means company governance becomes fully transparent and verifiable when managing digital assets, equity or information.
#5 Supply chain auditing
Consumers increasingly want to know that the ethical claims companies make about their products are real. Distributed ledgers provide an easy way to certify that the backstories of the things we buy are genuine. Transparency comes with blockchain-based timestamping of a date and location — on ethical diamonds, for instance — that corresponds to a product number.
The UK-based Provenance offers supply chain auditing for a range of consumer goods. Making use of the Ethereum blockchain, a Provenance pilot project ensures that fish sold in Sushi restaurants in Japan has been sustainably harvested by its suppliers in Indonesia.
#6 File storage
Decentralizing file storage on the internet brings clear benefits. Distributing data throughout the network protects files from getting hacked or lost.
Inter Planetary File System (IPFS) makes it easy to conceptualize how a distributed web might operate. Similar to the way a BitTorrent moves data around the internet, IPFS gets rid of the need for centralized client-server relationships (i.e., the current web). An internet made up of completely decentralized websites has the potential to speed up file transfer and streaming times. Such an improvement is not only convenient. It’s a necessary upgrade to the web’s currently overloaded content-delivery systems.
#7 Prediction markets
The crowdsourcing of predictions on event probability is proven to have a high degree of accuracy. Averaging opinions cancels out the unexamined biases that distort judgment. Prediction markets that payout according to event outcomes are already active. Blockchains are a “wisdom of the crowd” technology that will no doubt find other applications in the years to come.
The prediction market application Augur makes share offerings on the outcome of real-world events. Participants can earn money by buying into the correct prediction. The more shares purchased in the correct outcome, the higher the payout will be. With a small commitment of funds (less than a dollar), anyone can ask a question, create a market based on a predicted outcome, and collect half of all transaction fees the market generates.
#8 Protection of intellectual property
As is well known, digital information can be infinitely reproduced — and distributed widely thanks to the internet. This has given web users globally a goldmine of free content. However, copyright holders have not been so lucky, losing control over their intellectual property and suffering financially as a consequence. Smart contracts can protect copyright and automate the sale of creative works online, eliminating the risk of file copying and redistribution.
Mycelia uses the blockchain to create a peer-to-peer music distribution system. Founded by the UK singer-songwriter Imogen Heap, Mycelia enables musicians to sell songs directly to audiences, as well as license samples to producers and divvy up royalties to songwriters and musicians — all of these functions being automated by smart contracts. The capacity of blockchains to issue payments in fractional cryptocurrency amounts (micropayments) suggests this use case for the blockchain has a strong chance of success.
#9 Internet of Things (IoT)
What is the IoT? The network-controlled management of certain types of electronic devices — for instance, the monitoring of air temperature in a storage facility. Smart contracts make the automation of remote systems management possible. A combination of software, sensors, and the network facilitates an exchange of data between objects and mechanisms. The result increases system efficiency and improves cost monitoring.
The biggest players in manufacturing, tech and telecommunications are all vying for IoT dominance. Think Samsung, IBM and AT&T. A natural extension of existing infrastructure controlled by incumbents, IoT applications will run the gamut from predictive maintenance of mechanical parts to data analytics, and mass-scale automated systems management.
#10 Neighbourhood Microgrids
Blockchain technology enables the buying and selling of the renewable energy generated by neighborhood microgrids. When solar panels make excess energy, Ethereum-based smart contracts automatically redistribute it. Similar types of smart contract automation will have many other applications as the IoT becomes a reality.
Located in Brooklyn, Consensys is one of the foremost companies globally that is developing a range of applications for Ethereum. One project they are partnering on is Transactive Grid, working with the distributed energy outfit, LO3. A prototype project currently up and running uses Ethereum smart contracts to automate the monitoring and redistribution of microgrid energy. This so-called “intelligent grid” is an early example of IoT functionality.
#11 Identity management
There is a definite need for better identity management on the web. The ability to verify your identity is the lynchpin of financial transactions that happen online. However, remedies for the security risks that come with web commerce are imperfect at best. Distributed ledgers offer enhanced methods for proving who you are, along with the possibility to digitize personal documents. Having a secure identity will also be important for online interactions — for instance, in the sharing economy. A good reputation, after all, is the most important condition for conducting transactions online.
Developing digital identity standards is proving to be a highly complex process. Technical challenges aside, a universal online identity solution requires cooperation between private entities and government. Add to that the need to navigate legal systems in different countries and the problem becomes exponentially difficult. E-Commerce on the internet currently relies on the SSL certificate (the little green lock) for secure transactions on the web. Netki is a startup that aspires to create an SSL standard for the blockchain. Having recently announced a $3.5 million seed round, Netki expects a product launch in early 2017.
#12 AML and KYC
Anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) practices have a strong potential for being adapted to the blockchain. Currently, financial institutions must perform a labour intensive multi-step process for each new customer. KYC costs could be reduced through cross-institution client verification, and at the same time increase monitoring and analysis effectiveness.
Startup Polycoin has an AML/KYC solution that involves analysing transactions. Those transactions identified as being suspicious are forwarded on to compliance officers. Another startup Tradle is developing an application called Trust in Motion (TiM). Characterized as an “Instagram for KYC”, TiM allows customers to take a snapshot of key documents (passport, utility bill, etc.). Once verified by the bank, this data is cryptographically stored on the blockchain.
#13 Data management
Today, in exchange for their personal data people can use social media platforms like Facebook for free. In future, users will have the ability to manage and sell the data their online activity generates. Because it can be easily distributed in small fractional amounts, Bitcoin — or something like it — will most likely be the currency that gets used for this type of transaction.
The MIT project Enigma understands that user privacy is the key precondition for creating of a personal data marketplace. Enigma uses cryptographic techniques to allow individual data sets to be split between nodes, and at the same time run bulk computations over the data group as a whole. Fragmenting the data also makes Enigma scalable (unlike those blockchain solutions where data gets replicated on every node). A Beta launch is promised within the next six months.
#14 Land title registration
As Publicly-accessible ledgers, blockchains can make all kinds of record-keeping more efficient. Property titles are a case in point. They tend to be susceptible to fraud, as well as costly and labour intensive to administer.
A number of countries are undertaking blockchain-based land registry projects. Honduras was the first government to announce such an initiative in 2015, although the current status of that project is unclear. This year, the Republic of Georgia cemented a deal with the Bitfury Group to develop a blockchain system for property titles. Reportedly, Hernando de Soto, the high-profile economist and property rights advocate, will be advising on the project. Most recently, Sweden announced it was experimenting with a blockchain application for property titles.
#15 Stock trading
The potential for added efficiency in share settlement makes a strong use case for blockchains in stock trading. When executed peer-to-peer, trade confirmations become almost instantaneous (as opposed to taking three days for clearance). Potentially, this means intermediaries — such as the clearing house, auditors and custodians — get removed from the process.
Numerous stock and commodities exchanges are prototyping blockchain applications for the services they offer, including the ASX (Australian Securities Exchange), the Deutsche Börse (Frankfurt’s stock exchange) and the JPX (Japan Exchange Group). Most high profile because the acknowledged first mover in the area, is the Nasdaq’s Linq, a platform for private market trading (typically between pre-IPO startups and investors). A partnership with the blockchain tech company Chain, Linq announced the completion of it its first share trade in 2015. More recently, Nasdaq announced the development of a trial blockchain project for proxy voting on the Estonian Stock Market.
“As revolutionary as it sounds, Blockchain truly is a mechanism to bring everyone to the highest degree of accountability. No more missed transactions, human or machine errors, or even an exchange that was not done with the consent of the parties involved. Above anything else, the most critical area where Blockchain helps is to guarantee the validity of a transaction by recording it not only on a main register but a connected distributed system of registers, all of which are connected through a secure validation mechanism.” – Ian Khan, TEDx Speaker | Author | Technology Futurist
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1) Q: What is a Blockchain?
A: A blockchain is, an immutable time-stamped series record of data that is distributed and managed by cluster of computers.
2) Q: Who controls the blockchain?
A: An open blockchain network has no central authority — it is the very definition of a democratized system. Since it is a shared and immutable ledger, the information in it is open for anyone and everyone to see.
3) Q: What are the 3 pillars of blockchain technology?
1. Decentralization
2. Transparency
3. Immutability
4) Q: What is Blockchain used for?
A: Initially, used for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies blockchain has now found use cases in several industries including finance, real estate, and health.
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It turned out to be a different use of the QD's for their credit card security:
"The invisible optically recognizable compound is preferably an infrared ink comprising an infrared phthalocyanine dye, an infrared phosphor, and a quantum dot energy transfer compound. The infrared ink can be detected by a sensor found in an ATM or card assembly line."
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PTXT&p=1&p=1&S1=(((quantum+AND+dot).CLTX.+or+(quantum+AND+dot).DCTX.)+AND+(American+AND+express).ASNM.)&OS=+(aclm/(quantum+and+dot))+and+(an/(American+and+express))&RS=(ACLM/(quantum+AND+dot)+AND+AN/(American+AND+express))
American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc. patents:
1 8,191,788 Transaction card
2 8,186,598 Transaction card
3 8,066,190 Transaction card
4 7,837,116 Transaction card
Nothing has ever come from these, so I suspect they are in the dead file.
Miss led you, I was referring to security data for their cards.
I believe American Express had three patent applications associated with QD's related to this subject.
Those patents are for using quantum dots not making them.
Ecomike, this research is five years old and will provide a little understanding as to why we believe Quantum Dots are the future.
These were all the patents at the time directly associated with QD research. 2161 patents relating to Quantum Dots. Applications referencing Quantum Dots 2115 on 3-27-14. Today that number has increased to 2609 patents and a very surprising applications number of 25,528.
Those that think it's pipe dreams and BS from the company and this industry can't comprehend the future.
Patents:
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.htm&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PTXT&RS=ACLM%2F%28quantum+AND+dot%29&Refine=Refine+Search&Query=+%28aclm%2F%28quantum+and+dot%29%29
Applications:
http://appft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&d=PG01&OS=%22Quantum+Dot%22&RS=%22Quantum+Dot%22&TD=23587&Srch1=%2522Quantum+Dot%2522&StartNum=&Refine=Refine+Search&Query=%22Quantum+Dots%22
KEY:
* RESEARCH, UNIVERSITIES and TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTES
++Newly added
00/03 preceding the company is 0 PATENT APPLICATIONS / 3 PATENTS
COMPANY INDEX from 2014:
00/03 3M Innovative Properties Company
01/00 ++ABBOTT POINT OF CARE INC. Princeton, NJ
10/04 *Agency for Science, Technology and Research (Singapore, SG)
00/03 Agilent,
03/03 American Environmental Systems, Inc.
04/04 American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.
02/04 ++APDN (B.V.I.) Inc., dba Applied DNA Sciences, Inc. Stony Brook, NY
04/00 ++ Apple Inc. Cupertino, CA
03/01 *Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona (Tucson, AZ)
03/03 ++AU OPTRONICS CORP. Hsinchu, TW
09/08 Boeing Company Chicago, IL
04/04 ++Cambridge Research & Instrumentation, Inc. Hopkinton, MA
04/02 Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (Paris, FR),
04/00 ++DOLBY LABORATORIES LICENSING CORPORATION San Francisco, CA
03/02 Dow AgroSciences,
11/04 ++* DREXEL UNIVERSITY, PHILADELPHIA, PA:
00/09 Eastman Kodak Company,
08/15 ++*Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute Daejeon, KR
05/02 ++FUJIFILM CORPORATION, TOKYO, JP
45/48 ++FUJITSU LIMITED Kawasaki-shi JP
00/02 General Dynamics,
17/05 General Electric,
01/03 Google Inc. Mountain View, CA
03/00 ++Halliburton Energy Services, Inc. Houston, TX.
00/48 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (Houston, TX)
00/01 Honda Motor Co., Ltd (Tokyo, JP)
25/17 Honeywell International Inc., Morristown, NJ
01/03 ++HRL Laboratories, LLC (Malibu, CA)
04/26 International Business Machines Corporation (Armonk, NY)
28/16 *Industrial Technology Research Institute (Hsinchu, TW)
03/05 Intel
02/03 ++InVisage Technologies, Inc. Menlo Park, CA
04/07 *Japan Science and Technology Agency
03/01 ++Konica Minolta Medical & Graphic, Inc. (Tokyo, JP)
01/04 ++LG Display Co., Ltd.
03/04 LG Electronics Inc.
00/02 ++LG-Ericsson Co., Ltd. (Seoul, KR)
01/02 ++LG-Innotek Co., Ltd. (Seoul, KR)
03/03 ++Lockheed Martin Corporation (Bethesda, MD)
01/02 *Los Alamos National Security, LLC (Los Alamos, NM)
11/12 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
03/16 Matsushita Electric Industrial
06/00 ++Merck Patent GmbH Darmstadt, DE
01/03 ++Micron Technology, Inc.
02/05 ++Microsoft Corporation
01/01 Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
05/00 ++NANOAXIS, LLC Clarence, NY
03/03 ++National University Corporation, HokkaidoUniversity, Sapporo-shi ,Hokkaido, JP
04/07 *National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
03/07 ++NEC Corporation (Tokyo, JP)
01/02 ++OLYMPUS CORPORATION Tokyo, JP
02/04 OSRAM OPTO SEMICONDUCTORS GMBH, Regensburg, DE
07/01 Philips, KONINKLIJKE PHILIPS N.V. EINDHOVEN, NL
01/00 ++PIONEER MICRO TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION, YAMANASHI JP.
01/01 QD Laser, Inc.
04/01 QD Vision, Inc.
03/02 *Ramot At Tel-Aviv University Ltd
01/04 ++RavenBrick LLC (Denver, CO)
05/06 ++RAYTHEON COMPANY Waltham, MA.
02/03 ++ ROCKWELL AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, INC.
05/02 ++Samsung Display Co., Ltd. (KR)
87/58 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (KR),
12/02 ++Samsung LED Co., Ltd. (Gyunggi-Do, KR)
03/00 ++SAMSUNG MOBILE DISPLAY CO., LTD. Yongin-city, KR
02/00 ++ Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd. Ansan-si, KR w/(LITEC-LP GmBH)
06/04 ++SHARP KABUSHIKI KAISHA Osaka-shi, JP
05/07 Sony,
05/08 ++ STC.UNM (Albuquerque, NM)
02/02 ++ STMicroelectronics, Inc. Coppell, Tx
02/01 ++ Switch Bulb Company, Inc. San Jose, Ca.
03/02 Technical Research & Development Institute Ministry of Defense of Japan
10/10 *The Board of Regents of the University of Texas System (Austin, TX)
03/12 *The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University (Palo Alto, CA)
09/09 *The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois (Urbana, IL)
00/09 ++The Invention Science Fund I, LLC (Bellevue, WA)
35/21 *The Regents of the University of California (Oakland, CA)
04/04 *The Regents of The University of Michigan (Ann Arbor, MI)
04/01 *The Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York (New York, NY)
01/03 *The Trustees of Princeton University (Princeton, NJ)
01/02 The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army
00/03 The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services
10/12 The United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of the Navy
19/28 Toshiba
00/01 Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha
08/10 *University of Florida Research Foundation, Inc. (Gainesville, FL)
14/08 ++ Ventana Medical Systems, Inc. (Tucson, AZ)
Thanks SE for maintaining the I-box with all the historical and current information.