2021-03-09 10:55 ET - News Release
Mr. Daniel Reitzik reports
DMG'S INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY UPDATE AND BLOCKCHAIN APPLICATIONS
DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. has provided an update on its intellectual property status and the use of this IP for developing innovative software solutions on the blockchain ecosystem. DMG's US technology company, Blockseer, founded in 2013, was one of the first companies operating in data analytics of both the Bitcoin and Ethereum blockchains. With many governments signaling for both tighter regulations in cryptocurrencies as well as their greater acceptance of this technology entering the mainstream, Blockseer's data and DMG's overall IP is proving to be current and valuable in many new ways for these evolving market conditions.
DMG's IP and Patent Portfolio
To date, DMG exclusively owns and controls blockchain-specific patent pending technology registered in the United States. A brief summary of DMG's (including Blockseer) key patents filed are as follows:
SELECTION OF CRYPTOGRAPHIC IDENTIFIERS IN A BLOCK: Filtering inbound transactions of a blockchain node against a list of cryptographic identifiers, excluding transactions that involve cryptographic identifiers that our data indicates are nefarious activity.
OFF NETWORK IDENTITY TRACKING IN ANONYMOUS CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGE NETWORKS: A method of facilitating identity information exchanged in cryptocurrency transactions using cryptographically verifiable addresses in a cryptocurrency exchange network along with identity information between the transmitter wallet service system and the recipient wallet service system.
PROVIDING DATA PROVENANCE, PERMISSIONING, COMPLIANCE, AND ACCESS CONTROL FOR DATA STORAGE SYSTEMS USING AN IMMUTABLE LEDGER OVERLAY NETWORK: A system for data provenance and data storage that allows multiple independent parties (who may not trust each other) to securely share data, track data provenance, maintain audit logs, keep data synchronized, comply with regulations, and handle permissioning and control who can access the data.
CRYPTO TAINT TRACKING: A method for detecting and tracking tainted cryptographic wallets. The method measures a wallet's propensity to engage in criminal or suspicious activity. Naturally, transacting with a criminal is tantamount either to funding crime or laundering its proceeds, so it is in our collective interest to identify -- and then monitor or quarantine { –} any wallet with criminal association. The method also automatically flags risky withdrawal requests in real-time for further review before committing them to the blockchain.
First Mover Advantage for DMG and its Blockseer Subsidiary
DMG's acquisition of Blockseer in 2018 was a strategic move based on the future of compliance and good governance in the cryptocurrency space. Blockseer highlights DMG's foresight to ensure the Company was developing the right technology and products to unlock adoption in advance of regulatory compliance.
Recently, with Bitcoin and Ethereum prices at all-time highs, along with major announcements of corporations, funds and others taking large positions in Bitcoin, there has been renewed interest in the provenance and traceability of Bitcoins. DMG's Blockseer was one of the first products to focus on crypto transactions and the provenance of Bitcoin through its tracking and labelling software. This technology was at first focused on wallet-to-wallet transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain but is now being repurposed to look at the Bitcoin blocks themselves during the process of 'mining' for Bitcoin and posting Bitcoin 'blocks' to the Bitcoin blockchain (transaction processing).
Blockseer's Mining Pool Technology
Late last year DMG announced the launch of its beta Bitcoin mining pool using Blockseer products. An aspect many cryptocurrency users did not understand about mining pools was, and still is, the lack of transparency in how pools work, and why miners should care about which pool they connect to. Using Blockseer's IP and the capability to understand the nuances of the Bitcoin blockchain, Blockseer created a process called 'Clean Block Mining' together with many other improvements to existing Bitcoin mining pools.
Current centralized mining pools face significant regulatory challenges and security issues which have already negatively affected perception of the industry by policy makers and governments around the world. Many of the existing pools have the following shortfalls:
No industry organization substantially involved to ensure, outside of the Bitcoin Protocol itself, any norms, guidelines, rules or regulations are in place and enforced for all to follow. It is common for many industries to self-regulate or take on standards such as ISO specific standards which are industry focused.
No third party, independent and/or professional audit or auditing standard specific to this new industry to ensure individuals and companies are reporting operations accurately.
No simple, conclusive way to verify existing mining pool operators, who offer their services to North American miners, are correctly calculating block rewards and transaction fees in line with mining shares provided by pool subscribers.
No real KYC or AML as a focus by any of the vast majority of mining pools on the market today showing they take any responsibility in disallowing or at least highlighting transactions their pool is involved in from illicit sources and/or criminal actors and that said transactions are against their pool's policies or operations.
Existing centralized Bitcoin mining pools are lacking regulatory standards and auditable transparency, and therefore miners may be inadvertently aiding nefarious or criminal users of Bitcoin. DMG's proprietary KYC and AML technologies represent one of the industry's best available solutions to provide a legally compliant solution and a regulatory acceptable path forward for Bitcoin miners and the underlying users of Bitcoin in general, without censorship of non-criminal transactions.
DMG intends to monetize Blockseer's Pool Technology through licensing it to other parties and pools and/or partnerships with other companies and pools. As previously disclosed, DMG will provide updates on the terms and conditions of any potential transaction involving Blockseer's Pool Technology. DMG is encouraged by the February 16, 2021 announcement of the transaction involving 500.com Limited and BTC.com and believes the market demand is there for robust and technologically advanced Bitcoin mining pools.
Censorship vs. KYC, AML, and Responsible Transactions
In general, miners connect to the Bitcoin protocol via mining pools, the vast majority of which are based in jurisdictions that do not regulate mining pool activities. To date none of these existing pools provides their mining clients with third-party audits, and they may inadvertently be enabling transactions that might not be KYC, AML or Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) compliant. This will increasingly become an issue, especially at the institutional level for all entities involved, when the participants are domiciled in the U.S. or other western countries which are more likely to make KYC and AML mandatory standards.
Censorship - Is It Real?
Many who have been involved with Bitcoin in the early days were, and still are, against government censorship. Bitcoin has its core roots in decentralization and being devoid of Governmental control or manipulation. By filtering transactions based on risk or propensity of risk related to the counterparties' past history or current activities against known information from reliable sources (including up to 100% verified sources) creates the feeling, whether true or not, of censorship. However, there are multiple arguments to make that Blockseer's Clean Block technology is not really censorship of the Bitcoin blockchain. The first argument, which is fundamental, is that any transaction that Blockseer may reject can easily be included by any pool which does not use Blockseer's Clean Block technology and included in its block of transactions. In this regard, transactions that Blockseer would not accept can easily be accepted by any other pool which does not adhere to the same KYC and AML principles. With the number of mining pools active and the split of hashrate between them all, there is no present risk of transaction never being verified by a pool. Additionally, looking back at the spirit of the Bitcoin Protocol, there was no mention for or against adding criminal activities, yet in today's society people, companies, governments and nations are all focused on weeding out and eliminating the means (whatever it may be) of allowing corruption and criminal activity to thrive and grow. Bitcoin is not immune to this.
DMG's COO, Sheldon Bennett commented, "Our Blockseer team has continuously focused on strategically targeting the progression of the crypto industry and how Blockseer can ensure its blockchain technology will create industry needed products. Recent changes, along with greater institutional interest moving into Bitcoin, and the regulatory signals in the market, show that this is both a rapidly developing and cutting-edge space for which our products are tailor-made. Blockseer is well positioned to help pioneer this industry with our first two products, Explorer and Walletscore, which allow users to be properly informed, aware and protected in an otherwise often grey space. Expanding on Explorer and Walletscore, Blockseer launched its Pool Platform which will be integrated with Blockseer's Mine Manager and Walletscore's Clean Blocks, as one unified platform."
About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.
DMG is a vertically integrated blockchain and cryptocurrency company that manages, operates, and develops end-to-end digital solutions to monetize the blockchain ecosystem. DMG's businesses are segmented into three main divisions: data centre operations, data analytics and forensics and developing enterprise blockchains. DMG's data centre operations focus on earning revenues from block rewards and transaction fees by mining primarily bitcoin as well as providing hosting services for industrial mining clients. DMG's data analytics and forensic services provide technical expertise software products such as Blockseer Pool, Mine Manager and Walletscore, as well as working with auditors, law firms, and law enforcement organizations. DMG's permissioned blockchain technology is focused on developing enterprise software for the supply chain management of controlled products. DMG's strategy is to become the domain experts across the business verticals it focuses on. DMG's management team includes seasoned crypto experts, forensic & financial professionals and blockchain developers with deep relationships throughout the industry.
We seek Safe Harbor.
