Bitcoinis concluding its breakout year with a bang. Futures trading for the cryptocurrency commenced on Dec. 10 on the CBOE exchange, and more futures contracts are soon to follow. The move is a serious milestone for not only Bitcoin, but all of cryptocurrency as the asset class edges closer to the mainstream investing world.
Institutional capital flooding into the cryptocurrency market is potentially going to give Bitcoin the legitimacy it craves. And what might be one of Bitcoin’s greatest feats in the upcoming year, as it gains wider adoption? Well, rescuing the US cannabis industry from government mire could just be the first item on that list, and to that end, SinglePoint Inc.(SING) is a must-know name when it comes to the intersection of these two important emerging sectors.
The company’s innovative approach and technology was recently covered by CNBC in an report on how cryptocurrency is offering an alternative to banks for cannabis companies. SinglePoint’s technology was a focal point in this article and offered some insight as to how the cannabis industry is now looking to leverage the wider adoption of cryptocurrency technology. SinglePoint President Wil Ralston was quoted often in the piece, and SinglePoint’s model was used as an example of how the cannabis industry is looking toward new technology to help it move forward without the help of traditional banks. Here is an insightful section from the CNBC piece:
Another complication for most dispensaries is that they can’t access typical merchant services, which companies need to accept credit or debit cards.
In 2014, SinglePoint, a mobile app payment company, placed terminals in medical marijuana dispensaries, in which people could use debit cards to make their purchases. “They were going great,” Ralston said. “Then overnight the banks shut them all down. There were no guidelines about how banks were supposed to interact with the cannabis industry. They didn’t want to risk it.” And so, he said, “we had to stop, and say, what other solutions are we going to provide?”
Ralston and others at SinglePoint started looking into cryptocurrencies. Now, SingleSeed will allow dispensaries to accept bitcoin and consumers to pay with it. SinglePoint won’t stop with pot. He said 14 percent of the population is locked out of the banking system because they don’t have credit or are involved in high-risk businesses. Cryptocurrencies offer to provide these people an alternative, he said.
This news piece is indicative of the breakout year Singlepoint is savoring. As the piece states, the diversified holding company is advancing innovativetechnology – including blockchain technologies, products for seed-to-sale cannabis tracking, mobile payments, and POS software – that will allow the billion-dollar cannabis industry to keep track of the enormous amount of money that is already changing hands. In 2017, SinglePoint has aggressively executed a number of partnerships and acquisitions that have cemented it as the solution-oriented bridge-builder between two sectors that dovetail perfectly.
An Easy-to-Use App for all Facets of the Cannabis Market
The main technology product the company will employ is a mobile app being designed by AppSwarm (SWRM), which will be specifically tailored for the unique needs of the cannabis industry. As noted in the recent companyend-of-year recap, SinglePoint has made the first necessary payment to AppSwarm and development is already underway. The app, which will be operating through the company’s subsidiary Single Seed, will create an all-encompassing system that streamlines the business side for cannabis clientele that includes business-to-business and business-to-consumer services including the option for consumers to pay with cryptocurrency.In fact, on November 15th, a soft launch of the Bitcoin exchange was available for any business in the 29 legal states and the District of Columbia. This launch was a major for SinglePoint and instantaneous solution for the cannabis industry to avoid the burden of cash-only transactions.
“We believe that when we get through with our cryptocurrency product we’re going to have a huge first mover advantage to be able to go into the dispensary and let the customers use Bitcoin or other coins to pay for cannabis,” SinglePoint CEO Greg Lambrecht told Equities in October.”It’s just a huge opportunity and with our technical expertise we feel like we’re if not the absolute best, one of the best companies to pull this off.”
In this same vein, the company also announced this month a joint venture relationship with Smart Cannabis Corporation (SCNA) in which SinglePoint will license and market Smart Cannabis’ SMART APP, an industry specific application that enables cultivators to control entire operations – meaning seed to sale, the entire life cycle of a transaction, which can be near $150,000 – from a mobile device securely. In the aforementioned yearly recap, the company seconded the importance of this partnership and the opportunity into affords them in the upcoming growth in the California cannabis market.
“We are very impressed with the results that Smart Cannabis has quickly achieved in California, and we believe this relationship with them provides a great deal of synergy both in California and in the nationwide cannabis business,” Lambrecht stated in the press release. “Our expertise in payment processing and point of sale systems is a perfect fit for track and trace technology they have developed to date.”
Furthermore, the two companies are also putting their heads together to create a track and trace solution that will deploy blockchain technology and allow a consumer to see where and how a product was grown.
“SinglePoint is an ideal partner for us to expand our business beyond California for our line of innovative automation and our trace and tracking software solution for cultivators,” John Taylor, President of Smart Cannabis Corp, stated in the joint press release. “In this Joint Venture with SinglePoint, we will have the ability to market our products on a broader scale. Additionally, we believe the uptrend in cyber currency use in the cannabis marketplace will continue to expand.”
Checking All the Boxes in the Cannabis Space
Growth has an interesting double-meaning in the cannabis sector as market experts expect it to reach $55.8 billion by 2025. No one understands this better than SinglePoint, which is why the company has been working at such a breakneck pace this year acquiring four companies – Convectium, DIGS, Dr. Feel Good and JAG – all of which are important “pick and shovel” companies in the cannabis industry who do not touch the plant.
“Through strategic joint ventures and inside development of applications we are pushing hard on providing a compliant solution to the cannabis industry. Our team and others have worked well in collaboration, and believe we are not far away from an official launch of this solution in the first quarter of 2018. This will be a major step for SinglePoint and our partners,” states SinglePoint President Wil Ralston.
Moreover, as Ralston’s words underscore, SinglePoint is pushing hard all the way through the end of the year. The company just updated investors that its agreement with Global Payout – a leader in payment solutions – will be a united effort to further enhance the cannabis payment ecosystem.
Bullish on Bitcoin and Cannabis
All in all, SinglePoint has achieved an astounding amount of growth in only one year. Just this month, the company reached $100 million market cap along with over $1 million in funding with $3 million in additional reserves. But, if you like deeper at the growth and the strategic moves made by Ralston and Lambrecht this year, you see a technology company that has firmly outlined the space between these two industries with impressive acquisitions and brought aboard partnerships to accelerate this pioneering technology.
In short, 2017 has been a defining year for the SinglePoint team. The good news is that the company has worked tirelessly this year and set the table for success. So, what can we expect to see from Ralston and his team in 2018? Well, another blockbuster year, according to the recent company recap: “As the Company pursues continued growth through acquisitions and internal developments, management remains bullish on Bitcoin and blockchain technologies that solve key issues in the cannabis markets. Capturing its share of opportunity in these markets, SinglePoint will look for companies to acquire and partner with to bring solutions to this major market.”
As you can see above, this is a company with its foot confidently on the gas pedal. We are expecting more big news in the near future for SinglePoint.
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