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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations.
If any of the following risks occur, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be materially adversely affected. In such case, the market price of our common stock could decline, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
Risks Relating to Our Software Development Business
We face intense competition in the AI-enabled softwaare development market, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The market for AI-enabled software development services is highly competitive, rapidly evolving and characterized by frequent technological changes. We compete with a wide range of companies, including established software providers, emerging technology companies, and in-house development teams at potential customers. We believe that the pace of innovation will continue to accelerate. Our ability to compete effectively depends on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control, including:
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If we are unable toa smaller reporting anticipate or respond effectively to technological change, evolving industry standards, or customer preferences, or if our competitors are more successful in developing and marketing competing products and services, demand for our offerings could decline. Increased competition could result in pricing pressures, reduced margins, loss of market share, or diminished brand recognition, any of which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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Our AI-enabled software development products, as well as applications, features, and functionality that we may introduce in the future, may not be widely accepted by our customers, may receive negative attention or may require us to compensate or reimburse third parties, any of which may lower our margins and harm our business. We may not have visibility into our financial position and results of operations.
Our ability to engage, retain, and increase our base of customers and to increase our revenue will depend on our ability to successfully create new applications, features, and functionality, both independently and together with third parties. We may introduce new and unproven applications, including technologies with which we have little or no prior development or operating experience. These new applications and updates may fail to engage, retain, and increase our base of customers or may suffer from lag in adoption. New applications may initially suffer from performance and quality issues that may negatively impact our ability to market and sell such applications to new and existing customers. The short- and long-term impact of any major change to our AI-integrated SaaS applications, or the introduction of new applications, is particularly difficult to predict. If new or enhanced applications fail to engage, retain, and increase our base of customers, we may fail to generate sufficient revenue, operating margin, or other value to justify our investments in such applications, any of which may harm our business.
In addition, we may be required to compensate or reimburse third parties in connection with certain sales of our software as part of our partner relationships. New applications, features and functionality that we introduce in the future or new partner relationships may increase the amount of compensation or reimbursement we pay to third parties. Any future requirement or increase in the rate that we compensate or reimburse third parties would lower our profit margins and harm our business.
Our software may contain undetected errors, bugs, or security vulnerabilities, which could adversely affect its performance and result in reduced demand, loss of revenue, or potential claims against us.
Despite testing by us and our customers, our software has in the past contained, and may in the future contain, errors, bugs, or security vulnerabilities. Such issues may not be identified until after deployment or release and could result in system failures, reduced functionality, or other performance issues. These problems could lead to loss of customers, reputational harm, delays in market acceptance, and additional costs to remediate such issues, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
In addition, our customer agreements typically include provisions intended to limit our exposure to liability, including for product defects, security incidents, or service disruptions. However, such limitations of liability may not be enforceable in all jurisdictions, and we may be subject to claims or litigation arising from such issues. Any successful claim could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We may be subject to greater than anticipated tax liabilities.
We are subject to income and non-income taxes in various domestic and foreign jurisdictions. Our future tax liabilities could be adversely affected by a number of factors, including changes in the mix of earnings among jurisdictions with differing statutory tax rates, changes in the valuation of our deferred tax assets and liabilities, changes in the amount of unrecognized tax benefits, and changes in applicable tax laws, regulations, or interpretations thereof.
In addition, to the extent we hold digital assets such as Bitcoin, the tax treatment of such assets remains uncertain and may be subject to change. If we were to dispose of any digital assets at a value greater than their tax basis, we could incur material tax liabilities on any resulting gains. Furthermore, evolving tax regulations and guidance relating to digital assets could result in increased tax compliance obligations or unexpected tax exposures. Any of the foregoing could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Interruption or failure of our own technology systems or those provided by third-party service providers whom we rely upon, whether arising from geopolitical tensions or business competition, could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
We currently serve our customers and end users in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan, and Singapore. Our ability to provide AI-enabled software development products and services depends on the continuing operation of our technological systems or those provided by third-party service providers, such as cloud service providers. Any damage to or failure of such systems could interrupt our services. Service interruptions could reduce our revenue and profit and damage our brand if our systems are perceived to be unreliable. Our systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption as a result of terrorist attacks, wars, earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunications failures, undetected errors or bugs in our software, malware, computer viruses, interruptions in access to our platform through the use of denial of service or similar attacks, hacking or other attempts to harm our systems, and similar events. Some of our systems are not fully redundant, and our disaster recovery planning does not account for all possible scenarios. If we cannot continue to retain third-party services on acceptable terms, our services may be interrupted. If we experience frequent or persistent system failures on our platform, whether due to interruptions and failures of our own technology and or those provided by third-party service providers that we rely upon, our reputation and brand could be severely harmed.
The global landscape of cloud services is subject to the influence of geopolitical factors, including international trade disputes, sanctions, and national security concerns, which could impact the availability, reliability, and cost of cloud infrastructure services. Additionally, the competitive dynamics in the cloud services market and potential commercial conflicts of interest could lead to changes in service terms, pricing, availability or even termination of service agreements, particularly if our providers engage in business activities similar to ours and become direct competitors. Any limitation on the capacity of our cloud infrastructure, or any interruption caused by geopolitical events, trade restrictions, or competitive actions in the cloud market, could impede our ability to onboard new customers or expand the usage among existing customers, host our products, or serve our customers effectively.
In the event that our service agreements relating to our data centers or cloud infrastructure are terminated, or there is a lapse of service, elimination of services or features that we utilize, interruption of internet service provider connectivity or damage to such facilities, we could experience interruptions in access to our platform, as well as significant delays and additional expense in arranging or creating new facilities and services or rebuilding our platform for deployment on a different data center provider or cloud infrastructure service provider, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any actual or perceived security or privacy breach could interrupt our operations, harm our brand and adversely affect our reputation, brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our business may involve the collection, storage, processing and transmission of our users personal data and other sensitive data. An increasing number of organizations including large online and off-line merchants and businesses, other large Internet companies, financial institutions and government institutions have disclosed breaches of their information security systems, some of which have involved sophisticated and highly targeted attacks. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or to sabotage information systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us, we may be unable to anticipate or prevent these attacks. In addition, users of our software products could have vulnerabilities on their own mobile devices that are entirely unrelated to our systems but could mistakenly attribute their own vulnerabilities to us. Further, breaches experienced by other companies may also be leveraged against us. For example, credential stuffing attacks are becoming increasingly common and sophisticated actors can mask their attacks, making them increasingly difficult to identify and prevent. Certain efforts may be state-sponsored or supported by significant financial and technological resources, making them even more difficult to detect.
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Although we intend to develop, contract or purchase systems and processes that are designed to protect our users data, prevent data loss and prevent other security breaches, these security measures cannot guarantee security. Our information technology and infrastructure may be vulnerable to cyberattacks or security breaches, and third parties may be able to access our users personal information and limited payment card data that are accessible through those systems. Employee error, malfeasance or other errors in the storage, use or transmission of personal information could result in an actual or perceived privacy or security breach or other security incident. Although we have policies restricting the access to the personal information we store, our employees have been accused in the past of violating these policies and we may be subject to these types of accusations in the future.
Any actual or perceived breach of privacy or security could interrupt our operations, result in our software being unavailable, resulting in loss or improper disclosure of data, result in fraudulent transfer of funds, harm our reputation and brand, damage our relationships with third-party partners, result in significant legal, regulatory and financial exposure and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any breach of privacy or security impacting any entities with which we share or disclose data (could have similar effects. Further, any cyberattacks, or security and privacy breaches directed at our competitors could reduce confidence in the industry as a whole and, as a result, reduce confidence in us.
Additionally, defending against claims or litigation based on any security breach or incident, regardless of their merit, could be costly and divert managements attention. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to successfully defending any of such lawsuits which could have an adverse effect on our reputation, brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Any failure to offer high-quality user support may harm our relationships with users and could adversely affect our reputation, brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.
Our ability to attract and retain qualified users is dependent in part on the ease and reliability of our offerings, including our ability to provide high-quality support. Users on our software depend on our support organization to resolve any issues relating to our offerings issues with reporting a problem. Our ability to provide effective and timely support is largely dependent on our ability to attract and retain service providers who are qualified to support users and sufficiently knowledgeable regarding our offerings.
Our business depends on our ability to retain newly acquired customers, and the termination or reduction of their contracts could materially and adversely affect our results of operations.
As part of our recent expansion efforts, we have entered into contracts with new customers that we expect will contribute to our future revenue in our software development business. These customers may, however, reduce their use of our offerings or terminate their contracts before or upon expiration. Such outcomes could occur for a variety of reasons, including dissatisfaction with our services, changes in their business priorities, budgetary constraints, competitive offerings, or broader market or economic conditions. Any early termination, non-renewal, or reduction in engagement by these customers could significantly reduce our anticipated revenue and hinder our ability to achieve business growth.
Our customer contracts generally do not obligate customers to renew, extend or expand their arrangements with us once the initial terms expire. If one or more of our customers elect not to renew their contracts with us, or if our customers renew their contracts for shorter time periods, or if our customers reduce the scope of services they obtain from us, or if our customers otherwise seek to renegotiate the terms of their existing arrangements on terms less favorable to us, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.
If we are unable to hire, retain, train, and motivate qualified personnel and senior management and deploy our personnel and resources to meet customer demand around the world, our business could suffer.
Our ability to compete in the highly competitive market for AI-enabled software industry depends upon our ability to attract, motivate, and retain qualified personnel. Some of our executive officers and key personnel are at-will employees and may terminate their employment relationship with us at any time. The loss of the services of our key personnel and any of our other executive officers, and our inability to find suitable replacements, could result in a decline in sales, delays in product development, and harm to our business and operations.
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At times, we have experienced, and we may continue to experience, difficulty in hiring and retaining personnel with appropriate qualifications, and we may not be able to fill positions in a timely manner or at all. Potential candidates may not perceive our compensation package, including our equity awards, as favorably as personnel hired prior to our listing. In addition, our recruiting personnel, methodology, and approach may need to be altered to address a changing candidate pool and profile. We may not be able to identify or implement such changes in a timely manner. In addition, we may incur significant costs to attract and recruit skilled personnel, and we may lose new personnel to our competitors or other technology companies before we realize the benefit of our investment in recruiting and training them. As we move into new geographies, we will need to attract and recruit skilled personnel in those geographic areas, but it may be challenging for us to compete with traditional local employers in these regions for talent. If we fail to attract new personnel or fail to retain and motivate our current personnel who can meet our growing technical, operational, and managerial requirements on a timely basis or at all, our business may be harmed.
Our success depends on our ability to effectively source and staff people with the right mix of skills and experience to perform services for our customers, including our ability to transition personnel to new assignments on a timely basis. If we are unable to effectively utilize our personnel on a timely basis to fulfill the needs of our customers, our business could suffer.
We face intense competition for qualified personnel, especially software engineers and data scientists, in Hong Kong and Singapore markets, where a large portion of our personnel are based. We incur costs related to attracting, relocating, and retaining qualified personnel in these highly competitive markets. Further, many of the companies with which we compete for qualified personnel have greater resources than we have. If we fail to attract new personnel or to retain our current personnel, our business and operations could be harmed.
We seek to retain and motivate existing personnel through our compensation practices, company culture, and career development opportunities. We may need to invest significant amounts of cash and equity for new and existing employees, and we may never realize returns on these investments. If the perceived value of our equity awards declines, or if the mix of equity and cash compensation that we offer is less attractive than that of our competitors, it may adversely affect our ability to recruit and retain highly skilled personnel. Any of these factors could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
We could suffer disruptions, outages, defects, and other performance and quality problems with our software or with the internet infrastructure on which it relies.
Our business depends on the reliable performance and availability of our software. We have experienced, and may in the future experience, disruptions, outages, defects, and other performance and quality issues affecting our software and supporting systems. These issues may arise from a variety of factors, including the introduction of new features or updates, vulnerabilities or defects in proprietary or third-party software, human error or misconduct, capacity constraints, design limitations, natural disasters, or cybersecurity incidents such as denial-of-service attacks.
Any such disruptions, outages, defects, or other performance and quality issues with our software or supporting infrastructure could result in reduced customer usage, increased costs (including potential service credits or remediation expenses), damage to our reputation, and loss of customers, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
As we expand our software development product offerings, we may become subject to additional laws and regulations, and any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations or manage the increased costs associated with such laws and regulations could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
As we continue to expand our software development product offerings and user base, we may become subject to additional laws and regulations, which may differ or conflict from one jurisdiction to another. Many of these laws and regulations were adopted prior to the advent of our industry and related technologies and, as a result, do not contemplate or address the unique issues faced by our industry.
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Despite our efforts to comply with applicable laws, regulations and other obligations relating to our software development product offerings, it is possible that our practices or product could be inconsistent with, or fail or be alleged to fail to meet all requirements of such laws, regulations or obligations. Our failure, or the failure by our third-party providers or partners, to comply with applicable laws or regulations or any other obligations relating to our software development product offerings, could harm our reputation and brand or result in fines or proceedings by governmental agencies or private claims and litigation, any of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Relating to Our Bitcoin Acquisition Strategy
Our bitcoin acquisition strategy may expose us to various risks associated with bitcoin
Our bitcoin acquisition strategy may expose us to various risks associated with bitcoin, including the following:
Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset
Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset that has traded below $63,000 per bitcoin and above $126,300 per bitcoin on Coinbase in the 12 months preceding the date of this quarterly report. The trading price of bitcoin was significantly lower during prior periods, and such decline may occur again in the future.
Bitcoin does not pay interest or dividends
Bitcoin does not pay interest or other returns and we can only generate cash from our bitcoin holdings if we sell our bitcoin or implement strategies to create income streams or otherwise generate cash by using our bitcoin holdings. Even if we pursue any such strategies, we may be unable to create income streams or otherwise generate cash from our bitcoin holdings, and any such strategies may subject us to additional risks.
The price of bitcoin may be influenced by regulatory, commercial, and technical factors that are highly uncertain
Bitcoin and other digital assets are relatively novel and are subject to various risks and uncertainties that may adversely impact their price. The application of securities laws and other regulations to such assets is unclear in certain respects, and it is possible that regulators in the United States or foreign countries may create new regulations or interpret laws in a manner that adversely affects the price of bitcoin.
Our bitcoin holdings could significantly impact our financial results and the market price of our Common Stock
Our bitcoin holdings may significantly affect our financial results and if we continue to increase our overall holdings of bitcoin in the future, they may have an even greater impact on our financial results and the market price of our Common Stock. See Our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future relating to our bitcoin holdings.
Our bitcoin acquisition strategy has not been tested
This bitcoin acquisition strategy has not been tested. Although we believe bitcoin, due to its limited supply, has the potential to serve as a hedge against inflation in the long term, the short-term price of bitcoin declined in recent periods during which the inflation rate increased. Some investors and other market participants may disagree with our bitcoin acquisition strategy or actions we undertake to implement it. If bitcoin prices were to decrease or our bitcoin acquisition strategy otherwise proves unsuccessful, our financial condition, results of operations, and the market price of our Common Stock would be materially adversely impacted.
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We will be subject to counterparty risks, including in particular risks relating to our custodians
Although we have implemented various measures that are designed to mitigate our counterparty risks, including by storing substantially all of the bitcoin we own and may own in custody accounts at Japanese based, institutional-grade custodians and negotiating contractual arrangements intended to establish that our property interest in custodially-held bitcoin is not subject to claims of our custodians creditors, applicable insolvency law is not fully developed with respect to the holding of digital assets in custodial accounts. If our custodially-held bitcoin were nevertheless considered to be the property of our custodians estates in the event that any such custodians were to enter bankruptcy, receivership or similar insolvency proceedings, we could be treated as a general unsecured creditor of such custodians, inhibiting our ability to exercise ownership rights with respect to such bitcoin and this may ultimately result in the loss of the value related to some or all of such bitcoin. Even if we are able to prevent our bitcoin from being considered the property of a custodians bankruptcy estate as part of an insolvency proceeding, it is possible that we would still be delayed or may otherwise experience difficulty in accessing our bitcoin held by the affected custodian during the pendency of the insolvency proceedings. Any such outcome could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and the market price of our Common Stock.
The broader digital assets industry is subject to counterparty risks, which could adversely impact the adoption rate, price, and use of bitcoin
A series of recent high-profile bankruptcies, closures, liquidations, regulatory enforcement actions and other events relating to companies operating in the digital asset industry, including the filings for bankruptcy protection by Three Arrows Capital, Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, FTX Trading and Genesis Global Capital, the closure or liquidation of certain financial institutions that provided lending and other services to the digital assets industry, including Signature Bank and Silvergate Bank, SEC prior enforcement actions against Coinbase, Inc. and Binance Holdings Ltd., the placement of Prime Trust, LLC into receivership following a cease-and- desist order issued by Nevadas Department of Business and Industry, and the filing and subsequent settlement of a civil fraud lawsuit by the New York Attorney General against Genesis Global Capital, its parent company Digital Currency Group, Inc., and former partner Gemini Trust Company, have highlighted the counterparty risks applicable to owning and transacting in digital assets. Any similar bankruptcies, closures, liquidations and other events may result in any loss or misappropriation of our intended bitcoin holdings, or adversely impact our access to our bitcoin holdings. Or, any such bankruptcies, closures, liquidations, regulatory enforcement actions or other events involving participants in the digital assets industry may negatively impact the adoption rate, price, and use of bitcoin, limit the availability to us of financing collateralized by bitcoin, or create or expose additional counterparty risks.
Changes in the accounting treatment of our bitcoin holdings could have significant accounting impacts, including increasing the volatility of our results
In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued ASU 2023-08, which requires in-scope crypto assets (including our bitcoin holdings) to be measured at fair value in our statement of financial position, with changes in fair value recognized in net income each reporting period. ASU 2023-08 also requires interim and annual disclosures regarding crypto asset holdings. ASU 2023-08 is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, including interim periods within those fiscal years, with early adoption permitted. We elected to early adopt ASU 2023-08 in December 2024. The application of this standard has resulted in material volatility in our financial results. Due in particular to the volatility in the price of bitcoin, we expect the adoption of ASU 2023-08 to have a material impact on our financial results in future periods, increase the volatility of our financial results, and affect the carrying value of our bitcoin on our balance sheet, and it could also have adverse tax consequences, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our financial results and the market price of our Common Stock.
The broader digital assets industry, including the technology associated with digital assets, the rate of adoption and development of, and use cases for, digital assets, market perception of digital assets, and the legal, regulatory, and accounting treatment of digital assets are constantly developing and changing, and there may be additional risks in the future that are not possible to predict.
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Changes in our ownership of bitcoin could have accounting, regulatory and other impacts
While we currently own bitcoin directly, we may investigate other potential approaches to owning bitcoin, including indirect ownership (for example, through ownership interests in a fund that owns bitcoin). If we were to own all or a portion of our bitcoin in a different manner, the accounting treatment for our bitcoin, our ability to use our bitcoin as collateral for additional borrowings, and the regulatory requirements to which we are subject, may correspondingly change. For example, the volatile nature of bitcoin may force us to liquidate our holdings to use it as collateral, which could be negatively effected by any disruptions in the crypto market, and if liquidated, the value of the collateral would not reflect potential gains in market value of bitcoin, all of which could negatively affect our business and implementation of our bitcoin strategy.
Bitcoin and other digital assets are novel assets, and are subject to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty.
Bitcoin and other digital assets are relatively novel and are subject to significant uncertainty, which could adversely impact their price. The application of state and federal securities laws and other laws and regulations to digital assets is unclear in certain respects, and it is possible that regulators in the United States or foreign countries may interpret or apply existing laws and regulations in a manner that adversely affects the price of bitcoin.
The U.S. federal government, states, regulatory agencies, and foreign countries may also enact new laws and regulations, or pursue regulatory, legislative, enforcement or judicial actions, that could materially impact the price of bitcoin or the ability of individuals or institutions such as us to own or transfer bitcoin. For example, the U.S. executive branch, the SEC, the European Unions Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation, among others have been active in recent years, and in the U.K., the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 (FSMA 2023), or FSMA 2023 became law. It is not possible to predict whether, or when, any of these developments will lead to U.S. Congress granting additional authorities to the SEC or other regulators, or whether, or when, any other federal, state or foreign legislative bodies will take any similar actions. It is also not possible to predict the nature of any such additional authorities, how additional legislation or regulatory oversight might impact the ability of digital asset markets to function or the willingness of financial and other institutions to continue to provide services to the digital assets industry, nor how any new regulations or changes to existing regulations might impact the value of digital assets generally and bitcoin specifically. The consequences of increased regulation of digital assets and digital asset activities could adversely affect the market price of bitcoin and in turn adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
Moreover, the risks of engaging in a bitcoin treasury strategy are relatively novel and have created, and could continue to create, complications due to the lack of experience that third parties have with companies engaging in such a strategy, such as increased costs of director and officer liability insurance or the potential inability to obtain such coverage on acceptable terms in the future.
The growth of the digital assets industry in general, and the use and acceptance of bitcoin in particular, may also impact the price of bitcoin and is subject to a high degree of uncertainty. The pace of worldwide growth in the adoption and use of bitcoin may depend, for instance, on public familiarity with digital assets, ease of buying, accessing or gaining exposure to bitcoin, institutional demand for bitcoin as an investment asset, the participation of traditional financial institutions in the digital assets industry, consumer demand for bitcoin as a means of payment, and the availability and popularity of alternatives to bitcoin. Even if growth in bitcoin adoption occurs in the near or medium-term, there is no assurance that bitcoin usage will continue to grow over the long-term.
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Because bitcoin has no physical existence beyond the record of transactions on the bitcoin blockchain, a variety of technical factors related to the bitcoin blockchain could also impact the price of bitcoin. For example, malicious attacks by miners, inadequate mining fees to incentivize validating of bitcoin transactions, hard forks of the bitcoin blockchain into multiple blockchains, and advances in digital computing, algebraic geometry, and quantum computing could undercut the integrity of the bitcoin blockchain and negatively affect the price of bitcoin. The liquidity of bitcoin may also be reduced and damage to the public perception of bitcoin may occur, if financial institutions were to deny or limit banking services to businesses that hold bitcoin, provide bitcoin-related services or accept bitcoin as payment, which could also decrease the price of bitcoin. Similarly, the open-source nature of the bitcoin blockchain means the contributors and developers of the bitcoin blockchain are generally not directly compensated for their contributions in maintaining and developing the blockchain, and any failure to properly monitor and upgrade the bitcoin blockchain could adversely affect the bitcoin blockchain and negatively affect the price of bitcoin.
Recent actions by U.S. banking regulators have reduced the ability of bitcoin-related services providers to gain access to banking services and liquidity of bitcoin may also be impacted to the extent that changes in applicable laws and regulatory requirements negatively impact the ability of exchanges and trading venues to provide services for bitcoin and other digital assets.
Regulatory change reclassifying bitcoin as a security could lead to our classification as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the 1940 Act, and could adversely affect the market price of bitcoin and the market price of our Common Stock.
Under Sections 3(a)(1)(A) and (C) of the 1940 Act, a company generally will be deemed to be an investment company for purposes of the 1940 Act if (1) it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities or (2) it engages, or proposes to engage, in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. We do not believe that we are an investment company, as such term is defined in the 1940 Act, and are not registered as an investment company under the 1940 Act as of the date of this quarterly report.
While senior SEC officials have stated their view that bitcoin is not a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, a contrary determination by the SEC could lead to our classification as an investment company under the 1940 Act, if the portion of our assets consists of investments in bitcoins exceeds 40% safe harbor limits prescribed in the 1940 Act, which would subject us to significant additional regulatory controls that could have a material adverse effect on our business and operations and may also require us to change the manner in which we conduct our business.
We monitor our assets and income for compliance under the 1940 Act and seek to conduct our business activities in a manner such that we do not fall within its definitions of investment company or that we qualify under one of the exemptions or exclusions provided by the 1940 Act and corresponding SEC regulations. If bitcoin is determined to constitute a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, we would take steps to reduce the percentage of bitcoins that constitute investment assets under the 1940 Act. These steps may include, among others, selling bitcoins that we might otherwise hold for the long term and deploying our cash in non-investment assets, and we may be forced to sell our bitcoins at unattractive prices. We may also seek to acquire additional non-investment assets to maintain compliance with the 1940 Act, and we may need to incur debt, issue additional equity or enter into other financing arrangements that are not otherwise attractive to our business. Any of these actions could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. Moreover, we can make no assurance that we would successfully be able to take the necessary steps to avoid being deemed to be an investment company in accordance with the safe harbor. If we were unsuccessful, and if bitcoin is determined to constitute a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, then we would have to register as an investment company, and the additional regulatory restrictions imposed by 1940 Act could adversely affect the market price of bitcoin and in turn adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
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We may be subject to regulatory developments related to crypto assets and crypto asset markets, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
As bitcoin and other digital assets are relatively novel and the application of state and federal securities laws and other laws and regulations to digital assets is unclear in certain respects, and it is possible that regulators in the United States or foreign countries may interpret or apply existing laws and regulations in a manner that adversely affects the price of bitcoin. The U.S. federal government, states, regulatory agencies, and foreign countries may also enact new laws and regulations, or pursue regulatory, legislative, enforcement or judicial actions, that could materially impact the price of bitcoin or the ability of individuals or institutions such as us to own or transfer bitcoin. For examples, see Bitcoin and other digital assets are novel assets, and are subject to significant legal, commercial, regulatory and technical uncertainty above.
If bitcoin is determined to constitute a security for purposes of the federal securities laws, the additional regulatory restrictions imposed by such a determination could adversely affect the market price of bitcoin and in turn adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock. See company as defined by Item 10(f)(1) of Regulatory change reclassifying bitcoin as a security could lead to our classification as an investment company under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the 1940 Act, and could adversely affect the market price of bitcoin and the market price of our Common Stock above. Moreover, the risks of us engaging in a bitcoin treasury strategy have created, and could continue to create, complications due to the lack of experience that third parties have with companies engaging in such a strategy, such as increased costs of director and officer liability insurance or the potential inability to obtain such coverage on acceptable terms in the future.
Our current and intended bitcoin holdings are and may be less liquid than our existing cash and cash equivalents and may not be able to serve as a source of liquidity for us to the same extent as cash and cash equivalents.
Historically, the bitcoin markets have been characterized by significant volatility in price, limited liquidity and trading volumes compared to sovereign currencies markets, relative anonymity, a developing regulatory landscape, potential susceptibility to market abuse and manipulation, compliance and internal control failures at exchanges, and various other risks inherent in its entirely electronic, virtual form and decentralized network. During times of market instability, we may not be able to sell our bitcoin at favorable prices or at all. For example, a number of bitcoin trading venues temporarily halted deposits and withdrawals in 2022. As a result, our bitcoin holdings may not be able to serve as a source of liquidity for us to the same extent as cash and cash equivalents. Further, bitcoin we may hold with our custodians and transact with our trade execution partners may not enjoy the same protections as are available to cash or securities deposited with or transacted by institutions subject to regulation by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation. Additionally, we may be unable to enter into term loans or other capital raising transactions collateralized by our unencumbered bitcoin or otherwise generate funds using our bitcoin holdings, including in particular during times of market instability or when the price of bitcoin has declined significantly. If we are unable to sell our bitcoin, enter into additional capital raising transactions using bitcoin as collateral, or otherwise generate funds using our bitcoin holdings, or if we are forced to sell our bitcoin at a significant loss, in order to meet our working capital requirements, our business and financial condition could be negatively impacted.
Due to the unregulated nature and lack of transparency surrounding the operations of many bitcoin trading venues, bitcoin trading venues may experience greater fraud, security failures or regulatory or operational problems than trading venues for more established asset classes, which may result in a loss of confidence in bitcoin trading venues and adversely affect the value of our bitcoin
Bitcoin trading venues are relatively new and, in many cases, unregulated. Furthermore, there are many bitcoin trading venues which do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management teams, corporate practices and regulatory compliance. As a result, the marketplace may lose confidence in bitcoin trading venues, including prominent exchanges that handle a significant volume of bitcoin trading and/or are subject to regulatory oversight, in the event one or more bitcoin trading venues cease or pause for a prolonged period the trading of bitcoin or other digital assets, or experience fraud, significant volumes of withdrawal, security failures or operational problems.
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In 2019 there were reports claiming that 80-95% of bitcoin trading volume on trading venues was false or non-economic in nature, with specific focus on unregulated exchanges located outside of the United States. The SEC also alleged as part of its complaint on June 5, 2023 that Binance Holdings Ltd. committed strategic and targeted wash trading through its affiliates to artificially inflate the volume of certain digital assets traded on its exchange. The SEC has also brought recent actions against individuals and digital asset market participants alleging such persons artificially increased trading volumes in certain digital assets through wash trades, or repeated buying and selling of the same assets in fictitious transactions to manipulate their underlying trading price. Such reports and allegations may indicate that the bitcoin market is significantly smaller than expected and that the United States makes up a significantly larger percentage of the bitcoin market than is commonly understood. Any actual or perceived false trading in the bitcoin market, and any other fraudulent or manipulative acts and practices, could adversely affect the value of our bitcoin. Negative perception, a lack of stability in the broader bitcoin markets and the closure, temporary shutdown or operational disruption of bitcoin trading venues, lending institutions, institutional investors, institutional miners, custodians, or other major participants in the bitcoin ecosystem, due to fraud, business failure, cybersecurity events, government-mandated regulation, bankruptcy, or for any other reason, may result in a decline in confidence in bitcoin and the broader bitcoin ecosystem and greater volatility in the price of bitcoin. For example, in 2022, each of Celsius Network, Voyager Digital, Three Arrows Capital, FTX, and BlockFi filed for bankruptcy, following which the market prices of bitcoin and other digital assets significantly declined. In addition, in June 2023, the SEC announced enforcement actions against Coinbase, Inc., and Binance Holdings Ltd., two providers of large trading venues for digital assets, which similarly was followed by a decrease in the market price of bitcoin and other digital assets. These were followed in November 2023, by an SEC enforcement action against Payward Inc. and Payward Ventures Inc., together known as Krakenion S-K, another large trading venue for digitald assets. The price of our Common Stock may be affected by the value of our bitcoin holdings, the failure of a major participant in the bitcoin ecosystem could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our Common Stock.
If we or our third-party service providers experience a security breach or cyberattack and unauthorized parties obtain access to our bitcoin, or if our private keys are lost or destroyed, or other similar circumstances or events occur, we may lose some or all of our bitcoin and our financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Currently, we intend to hold any bitcoin we may own, in custody accounts at Japanese based institutional-grade digital asset custodians. Security breaches and cyberattacks are of particular concern with respect to our bitcoin. Bitcoin and other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies and the entities that provide services to participants in the bitcoin ecosystem have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, cyberattacks, or other malicious activities. For example, in October 2021 it was reported that hackers exploited a flaw in the account recovery process and stole from the accounts of at least 6,000 customers of the Coinbase exchange, although the flaw was subsequently fixed and Coinbase reimbursed affected customers. Similarly, in November 2022, hackers exploited weaknesses in the security architecture of the FTX Trading digital asset exchange and reportedly stole over $400 million in digital assets from customers. A successful security breach or cyberattack could result in:
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Further, any actual or perceived data security breach or cybersecurity attack directed at other companies with digital assets or companies that operate digital asset networks, regardless o such are not required to provide the inf whether we are directly impacted, could lead to a general loss of confidence in the broader bitcoin blockchain ecosystem or in the use of the bitcoin network to conduct financial transactormations, which could negatively impact us.
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Attacks upon systems across a variety of industries, including contained industries related to bitcoin, are increasing in frequency, persistence, and sop thistication, and, in many cases, are being conducted by sophisticated, well-funded and organized groups and individuals, including state actors. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized, improper or illegal access to systems and information (including personal data and digital assets), disable or degrade services, or sabotage systems are constantly evolving, may be difficult to detect quickly, and often are not recognized or detected until after they have been launched against a target. These attacks may occur on our systems or those of our third-party service providers or partners. We may experience breaches of our security measures due to human error, malfeasance, insider threats, system errors or vulnerabilities or other irregularities. In particular, we expect that unauthorized parties will attempt, to gain access to our systems and facilities, as well as those of our partners and third-party service providers, through various means, such as hacking, social engineering, phishing and fraud. Threats can come from a variety of sources, including criminal hackers, hacktivists, state-sponsored intrusions, industrial espionage, and insiders. In addition, certain types of attacks could harm us even if our systems are left undisturbed. For example, certain threats are designed to remain dormant or undetectable, sometimes for extended periods of time, or until launched against a target and we may not be able to implement adequate preventative measures. Further, there has been an increase in such activities due to the increase in work-from-home arrangements. The risk of cyberattacks could also be increased by cyberwarfare in connection with the ongoing Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts, or other future conflicts, including potential proliferation of malware into systems unrelated to such conflicts. Any future breach of our operations or those of others in the bitcoin industry, including third-party services on which we rely, could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset, and fluctuations in the price of bitcoin are likely to influence our financial results and the market price of our Common Stock.
Bitcoin is a highly volatile asset, and fluctuations in the price of bitcoin are likely to influence our financial results and the market price of our Common Stock. Our financial results and the market price of our Common Stock would be adversely affected, and our business and financial condition would be negatively impacted, if the price of bitcoin decreased substantially (as it has in the past, such as during 2022), including as a result of:
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Our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future relating to our bitcoin holdings.
Our historical financial statements do not reflect the potential variability in earnings that we may experience in the future from holding or selling significant amounts of bitcoin.
The price of bitcoin has historically been subject to dramatic price fluctuations and is highly volatile. Following our early adoption of ASU 2023-08, we are required to determine the fair value of our bitcoin based on quoted (unadjusted) prices on the Coinbase exchange, and to measure our bitcoin holdings at fair value in our statement of financial position, and to recognize gains and losses from changes in the fair value of our bitcoin in net income each reporting period, which may create significant volatility in our reported earnings and change the carrying value of our digital assets, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our Common Stock. Conversely, any sale of bitcoins at prices above our carrying value for such assets creates a gain for financial reporting purposes even if we would otherwise incur an economic or tax loss with respect to such transaction, which also may result in significant volatility in our reported earnings.
Due in particular to the volatility in the price of bitcoin, we expect our early adoption of ASU 2023-08 to increase the volatility of our financial results and it could significantly affect the carrying value of our bitcoin on our balance sheet. As of the date of this quarterly report, we held an aggregate 5,833 bitcoins, which we acquired for approximately $183.1 million, inclusive of fees and expenses.
Because we intend to purchase additional bitcoin in future periods and increase our overall holdings of bitcoin, we expect that the proportion of our total assets represented by our bitcoin holdings will increase in the future. As a result, and in particular with respect to the quarterly periods and full fiscal year with respect to which ASU 2023-08 will apply, and for all future periods, volatility in our earnings may be significantly more than what we experienced in prior periods.
Our bitcoin treasury strategy subjects us to enhanced regulatory oversight.
As noted above, several spot bitcoin ETPs have received approval from the SEC to list their shares on a U.S. national securities exchange with continuous share creation and redemption at net asset value. Even though we are not, and do not function in the manner of, a spot bitcoin ETP, it is possible that we nevertheless could face regulatory scrutiny from the SEC or other federal or state agencies due to our bitcoin holdings.
In addition, there has been increasing focus on the extent to which digital assets can be used to launder the proceeds of illegal activities, fund criminal or terrorist activities, or circumvent sanctions regimes, including those sanctions imposed in response to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. While we have implemented and maintain policies and procedures reasonably designed to promote compliance with applicable anti-money laundering and sanctions laws and regulations and take care to only acquire our bitcoin through entities subject to anti-money laundering regulation and related compliance rules in the United States, if we are found to have purchased any of our bitcoin from bad actors that have used bitcoin to launder money or persons subject to sanctions, we may be subject to regulatory proceedings and any further transactions or dealings in bitcoin by us may be restricted or prohibited.
We may consider issuing debt or other financial instruments that may be collateralized by our bitcoin holdings. We may also consider pursuing strategies to create income streams or otherwise generate funds using our bitcoin holdings. These types of bitcoin-related transactions are the subject of enhanced regulatory oversight. These and any other bitcoin-related transactions we may enter into, beyond simply acquiring and holding bitcoin, may subject us to additional regulatory compliance requirements and scrutiny, including under federal and state money services regulations, money transmitter licensing requirements and various commodity and securities laws and regulations.
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Additional laws, guidance and policies may be issued by domestic and foreign regulators following the filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by FTX Trading, one of the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchanges, in November 2022. U.S. and foreign regulators have also increased, and are highly likely to continue to increase, enforcement activity, and are likely to adopt new regulatory requirements in response to FTX Tradings collapse. Increased enforcement activity and changes in the regulatory environment, including changing interpretations and the implementation of new or varying regulatory requirements by the government or any new legislation affecting bitcoin, as well as enforcement actions involving or impacting our trading venues, counterparties and custodians, may impose significant costs or significantly limit our ability to hold and transact in bitcoin.
In addition, private actors that are wary of bitcoin or the regulatory concerns associated with bitcoin may in the future take further actions that may have an adverse effect on our business or the market price of our Common Stock.
Legislative developments such as the CLARITY Act may alter the regulatory treatment of bitcoin and adversely affect our business.
On May 29, 2025, the U.S. House of Representatives introduced H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 (the CLARITY Act), which passed the House on July 17, 2025 and is currently pending review by the U.S. Senate. If enacted as proposed, the CLARITY Act would classify bitcoin and certain other digital assets as digital commodities and expand the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the CFTC) over such assets. As a result, certain activities involving bitcoin, including trading, custody, advisory, or fundraising transactions, could become subject to new compliance obligations under the Commodity Exchange Act. Depending on the manner in which the legislation is implemented and interpreted, entities such as ours could be required to register as a commodity pool operator, commodity trading advisor, or otherwise comply with CFTC regulations applicable to market participants in digital commodities.
While it is uncertain whether the CLARITY Act will be enacted in its current form, or whether transitional relief or exemptions would be available to us, any such reclassification of bitcoin could materially increase our compliance costs and subject us to additional reporting, operational and governance requirements. In addition, the period of regulatory transition and uncertainty could adversely affect liquidity, market participation and demand for bitcoin more broadly. Any such changes could have a material adverse effect on our business strategy, financial condition, results of operations and the market price of our Common Stock.
The concentration of our holdings in a single digital asset enhances the risks inherent in our bitcoin treasury strategy.
As of the date of this quarterly report, we held an aggregate 5,833 bitcoins, which we acquired for approximately $183.1 million], inclusive of fees and expenses, and we intend to purchase additional bitcoin and increase our overall holdings of bitcoin in the future. Currently we have our treasury reserve asset investments highly concentrated in a single asset, bitcoin. The concentration of our bitcoin holdings limits the risk mitigation that we could take advantage of by purchasing a more diversified portfolio of treasury assets, and the absence of diversification enhances the risks inherent in our bitcoin acquisition strategy. Any future significant declines in the price of bitcoin would have a more pronounced impact on our financial condition than if we used our cash to purchase a more diverse portfolio of assets.
From time to time, we may enter into certain hedging transactions to mitigate our exposure to specific economic conditions that are particularly volatile, including the market price of bitcoin. Engaging in hedging transactions may expose us to risks associated with such transactions. Hedging against a decline in the values of portfolio investments caused by interest rate risk or volatile bitcoin market prices does not eliminate the possibility of fluctuations in the values of such positions or prevent losses if the values of such positions decline for other reasons. Such hedging transactions may also limit the opportunity for gain if the values of the portfolio investments should increase. Moreover, it may not be possible to hedge against a particular fluctuation that is so generally anticipated by the markets that a hedging transaction at an acceptable price is unavailable. In light of these and other factors, we may not be successful in mitigating our exposure to volatile economic conditions through any hedging transactions we undertake.
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The emergence or growth of other digital assets, including those with significant private or public sector backing, could have a negative impact on the price of bitcoin and adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
As a result of our bitcoin treasury strategy, the majority of our cash is now concentrated in our bitcoin holdings. Accordingly, the emergence or growth of digital assets other than bitcoin may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition. While bitcoin is the largest digital asset by market capitalization as of the date of this quarterly report there are numerous alternative digital assets and many entities, including consortiums and financial institutions, are researching and investing resources into private or permissioned blockchain platforms or digital assets that do not use proof-of-work mining like the bitcoin network. For example, in late 2022, the Ethereum network transitioned to a proof-of-stake mechanism for validating transactions that requires significantly less computing power than proof-of-work mining. The Ethereum network has completed another major upgrade since then and may undertake additional upgrades in the future. If the mechanisms for validating transactions in Ethereum and other alternative digital assets are perceived as superior to proof-of-work mining, those digital assets could gain market share relative to bitcoin.
Other alternative digital assets that compete with bitcoin in certain ways include stablecoins, which are designed to maintain a constant price because of, for instance, their issuers promise to hold high-quality liquid assets (such as U.S. dollar deposits and short- term U.S. treasury securities) equal to the total value of stablecoins in circulation. Stablecoins have grown rapidly as an alternative to bitcoin and other digital assets as a medium of exchange and store of value, particularly on digital asset trading platforms. As of the date of this quarterly report, two of the ten largest digital assets by market capitalization are U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins.
Additionally, central banks in some countries have started to introduce digital forms of legal tender. For example, Chinas CBDC project was made available to consumers in January 2022, and governments including the United States, the European Union, and Israel have been discussing the potential creation of new CBDCs. Whether or not they incorporate blockchain or similar technology, CBDCs, as legal tender in the issuing jurisdiction, could also compete with, or replace, bitcoin and other digital assets as a medium of exchange or store of value. As a result, the emergence or growth of these or other digital assets could cause the market price of bitcoin to decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, and operating results.
We face risks relating to the custody of our bitcoin, including the loss or destruction of private keys required to access our bitcoin and cyberattacks or other data loss relating to our bitcoin.
We hold our bitcoin with regulated custodians that have duties to safeguard our private keys. Our custodial services contracts do not restrict our ability to reallocate our bitcoin among our custodians, and our bitcoin holdings may be concentrated with a single custodian from time to time. In light of the significant amount of bitcoin we hold, we continually seek to engage additional custodians to achieve a greater degree of diversification in the custody of our bitcoin as the extent of potential risk of loss is dependent, in part, on the degree of diversification. If there is a decrease in the availability of digital asset custodians that we believe can safely custody our bitcoin, for example, due to regulatory developments or enforcement actions that cause custodians to discontinue or limit their services in the United States, we may need to enter into agreements that are less favorable than our current agreements or take other measures to custody our bitcoin, and our ability to seek a greater degree of diversification in the use of custodial services would be materially adversely affected. In addition, holding our bitcoin with regulated custodians could affect the availability of receiving digital assets that may result from forks of the bitcoin blockchain if our custodians are unable to support or otherwise provide us with such digital assets, thereby reducing the amount of digital assets we may hold as a result.
The insurance that covers losses of our bitcoin holdings may cover only a small fraction of the value of the entirety of our bitcoin holdings, and there can be no guarantee that such insurance will be maintained as part of the custodial services we have or that such coverage will cover losses with respect to our bitcoin. Moreover, our use of custodians exposes us to the risk that the bitcoin our custodians hold on our behalf could be subject to insolvency proceedings and we could be treated as a general unsecured creditor of the custodian, inhibiting our ability to exercise ownership rights with respect to such bitcoin. Any loss associated with such insolvency proceedings is unlikely to be covered by any insurance coverage we maintain related to our bitcoin.
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Bitcoin is controllable only by the possessor of both the unique public key and private key(s) relating to the local or online digital wallet in which the bitcoin is held. While the bitcoin blockchain ledger requires a public key relating to a digital wallet to be published when used in a transaction, private keys must be safeguarded and kept private in order to prevent a third party from accessing the bitcoin held in such wallet. To the extent the private key(s) for a digital wallet are lost, destroyed, or otherwise compromised and no backup of the private key(s) is accessible, neither we nor our custodians will be able to access the bitcoin held in the related digital wallet. Furthermore, we cannot provide assurance that our digital wallets, nor the digital wallets of our custodians held on our behalf, will not be compromised as a result of a cyberattack. The bitcoin and blockchain ledger, as well as other digital assets and blockchain technologies, have been, and may in the future be, subject to security breaches, cyberattacks, or other malicious activities.
Our bitcoin treasury strategy exposes us to risk of non-performance by counterparties.
Our bitcoin treasury strategy exposes us to the risk of non-performance by counterparties, whether contractual or otherwise. Risk of non-performance includes inability or refusal of a counterparty to perform because of a deterioration in the counterpartys financial condition and liquidity or for any other reason. For example, our execution partners, custodians, or other counterparties might fail to perform in accordance with the terms of our agreements with them, which could result in a loss of bitcoin, a loss of the opportunity to generate funds, or other losses.
Our primary counterparty risk with respect to our bitcoin is custodian performance obligations. We hold nearly all of our bitcoin in custody accounts at Japanese institutional-grade custodians. These custodians have strong track records of regulatory compliance and information security. A series of recent high-profile bankruptcies, closures, liquidations, regulatory enforcement actions and other events relating to companies operating in the digital asset industry, the closure or liquidation of certain financial institutions that provided lending and other services to the digital assets industry, SEC enforcement actions against other providers, or placement into receivership or civil fraud lawsuit against digital asset industry participants have highlighted the perceived and actual counterparty risk applicable to digital asset ownership and trading. Although these bankruptcies, closures and liquidations have not adversely impacted our bitcoin (which was only recently acquired), legal precedent created in these bankruptcy and other proceedings may increase the risk of future rulings adverse to our interests in the event one or more of our custodians becomes a debtor in a bankruptcy case or is the subject of other liquidation, insolvency or similar proceedings.
Risks Relating to Our Financial Condition and Operations
Our dividend policy may limit our ability to fund operations and growth and could adversely affect our business and expansion plans.
On August 8, 2025, our board of directors unanimously approved a dividend policy (the Policy), effective September 8, 2025. Under the Policy, we will distribute no less than 80% of annual profits to shareholders as dividends, payable in cash, stock, or other forms approved by the board. Dividend declarations under the Policy remain subject to the boards quarterly assessment of our liquidity, cash flow generation, capital allocation needs for growth, regulatory and compliance constraints, and overall financial condition.
Despite that the Policy includes safeguards, returning a substantial portion of profits to shareholders may reduce funds available for working capital, research and development, product and market expansion, capital expenditures, strategic investments and acquisitions, and the maintenance of cash reserves. As a result, the Policy could constrain our operating flexibility and ability to pursue growth opportunities, and may increase our reliance on external financing. Any need to raise debt or equity to fund operations or expansion could occur on unfavorable terms, dilute existing shareholders, or subject us to restrictive covenants, and could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations.
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Additional capital, if needed, may not be available on acceptable terms, if at all, and any additional financing may be on terms adverse to your interests.
We may need additional cash to fund our operations. Our capital needs will depend on numerous factors, including market conditions and our profitability. We cannot be certain that we will be able to obtain additional financing on favorable terms, if at all. If additional financing is not available when required or is not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund expansion, successfully promote our brand name, develop or enhance our services, take advantage of business opportunities, or respond to competitive pressures or unanticipated requirements, any of which could seriously harm our business and reduce the value of your investment.
If we are able to raise additional funds if and when needed by issuing additional equity securities, you may experience significant dilution of your ownership interest and holders of these new securities may have rights senior to yours as a holder of our Common Stock. If we obtain additional financing by issuing debt securities, the terms of those securities could restrict or prevent us from declaring dividends and could limit our flexibility in making business decisions. In this case, the value of your investment could be reduced.
There is no assurance that we will be able to obtain additional funding if it is needed, or that such funding, if available, will be obtainable on terms and conditions favorable to or affordable by us. If we cannot obtain needed funds, we may be forced to curtail our activities.
Failure to achieve and maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 could prevent us from producing reliable financial reports or identifying fraud. In addition, shareholders could lose confidence in our financial reporting, which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.
Effective internal controls are necessary for us to provide reliable financial reports and effectively prevent fraud, and a lack of effective controls could preclude us from accomplishing these critical functions. We are required to document and test our internal control procedures in order to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires annual management assessments of the effectiveness of an issuers internal controls over financial reporting. Although we intend to augment our internal controls procedures and expand our accounting staff, there is no guarantee that this effort will be adequate.
During the course of our testing, we may identify deficiencies which we may not be able to remediate. In addition, if we fail to maintain the adequacy of our internal accounting controls, as applicable standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we may not be able to ensure that we can conclude on an ongoing basis that we have effective internal controls over financial reporting in accordance with Section 404. Failure to achieve and maintain an effective internal control environment could cause us to face regulatory action and, also, cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, either of which could have an adverse effect on our stock price.
A prolonged downturn in the global economy could materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.
The current global market and economic conditions are unprecedented, volatile and challenging, with the threat of recessions occurring in most major economies. Continued concerns about the systemic impact of potential long-term and wide-spread recession, energy costs, geopolitical issues, and the availability and cost of credit have contributed to increased market volatility and diminished expectations for economic growth around the world. The difficult economic outlook has negatively affected businesses and consumer confidence and contributed to volatility of unprecedented levels.
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Our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations may also be influenced to a significant degree by political, economic and social conditions in Hong Kong and China generally and by continued economic growth in Hong Kong and China as a whole. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including the amount of government involvement, level of development, growth rate, control of foreign exchange and allocation of resources. While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth over the past decades, growth has been uneven, both geographically and among various sectors of the economy. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures may benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may have a negative effect on us.
Economic conditions in Hong Kong and China are sensitive to global economic conditions. Any prolonged slowdown in the global or Chinese economy may affect potential clients confidence in financial market as a whole and have a negative impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Additionally, continued turbulence in the international markets may adversely affect our ability to access the capital markets to meet liquidity needs.
The outbreak of war in Ukraine has already affected global economic markets, and the uncertain resolution of this conflict could result in protracted and/or severe damage to the global economy. Russias recent military interventions in Ukraine have led to, and may lead to, additional sanctions being levied by the United States, European Union and other countries against Russia. Russias military incursion and the resulting sanctions could adversely affect global energy and financial markets and thus could affect our clients business and our business, even though we do not have any direct exposure to Russia or the adjoining geographic regions. The extent and duration of the military action, sanctions, and resulting market disruptions are impossible to predict, but could be substantial. Any such disruptions caused by Russian military action or resulting sanctions may magnify the impact of other risks described in this section. In addition to the war in Ukraine, recent and ongoing conflicts in the Middle East, including the conflict between Israel and Hamas and the conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, have added further uncertainty to the global economic outlook. These conflicts have already led to volatility in crude oil prices and increased shipping costs due to attacks on commercial vessels in the Red Sea. A wider regional conflict could significantly disrupt global supply chains and energy markets, which could lead to higher inflation, reduced economic growth, and other adverse effects on the global economy. Prolonged unrest, intensified military activities, or more extensive sanctions impacting the region could have a material adverse effect on the global economy, and such effect could in turn have a material adverse effect on the operations, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity and business outlook of our business.
We may not maintain sufficient insurance coverage for the risks associated with our business operations
Risks associated with our business and operations include, but are not limited to, claims for wrongful acts committed by our officers, directors, and other representatives, the loss of intellectual property rights, the loss of key personnel and risks posed by natural disasters. Any of these risks may result in significant losses. We currently do not carry business interruption insurance and may not do so in the future. In addition, we cannot provide any assurance that our insurance coverage is sufficient to cover any losses that we may sustain, or that we will be able to successfully claim our losses under our insurance policies on a timely basis or at all. If we incur any loss not covered by our insurance policies, or the compensated amount is significantly less than our actual loss or is not timely paid, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.
We do not have key man life insurance policies for any of our key personnel. If we were to obtain key man insurance for our key personnel, of which there can be no assurance, the amounts of such policies may not be sufficient to pay losses experienced by us as a result of the loss of any of those personnel.
We do not currently have general liability insurance and may not have general liability insurance in the near future until our financial situation improves.
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Compliance with changing regulation of corporate governance and public disclosure may result in additional expenses.
Changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure, including the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and new SEC regulations, are creating uncertainty for companies such as ours. These new or changed laws, regulations and standards are subject to varying interpretations in many cases due to their lack of specificity, and as a result, their application in practice may evolve over time as new guidance is provided by regulatory and governing bodies, which could result in continuing uncertainty regarding compliance matters and higher costs necessitated by ongoing revisions to disclosure and governance practices. We are committed to maintaining high standards of corporate governance and public disclosure. As a result, we intend to invest resources to comply with evolving laws, regulations and standards, and this investment may result in increased general and administrative expenses and a diversion of management time and attention from revenue-generating activities to compliance activities. If our efforts to comply with new or changed laws, regulations and standards differ from the activities intended by regulatory or governing bodies due to ambiguities related to practice, our reputation may be harmed.
While our current business operations are not subject to the PRC Crypto Restrictions, future changes in our business strategies or operations could expose us to these restrictions.
Our business operations are not currently impacted by the cryptocurrency restrictions imposed by the Chinese government (collectively, the PRC Crypto Restrictions) in any material respect, even though the Chinese government has adopted an increasingly stringent approach in recent years, as outlined and discussed below.
On December 3, 2013, the Peoples Bank of China, Chinas central bank (PBoC), issued the Notice on Preventing Risks Associated with Bitcoin, emphasizing that bitcoin should be deemed as a virtual commodity rather than a fiat currency. This notice prohibits financial and payment institutions in China from providing bitcoin-related services, highlighting the potential risks of money laundering associated with bitcoin.
Further tightening the regulatory environment, on September 4, 2017, the PBoC issued the Announcement on Preventing Risks Associated with Financing Activities through ICOs, which prohibits the initial coin offerings (ICOs) which was characterized as a potentially criminal activity, potentially involving suspected illegal issuance and sales of tokens and notes, unauthorized public issuance of securities, illegal fundraising, financial fraud, and Ponzi schemes.
The most recent regulatory measure came on September 24, 2021, when the PBoC, along with nine other Chinese national government bodies, issued the Notice Regarding Further Prevention and Management of Risks Associated with Cryptocurrency Trading Hype banning overseas cryptocurrency exchanges from providing services to residents in mainland China. This notice also prohibits individuals in mainland China from working for overseas exchanges, and restricts companies and individuals from providing marketing, payment, settlement services or technical support to these exchanges. A comprehensive monitoring system was also established to oversee cryptocurrency activities of individuals and companies in mainland China, giving local authorities extensive authority to monitor their regions and raise early warning flags. We believe our business operations are not currently subject to these PRC Crypto Restrictions.
We are not a PRC company, nor do we plan to open or retain any PRC subsidiaries. We are not a financial or payment institution operating within China either. We closed our PRC subsidiaries in July 2024 and currently do not conduct any business activities within China. We do not engage in any exchange business between fiat currency and cryptocurrency or among cryptocurrencies. We do not issue digital tokens through ICOs or otherwise, nor do we provide marketing, payment, settlement services or related technical support for any cryptocurrency exchanges. Our involvement with bitcoin is limited to purchasing and holding bitcoins, which is not prohibited under the PRC Crypto Restrictions. Furthermore, the holding of certain executive roles by Chinese citizens in our company does not violate any PRC Crypto Restrictions.
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While our current business operations are not subject to the PRC Crypto Restrictions, future changes in our business strategies or operations could expose us to these restrictions. In addition, the PRC Crypto Restrictions are continuously evolving and can be subject to significant changes. There is a possibility that the Chinese government may broaden its regulatory scope to include a wider range of cryptocurrency-related activities, potentially impacting companies operating outside of China. If new regulations are introduced or if our business evolves to include activities that fall under the PRC jurisdiction, we could face increased regulatory scrutiny, compliance costs or operational restrictions, which, in turn, could materially affect our current or anticipated business operations.
Our international growth strategy has and will continue to expose us to risks inherent in international sales and operations.
We are currently active in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and Singapore, and we have and will continue to expand our operations and sales into new markets, including but not limited to, Thailand and Australia. Our expanding international operations are subject to risks that could adversely affect those operations or our business as a whole, including but not limited to the costs of establishing a market presence, localizing product and service offerings for foreign customers, difficulties in managing and staffing international operations, and increased expenses related to introducing corporate policies and controls in our international operations and increased reliance on partners to provide services in additional geographies. Further, the expansion of our product offering into new international markets has and will continue to result in an expansion of our monitoring of local laws and regulations, which increases our costs as well as the risk of the product not incorporating in a timely fashion or at all the necessary changes to enable a customer to be compliant with such laws, or in manual workarounds that are prone to errors.
Moreover, as part of our international strategy, we work with partners to perform services in certain geographies where we do not currently have international operations or the particular service required by our customers. As a result, we may experience business impact if our partners do not carry out the services as committed, or at a quality level that our customers demand, including potential for reduced margin from additional expense or impact to customer relationships.
If we are unable to provide the required services on a multinational basis, or if we are unable to effectively manage our international expansion, we could be subject to negative customer experiences, harm to our reputation or loss of customers, claims for any fines, penalties or other damages suffered by our customer, and other financial harm, including fines, penalties, or other damages suffered by us directly, which would negatively impact revenue and earnings. Although we have a multinational strategy, additional investment and efforts may be necessary to implement such strategy. Some of our business partners also have international operations and are subject to the risks described above.
Compliance with the rapidly evolving landscape of global data privacy and data security laws may be challenging, and any failure or perceived failure to comply with such laws, or other concerns about our practices or policies with respect to the processing of personal information, could damage our reputation and deter current and potential customers and end users from using our platform and products and services or subject us to significant compliance costs or penalties, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Failure to comply with the increasing number of data protection laws in the jurisdictions in which we operate, as well as concerns about our practices with regard to the collection, use, storage, retention, transfer, disclosure and other processing of personal information, the security of personal information, the use of biometric information or other privacy-related matters, such as cybersecurity breaches, misuse of personal information and data sharing without necessary safeguards, including concerns from our customers, employees and third parties with whom we conduct business, even if unfounded, could damage our reputation and operating results. As we seek to expand our business, we are, and may increasingly become, subject to various laws, regulations and standards, as well as contractual obligations, relating to data privacy and security in the jurisdictions in which we operate. The regulatory and legal frameworks regarding data privacy and security issues in many jurisdictions are constantly evolving and developing and can be subject to significant changes from time to time, including in ways that may result in conflicting requirements among various jurisdictions. Interpretation and implementation standards and enforcement practices are similarly in a state of flux and are likely to remain uncertain for the foreseeable future. As a result, we may not be able to fully assess the full scope of our global compliance obligations, leading to potential non-compliance with applicable data privacy and security laws, regulations and standards. Moreover, these laws, regulations and standards may be interpreted and applied differently over time and from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and it is possible that they will be interpreted and applied in ways that may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
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United States
In the United States, various federal regulators, including governmental agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, and states and state regulators have adopted, or are considering adopting, laws and regulations concerning personal data and data security, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, of 2018 (as modified by the California Privacy Rights Act, collectively CCPA). This patchwork of legislation and regulation may give rise to conflicts or differing views of personal privacy rights. For example, certain state laws may be more stringent or broader in scope, or offer greater individual rights, with respect to personal data than federal, international or other state laws, and such laws may differ from each other, all of which may complicate compliance efforts. One such comprehensive privacy law in the United States is the CCPA, which came into effect on January 1, 2020 and was significantly amended as of January 1, 2023. Among other things, the CCPA requires companies that process personal information of California residents to make detailed disclosures to consumers about such companies data collection, use and sharing practices, gives California residents expanded rights to access and delete their personal information and to opt out of certain personal information sharing with (and sales of personal information to) third parties. The CCPA provides for civil penalties for violations, as well as a private right of action for certain data breaches that result in the loss of personal data that may increase the likelihood of, and risks associated with, data breach litigation. Additionally, the CCPA expands consumers rights with respect to certain sensitive personal information, further restricts the use of cross-context behavioral advertising and creates a state agency, the California Privacy Protection Agency, to oversee implementation and enforcement efforts. Amendments have been made to the CCPA, and it is possible that further amendments will be enacted, but even in its current form it remains unclear how various provisions of the CCPA will be interpreted and enforced potentially resulting in further uncertainty and requiring us to incur additional costs and expenses in an effort to comply. Other state laws are changing rapidly and there have been ongoing discussions and proposals in the U.S. Congress with respect to new federal data privacy and security laws to which we would become subject if enacted. All of these evolving compliance and operational requirements impose significant costs that are likely to increase over time, may require us to modify our data processing practices and policies, divert resources from other initiatives and projects, and could restrict the way products and services involving data are offered, all of which may have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Hong Kong
In Hong Kong, the collection, use and transfer of personal data is primarily governed by the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Chapter 486 of the laws of Hong Kong) (PDPO), which is enforced by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data. The PDPO applies where the data user in question controls the collection, holding, processing or use of personal data (i.e. any data relating directly or indirectly to a living individual from which it is practicable for the individual to be directly or indirectly identified) in or from Hong Kong even if the data processing cycle occurs outside Hong Kong. PDPO does not contain any express provisions conferring extra-territorial application. PDPO imposes a duty on any data user who, either alone or jointly with other persons, controls the collection, holding, processing or use of any personal data which relates directly or indirectly to a living individual and can be used to identify that individual. Under the PDPO, data users shall take all practicable steps to protect the personal data they hold from any unauthorized or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss, or use. Once collected, such personal data should not be kept longer than necessary for the fulfilment of the purpose for which it is or is to be used and shall be erased if it is no longer required, unless erasure is prohibited by law or is not in the public interest. PDPO also confers on the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (Privacy Commissioner) power to conduct investigations and institute prosecutions. The data protection principles (collectively, the DPP), which are contained in Schedule 1 to the PDPO, outline how data users should collect, handle, and use personal data, complemented by other provisions imposing further compliance requirements. The collective objective of DPPs is to ensure that personal data is collected on a fully informed basis and in a fair manner, with due consideration towards minimizing the amount of personal data collected. Once collected, the personal data should be processed in a secure manner and should only be kept for as long as necessary for the fulfilment of the purposes of using the data. Use of the data should be limited to or related to the original collection purpose. Data subjects are given certain rights including, inter alia: (a) the right to be informed by a data user whether the data user holds personal data of which the individual is the data subject; (b) if the data user holds such data, the right to be supplied with a copy of such data; and (c) the right to request correction of any data they consider to be inaccurate. The Privacy Commissioner may carry out criminal investigations and institute prosecution for certain offenses. Depending on the severity of the cases, the Privacy Commissioner will decide whether to prosecute or refer cases involving suspected commission to the Department of Justice of Hong Kong. Victims may also seek compensation by civil action from data users for damage caused by a contravention of the PDPO.
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Malaysia
In Malaysia, the processing of personal data in commercial transactions is regulated under the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 (Malaysia PDPA), which is administered by the Personal Data Protection Commissioner. Malaysia PDPA requires generally that an individual consents to the processing of personal data, subject to specific statutory exceptions. The term processing is widely defined to include collecting, recording, holding, or storing personal data or carrying out any operation or set of operations on personal data, including:
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Malaysia PDPA provide that consent shall be obtained in relation to the processing of personal data in any form that can be recorded and maintained properly by the data user.
Data users are required to provide written notice of the personal data being processed, and such notice shall include, among others, a description of the personal data being processed, the purpose for which the personal data is being processed, the source of the personal data, the class of persons to whom the personal data will be disclosed to, whether it is obligatory or voluntary for the individual to supply the personal data, the individuals rights to request access and correct the personal data and choices and means available to the individual to limit the processing of the personal data. The notice must be provided in both English and the national language of Bahasa Malaysia.
Japan
The Act on the Protection of Personal Information (the APPI) in Japan is to protect rights and interests of individuals, while balancing the usefulness of personal information. The APPI mainly concerns three situations: (i) acquisition and use; (ii) storage; and (iii) transfer of personal information. When personal information is acquired, the purpose of use must be notified to the individual or made public, except in cases where the purpose of use has been made public in advance. The purpose of use must be specified, and the acquired personal information must be used within the scope of such purpose of use. When storing personal information, it is necessary to manage it safely so that it will not be leaked. For the secure management of personal information, the APPI requires business operators handling personal data to implement appropriate security control measures to prevent unauthorized access, loss, destruction, alteration or leakage. It includes establishment of fundamental rule of personal information management, appointment of personnel responsible for personal information management, provisions of regular training courses on privacy and security breach, physical security control. Additionally, when transferring personal data to a third party, it is necessary, in principle, to obtain the consent of the principal in advance. In the event that an individual violates the above obligations under the APPI and also violates an improvement order issued by the Personal Information Protection Commission regarding this matter, a criminal penalty of imprisonment for not more than one year or a fine of not more than one million yen could be imposed on the individual who violated the law. In addition, a criminal penalty of a fine of up to 100 million yen could be imposed on the violating entity. A victim may file a claim for damages based on torts against the offending entity for damages caused by the leakage and for compensation. Furthermore, if there is a contractual relationship between the victim and the entity, and the leakage of personal information is judged to be a breach of contract, damages may be claimed for breach of contract.
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Singapore
In Singapore, the Personal Data Protection Act 2012 of Singapore (PDPA) governs the collection, use and disclosure of the personal data of individuals by organizations, and is administered and enforced by the regulator, the Personal Data Protection Commission. The PDPA sets out data protection obligations which all organizations are required to comply with in undertaking activities relating to the collection, use or disclosure of personal data. A failure to comply with any of the above can subject an organization to a fine of up to the higher of S$1,000,000 or 10% of the organizations annual turnover in Singapore (for an organization whose annual turnover in Singapore exceeds S$10,000,000).
In addition to government regulation, privacy advocates and industry groups have and may in the future propose self-regulatory standards from time to time. These and other industry standards may legally or contractually apply to us, or we may elect to comply with such standards. We expect that there will continue to be new proposed laws and regulations concerning data privacy and security, and we cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. New laws, amendments to or reinterpretations of existing laws, regulations, standards and other obligations may require us to incur additional costs and restrict our business operations. For example, there is an increasing trend of jurisdictions requiring data localization, which may prohibit companies from storing data relating to resident individuals in data centers outside the relevant jurisdiction or, at a minimum, require a complete set of the data to be stored in data centers within the relevant jurisdiction. Because the interpretation and application of laws, regulations, standards and other obligations relating to data privacy and security are still uncertain, it is possible that these laws, regulations, standards and other obligations may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our data processing practices and policies or the features of our products and services. If so, in addition to the possibility of fines, lawsuits, complaints, inquiries, allegations, regulatory investigations, public censure, other claims and penalties, and significant costs for remediation and damage to our reputation, we could be materially and adversely affected if legislation or regulations are expanded to require changes in our data processing practices and policies or if governing jurisdictions interpret or implement their legislation or regulations in ways that negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, the developing requirements relating to clear and prominent privacy notices (including in the context of obtaining informed and specific consents to the collection and processing of personal information, where applicable) may potentially deter end users from consenting to certain uses of their personal information.
In general, negative publicity of us or our industry regarding actual or perceived violations of our end users privacy-related rights, including fines and enforcement actions against us or other similarly placed businesses, also may impair users trust in our privacy practices and make them reluctant to give their consent to share their data with us. Any inability to adequately address data privacy or security-related concerns, complaints, inquiries or allegations when they arise, even if unfounded, or to comply with applicable laws, regulations, standards and other obligations relating to data privacy and security, could result in additional cost and liability to us, harm our reputation and brand, damage our relationships with consumers and have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, due to data privacy or data security concerns, our ability to retain or increase our user base and user engagement may be materially and adversely affected, we may not be able to maintain or grow our revenues as anticipated and our financial results could be materially and adversely affected.
With regard to our commercial arrangements, we and our counterparties, including business partners and external service providers, might be subject to contractual obligations regarding the processing of personal information. While we believe our and our counterparties conduct under these agreements is in material compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, standards, certifications and orders relating to data privacy or security, we or our counterparties may fail, or be alleged to have failed, to be in full compliance. In the event that our acts or omissions result in alleged or actual failure to comply with applicable laws, regulations, standards, certifications and orders relating to data privacy or security, we may incur liability. While we endeavor to include indemnification provisions or other protections in such agreements to mitigate liability and losses stemming from our counterparties acts or omissions, we may not always be able to negotiate for such protections and, even where we can, there is no guarantee that our counterparties will honor such provisions or that such protections will cover the full scope of our liabilities and losses.
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While we strive to comply with our internal data privacy guidelines as well as all applicable data privacy and security laws and regulations and contractual obligations in respect of personal information, there is no assurance that we are able to comply with these laws, regulations and contractual obligations in all respects. Any failure or perceived failure by us, external service providers or business partners to comply may result in proceedings or actions against us, including fines and penalties or enforcement orders (including orders to cease processing activities) being levied on us by government agencies or proceedings or actions against us by our business partners, customers or end users, including class action privacy litigation in certain jurisdictions, and could damage our reputation and discourage current and future users from using our products and services, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, compliance with applicable laws on data privacy requires substantial expenditure and resources, including to continually evaluate our policies and processes and adapt to new requirements that are or become applicable to us on a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction basis, which would impose significant burdens and costs on our operations or may require us to alter our business practices. Concerns about the security of personal information also could lead to a decline in general internet usage, which could result in a decrease in demand for our products and services and have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Furthermore, if the local government authorities in our target markets require real-name registration for users of our platform, the growth of our customer and end-user bases may slow down and our business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected.
Risks Related to Our Common Stock and our Pre-Funded Warrant
Our Common Stock may be subject now and in the future to the SECs Penny Stock rules.
We may be subject now and in the future to the SECs penny stock rules if our shares of Common Stock sell below $5.00 per share. Penny stocks generally are equity securities with a price of less than $5.00. The penny stock rules require broker-dealers to deliver a standardized risk disclosure document prepared by the SEC which provides information about penny stocks and the nature and level of risks in the penny stock market. The broker-dealer must also provide the customer with current bid and offer quotations for the penny stock, the compensation of the broker- dealer and its salesperson and monthly account statements showing the market value of each penny stock held in the customers account. The bid and offer quotations, and the broker-dealer and salesperson compensation information must be given to the customer orally or in writing prior to completing the transaction and must be given to the customer in writing before or with the customers confirmation.
Our stock price may be volatile and could decline substantially.
The market price of our Common Stock may be volatile, both because of actual and perceived changes in our financial results and prospects, and because of general volatility in the stock market. The factors that could cause fluctuations in our stock price may include, among other factors discussed in this section, the following:
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In addition, the stock markets have experienced significant price and trading volume fluctuations from time to time, and the market prices of the equity securities of retailers have been extremely volatile and are sometimes subject to sharp price and trading volume changes. These broad market fluctuations may materially and adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.
Future sales of shares of our Common Stock, whether by us or our stockholders, could cause the price of our Common Stock to decline.
If our existing stockholders sell, or indicate an intent to sell, substantial amounts of shares of our Common Stock in the public market, the trading price of our Common Stock could decline significantly. Similarly, the perception in the public market that our stockholders might sell shares of our Common Stock could also depress the market price of our shares. A decline in the price of our Common Stock might impede our ability to raise capital through the issuance of additional shares of Common Stock or other equity securities. In addition, the issuance and sale by us of additional shares of Common Stock, or securities convertible into or exercisable for shares of our Common Stock, or the perception that we will issue such securities, could reduce the trading price for our Common Stock as well as make future sales of equity securities by us less attractive or not feasible.
We do not know whether a market for the shares of Common Stock will be sustained or what the trading price of the shares of Common Stock will be and as a result it may be difficult for you to sell your shares of Common Stock.
Although our Common Stock trades on Nasdaq, an active trading market for the Common Stock may not be sustained. It may be difficult for you to sell your shares of Common Stock without depressing the market price for the shares of Common Stock. As a result of these and other factors, you may not be able to sell your shares of Common Stock. Further, an inactive market may also impair our ability to raise capital by selling shares of Common Stock, or may impair our ability to enter into strategic partnerships or acquire companies or products by using our shares of Common Stock as consideration.
Securities analysts may not cover our Common Stock and this may have a negative impact on the market price of our Common Stock.
The trading market for our shares of Common Stock will depend, in part, on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over independent analysts (provided that we have engaged various non-independent analysts). We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by independent securities and industry analysts. If no independent securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our Common Stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain independent securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our shares of Common Stock, changes their opinion of our shares or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our Common Stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our shares of Common Stock could decrease and we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price and trading volume of our shares of Common Stock to decline.
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We may not be able to continue to pay or maintain our dividends and the failure to do so may negatively affect our share price. You will need to rely on the price appreciation of our Common Stock for return on your investment.
Subject to the Wyoming Business Corporations Act and our bylaws, our board of directors may authorize and declare a dividend to stockholders at such time and of such an amount as they think fit if they are satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that immediately following the dividend the value of our assets will exceed our liabilities and we will be able to pay our debts as they become due. There is no further Wyoming statutory restriction on the amount of funds which may be distributed by us by dividend.
Under our Policy, the Company will distribute no less than 80% of annual profits to its shareholders as dividends, payable in cash, stock or other forms approved by the board. However, dividend declarations remain subject to the boards quarterly assessment of liquidity, cash flow generation, capital allocation needs for growth, regulatory and compliance constraints, and overall financial condition. As a result, dividends may be decreased or entirely discontinued. Therefore, you should not rely on an investment in our Common Stock as a source for any future dividend income. The return on your investment in our Common Stock will likely depend entirely upon any future price appreciation of our Common Stock. There is no guarantee that our Common Stock will appreciate in value or even maintain the price at which you purchased the shares of Common Stock. You may not realize a return on your investment in our Common Stock and you may even lose your entire investment in our Common Stock.
Techniques employed by short sellers may drive down the market price of our Common Stock.
Short selling is the practice of selling securities that the seller does not own but rather has borrowed from a third party with the intention of buying identical securities back at a later date to return to the lender. The short seller hopes to profit from a decline in the value of the securities between the sale of the borrowed securities and the purchase of the replacement shares, as the short seller expects to pay less in that purchase than it received in the sale. As it is in the short sellers interest for the price of the security to decline, many short sellers publish, or arrange for the publication of, negative opinions regarding the relevant issuer and its business prospects in order to create negative market momentum and generate profits for themselves after selling a security short. These short attacks have, in the past, led to selling of shares in the market.
Public companies listed in the United States that have a substantial operation in Hong Kong have been the subject of short selling. Much of the scrutiny and negative publicity has centered on allegations of a lack of effective internal control over financial reporting resulting in financial and accounting irregularities and mistakes, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in many cases, allegations of fraud. As a result, many of these companies are now conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations and, in the interim, are subject to stockholder lawsuits and/or SEC enforcement actions.
We may in the future be the subject of unfavorable allegations made by short sellers. Any such allegations may be followed by periods of instability in the market price of our Common Stock and negative publicity. If and when we become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or untrue, we could have to expend a significant amount of resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend ourselves. While we would strongly defend against any such short seller attacks, we may be constrained in the manner in which we can proceed against the relevant short seller by principles of freedom of speech, applicable federal or state law, or issues of commercial confidentiality. Such a situation could be costly and time-consuming and could distract our management from growing our business. Even if such allegations are ultimately proven to be groundless, allegations against us could severely impact our business operations and stockholders equity, and the value of any investment in our Common Stock could be greatly reduced or rendered worthless.
Additional securities offerings in the future may dilute then-existing stockholders percentage ownership of the Company.
Given our plans and expectations that we will need additional capital in the future, we anticipate that we will need to issue additional shares or securities convertible or exercisable for shares, including convertible preference shares, convertible notes, stock options or warrants. The issuance of additional securities in the future will dilute the percentage ownership of then current stockholders and could negatively impact the price of our Common Stock.
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A possible short squeeze due to a sudden increase in demand of shares of our Common Stock that largely exceeds supply may lead to additional price volatility.
Investors may purchase shares to hedge existing exposure or to speculate on the price of our Common Stock. Speculation on the price of our Common Stock may involve long and short exposures. To the extent an aggregate short exposure in our shares of Common Stock becomes significant, investors with short exposure may have to pay a premium to purchase shares for delivery to share lenders at times if and when the price of our Common Stock increases significantly, particularly over a short period of time. Those purchases may in turn, dramatically increase the price of our Common Stock. This is often referred to as a short squeeze. A short squeeze could lead to volatile price movements in our Common Stock that are not directly correlated to our business prospects, financial performance or other traditional measures of value for the Company or its Common Stock.
There is no established public trading market for our Pre-Funded Warrants, and we do not expect a market to develop.
There is no established public trading market for our Pre-Funded Warrants, and we do not expect a market to develop. In addition, we do not intend to apply to list the Pre-Funded Warrants on any national securities exchange or other nationally recognized trading system. Without an active market, the liquidity of the Pre-Funded Warrants will be limited. Further, the existence of the Pre-Funded Warrants may act to reduce both the trading volume and the trading price of our Common Stock.
The Pre-Funded Warrants are speculative in nature.
Except as otherwise provided in the Pre-Funded Warrants, until the holder of Pre-Funded Warrants acquire shares of our Common Stock upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants, the holder of Pre-Funded Warrants will have no rights with respect to shares of our Common Stock underlying such Pre-Funded Warrants. Upon exercise of the Pre-Funded Warrants, the holder of such Pre-Funded Warrants will be entitled to exercise the rights of a stockholder only as to matters for which the record date occurs after the exercise date.
Moreover, the market value of the Pre-Funded Warrants is uncertain. There can be no assurance that the market price of our Common Stock will ever equal or exceed the price of the Pre-Funded Warrants, and, consequently, whether it will ever be profitable for the investors to exercise its Pre-Funded Warrants.
Our Common Stock is subject to delisting from Nasdaq, which would seriously harm the liquidity of our Common Stock and its ability to raise capital or complete a strategic transaction.
Our Common Stock is currently listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market. To maintain its listing on Nasdaq, we are required to maintain: (i) a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share; (ii) a market value of publicly held securities of $1 million; (iii) a certain number of round lot stockholders; and (iv) one of the following: a net income from continuing operations (in the latest fiscal year or two of the three last fiscal years) of at least $500,000, a market value of common stock of at least $35 million or a stockholders equity of at least $2.5 million. Nasdaq has the authority to delist our Common Stock if we fail to maintain these minimum requirements. In addition, Nasdaq may delist the Company if, based on Nasdaqs review of our operations and pursuant to Nasdaq Listing Rule 5101, Nasdaq believes that we are a public shell and that the continued listing of our securities is no longer warranted. We have no current plans to delist our Common Stock from Nasdaq. Nasdaq evaluates whether a listed company is a public shell company based on a facts and circumstances determination, a Nasdaq-listed company with no or nominal operations and either no or nominal assets, assets consisting solely of cash and cash equivalents, or assets consisting of any amount of cash and cash equivalents and nominal other assets is generally considered to be a public shell company. Listed companies determined to be public shell companies by Nasdaq may be subject to delisting proceedings or additional and more stringent listing criteria.
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During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 and three months ended March 31, 2026, we received several notices from the Staff of Nasdaq (the Staff) regarding our compliance with continued listing requirements:
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There can be no assurance that we will not receive additional deficiency notices in the future or that we will be able to maintain continued compliance with all Nasdaq listing requirements.
If our Common Stock is delisted from Nasdaq, whether because Nasdaq determines in the future that the Company is a public shell or the Company fails to maintain compliance with the continued listed requirements, or otherwise, a reduction in some or all of the following may occur, each of which could have a material adverse effect on holders of our Common Stock: the liquidity of the Common Stock; the market price of the Common Stock; the number of institutional and general investors that will consider investing in the Common Stock; the number of investors in general that will consider investing in the Common Stock; the number of market makers in the Common Stock; the availability of information concerning the trading prices and volume of the Common Stock; and the number of broker-dealers willing to execute trades in the Common Stock. In addition to the foregoing, there are certain consequences under the Securities Act, of being a public shell company, including the unavailability of Rule 144 thereunder for the resale of restricted securities and the inability to utilize Form S-8 for the registration of employee benefit plan securities.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about our business, or if they publish a negative report regarding our shares of Common Stock, the price of our shares of Common Stock and trading volume could decline.
The trading market for our shares of Common Stock may depend in part on the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. We do not have any control over these analysts. If one or more of the analysts who cover us downgrade us, the price of our shares of Common Stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of our company or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which could cause the price of our shares of Common Stock and the trading volume to decline.
The market price of our shares of Common Stock may be volatile or may decline regardless of our operating performance, and you may not be able to resell your shares at or above the price at which you purchased your shares.
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If you purchase our shares of Common Stock, you may not be able to resell those shares at or above the price at which you purchased your shares. The market price of our shares of Common Stock may fluctuate significantly in response to numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control, including:
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In addition, the stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many companies. Stock prices of many companies have fluctuated in a manner unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of those companies. In the past, shareholders have filed securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were to become involved in securities litigation, it could subject us to substantial costs, divert resources and the attention of management from our business and adversely affect our business.
Conversions of outstanding debt or other obligations into equity securities will dilute shareholders percentage of ownership.
We have entered into agreements with certain directors or officers pursuant to which outstanding debt obligations, accrued salaries, or other payables have been, or may in the future be, converted into shares of our Common Stock. Any such conversions result in the issuance of additional shares, which dilutes the ownership interests of existing shareholders. In the future, we may continue to convert outstanding indebtedness or other obligations into equity securities in order to preserve cash resources or restructure our balance sheet. These transactions may be effected at conversion prices that are below the prevailing market price of our Common Stock, and as a result, may cause further dilution to the interests of our shareholders and negatively impact the market price of our Common Stock.
We are an emerging growth company under the JOBS Act of 2012, and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies will make our Common Stock less attractive to investors.
We are an emerging growth company, as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 (JOBS Act), and we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not emerging growth companies, including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, reduced disclosure obligations regarding executive compensation in our periodic reports and proxy statements, and exemptions from the requirements of holding a nonbinding advisory vote on executive compensation and shareholder approval of any golden parachute payments not previously approved. We cannot predict if investors will find our Common Stock less attractive because we may rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our Common Stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our Common Stock and our stock price may be more volatile.
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In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act for complying with new or revised accounting standards. In other words, an emerging growth company can delay the adoption of certain accounting standards until those standards would otherwise apply to private companies. We are choosing to take advantage of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards.
We will remain an emerging growth company for up to five years, although we will lose that status sooner if our revenues exceed $1 billion, if we issue more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt in a three-year period, or if the market value of our Common Stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of May 30 of any year.
We are subject to ongoing SEC reporting requirements under the Exchange Act of 1934, and if we fail to timely file our periodic reports, we may lose eligibility to use certain registration statements and our securityholders may not be able to rely on Rule 144.
We are subject to the ongoing reporting requirements of the Exchange Act, including the obligation to file annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, and current reports on Form 8-K within prescribed timeframes. Historically, we have not always been able to timely file our periodic reports, including our Forms 10-K and 10-Q. Any failure to timely file our reports with the SEC may have material adverse consequences, including the loss of eligibility to use short-form registration statements on Form S-3 or Form S-8, as well as limitations on our securityholders ability to rely on Rule 144 under the Securities Act, for resales of our securities. If we are unable to maintain timely compliance with our filing obligations in the future, investors may experience reduced liquidity in our securities, and our ability to raise additional capital efficiently in the public markets could be significantly impaired.
We may need to issue significant additional shares to acquire digital assets, which would dilute existing stockholders and could adversely affect the trading price of our Common Stock.
Our business model may require us to issue significant additional shares of our capital stock in order to acquire additional digital assets, including Bitcoin, or to satisfy other business obligations. Historically, we have relied on the issuance of common stock to support our operations and expand our business. For example, on April 17, 2024, we issued 3,940,000 shares of common stock with a total valuation of $13.4 million to consummate the acquisition of 2,000 ordinary shares of Future Dao Group Holding Limited. In May 2024, we issued 411,280 shares of common stock to several professionals as settlement for outstanding professional fees in the aggregate amount of approximately $2.0 million. Most significantly, on March 12, 2025, we acquired 5,000 Bitcoin from certain sellers and, in exchange, issued 135,171,078 shares of common stock valued at $1.02 per share, along with warrants to purchase 294,117,647 shares of common stock at a nominal exercise price.
Any future issuances of our common stock in connection with acquisitions of coins, payment of obligations, or other business purposes would dilute the ownership interests of our existing stockholders and could materially and adversely affect the value of their investment. In addition, substantial issuances of our securities could create downward pressure on the trading price of our common stock. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage or limit such dilution, and investors should expect that additional share issuances may continue to be a central feature of our capital-raising and asset acquisition strategy.
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Risks Related to Our Corporate Structure
We are a holding company, and may rely on dividends paid by our subsidiaries for our cash needs. Any limitation on the ability of our subsidiaries to make dividend payments to us, or any tax implications of making dividend payments to us, could limit our ability to pay our parent company expenses or pay dividends to holders of our shares.
We are a holding company and conduct our operations directly and through our subsidiaries in both Hong Kong and BVI. We may rely on dividends to be paid by our subsidiaries to fund our cash and financing requirements, including the funds necessary to pay dividends and other cash distributions to our stockholders, to service any debt we may incur and to pay our operating expenses. If any of our subsidiaries incurs debt on its own behalf in the future, the instruments governing the debt may restrict its ability to pay dividends or make other distributions to us.
The Company is permitted under the Wyoming laws to provide funding to our subsidiaries in Hong Kong and BVI through loans or capital contributions without restrictions on the amount of the funds, subject to satisfaction of applicable government registration, approval and filing requirements. The Company is also permitted under the laws of Hong Kong to provide funding to the Company through dividend distribution without restrictions on the amount of the funds. As of the date of this quarterly report, there has been no distribution of dividends or assets among the holding company or the subsidiaries. We currently do not have any cash management policies in place.
On August 8, 2025, the Companys board of directors unanimously approved the Policy, which took effect on September 8, 2025. Under the Policy, the Company will distribute no less than 80% of annual profits to its shareholders as dividends, payable in cash, stock or other forms approved by the board. However, dividend declarations remain subject to the boards quarterly assessment of liquidity, cash flow generation, capital allocation needs for growth, regulatory and compliance constraints, and overall financial condition.
Subject to the Wyoming Business Corporations Act and our bylaws, our board of directors may authorize and declare a dividend to stockholders at such time and of such an amount as they think fit if they are satisfied, on reasonable grounds, that immediately following the dividend the value of our assets will exceed our liabilities and we will be able to pay our debts as they become due. There is no further Wyoming statutory restriction on the amount of funds which may be distributed by us by dividend.
Under the current practice of the Inland Revenue Department of Hong Kong, no tax is payable in Hong Kong in respect of dividends paid by us. The laws and regulations of the PRC do not currently have any material impact on transfer of cash from the Company to Hong Kong subsidiaries or from Hong Kong subsidiaries to the Company. There are no restrictions or limitation under the laws of Hong Kong imposed on the conversion of HK dollar into foreign currencies and the remittance of currencies out of Hong Kong or across borders and to U.S investors.