For most industries, the impacts of lockdowns and social-distancing measures imposed over the course of the year by governments around the world to contain the pandemic have been financially devastating. For video-streaming services and online video content in general, the pandemic crisis has been an opportunity. Besides the spike in entertainment consumption, video communication through the internet is now more relevant than ever before. As such, both work and education now heavily depend on online video conferences, video meetings, recorded lectures or tutorials as well as live lessons. Additionally, as a result of social distancing and quarantine measures, video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and WebEx are now at peek popularity, as are learning management systems like Instructure's Canvas, Blackboard and Google Classroom. Meten EdtechX Education Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: METX), Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS),Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ), Ebang International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EBON), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX-V: HIVE) (OTC: HVBTF)

As demand for online education grew, the technological capacity to facilitate this demand had grown as well. New innovations, methods and business model are constantly being implemented in the online education segment. In particular, blockchain technology could offer several significant solutions to this segment. For example, according to a report by Forbes, having a blockchain-based system to record the accreditation, track the changes over time, and enable the instantaneous verification of credentials and degrees would help increase transparency, and trust.

Meten EdtechX Education Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: METX) announced breaking news last week that, "the Company has initiated its blockchain technology strategic plan (the "Plan") and will introduce a Dogecoin reward mechanism on the platform of Likeshuo for foreign teachers. Dogecoin is the second largest cryptocurrency in the world after Bitcoin.

The Company has divided the Plan into three major stages:

Preliminary Test Period

The first stage, which is the preliminary test period, the Company plans to introduce a Dogecoin reward mechanism to offer incentives to foreign teachers. Students can reward the teachers with Dogecoins based on their teaching performance and teachers can also earn Dogecoin rewards by undertaking teaching and research tasks published on the Company's platform. In addition, students can also earn Dogecoins by completing their studies and sharing knowledge on the platform.

Joint Development Period

In the second stage, the joint development period, the Company will actively seek cooperation with online education regulators and blockchain technology service providers to build a healthy ecosystem of mutual benefit by leveraging the technological advantages of blockchain. The Company also plans to cooperate with 3rd parties to build an ecosystem to protect copyright, verify teachers' qualification, record students' competency indicators more effectively while better protecting students' privacy.

Technology Integration Period

The third stage is the technology integration period, in which the Company expects to integrate its own resources and technological strengths, apply blockchain, artificial intelligence, 5G and other cutting-edge technologies to further revolutionize online education and provide students with high-quality education services."

For our latest "Buzz on the Street" Show featuring Meten EdtechX Education Group Ltd., recent corporate news, please head over to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM-ZeOcCArc

Zscaler, Inc. (NASDAQ: ZS) operates as a cloud security company worldwide. The company provides Zscaler Internet Access solution that provides users, servers, operational technology, internet of things, and device secure access to externally managed applications, including software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and internet destinations; and Zscaler Private Access solution, which is designed to provide access to internally managed applications, either hosted internally in data centers, and private or public clouds.

Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) reported last month that it has purchased approximately 4,709 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of USD 50 Million. Square believes that cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system, which aligns with the company's purpose. The investment represents approximately one percent of Square's total assets as of the end of the second quarter of 2020. "We believe that bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future," said Square's Chief Financial Officer, Amrita Ahuja. "As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey."

Ebang International Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: EBON) announced earlier last month that the Company has completed the designing of a chip for simultaneous Litecoin (LTC) and Dogecoin (Doge) mining as an addition to our current portfolio of cryptocurrency mining chip designs. The Company believes the new design will allow the Company to construct high performance cryptocurrency mining machines superior to other mining machines currently on the market. Mr. Dong Hu, Chairman and CEO of the Company, commented, "The completion of the designing is a credit to our increased investment in R&D in recent years. We have made tremendous efforts to build up our R&D team and accelerate product iteration and innovation. In the future, we will focus on developing more mainstream cryptocurrency mining machines, and we are considering designing more mining chips compatible with multiple cryptocurrencies. We believe it will help increase our revenue from the cryptocurrency mining business and optimize our product offering structure along the blockchain industry value chain."

HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSX-V: HIVE) (OTCQX: HVBTF) reported earlier this year an agreement to expand the footprint of their Sweden GPU mining data centre by an immediate 2 MW at an estimated cost of USD 9 Million, by the end of April 2021. By the end of 2021 we are planning a 30% increase in our Ethereum mining capacity. The immediate expansion of the operating footprint would be accomplished through an infrastructure re-fitting of a portion of its existing facility in Boden, Sweden at an estimated cost of USD 250,000 and the purchase of new generation GPU chips and associated mining rigs to house them at an estimated cost of USD 8.75 Million. These new generation chips are expected to be more efficient than currently available GPU chips on the market while consuming less electricity, which should lead to continuing positive gross margins.

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