DMG Blockchain Solutions Announces Investment in Digital Asset Custody Solution


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Feb. 22, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc. (TSX-V: DMGI) (OTCQB US: DMGGF) (FRANKFURT: 6AX) (“DMG”), a vertically integrated blockchain and data center technology company, announces it has committed CAD $3.5 million to establish a Calgary, Alberta based independent digital asset custody solution for institutional clients.

The capital commitment is part of DMG’s Core+ strategy and its mission to advance broader digital asset adoption by building credibility and trust in cryptocurrency and digital assets for investors. DMG will bring together secure institutional wallet solutions, strong insurance policies, rigorous risk management practices, best in class off-exchange liquidity as well as innovative OFAC compliant and carbon neutral blockchain solutions to meet institutional demand. The capital commitment for this digital asset custody solution will be made over time and as required to support the regulatory review process.

Systemic Trust Company Ltd. (“Systemic Trust”) is a wholly owned subsidiary of DMG, which subject to regulatory approval, will provide regulated custody of digital assets to institutional clients such as financial institutions, asset managers, corporations and public sector organizations seeking to manage digital assets. Systemic Trust will be overseen by an experienced and diverse Board of Directors.

Systemic Trust’s directors include:

Nevin Markwart, CFA, CFP - a successful investment industry CEO who built businesses emphasizing entrepreneurial and fiduciary cultures, employee ownership and a laser focus on the client. Nevin co-founded Canoe Financial and was previously the head of Canadian Equities for Fidelity.
Matt Torigian, MBA - a leader in policing and public administration in Ontario with a career that has spanned over 33 years in all aspects of community safety. Matt previously served as Ontario's Deputy Minister of Community Safety.
Caroline Troy, MBA, CBV - an expert in the Canadian capital markets at well-known North American full-service and boutique investment dealers. Caroline has substantial expertise in the valuation industry through her involvement in numerous mergers and acquisitions, valuation and fairness opinion assignments and financings.
John Place, LLB - an experienced domestic and international corporate lawyer with leadership and expertise in compliance and ethics. John is the Director of Compliance and Ethics of a Canadian federal Crown Corporation as well as an independent Board Director of DMG.
Sheldon Bennett, CFE, MBA - CEO and Director of DMG Blockchain Solutions and Chair of Systemic Trust.
Lawrence Truong, CFA, MBA - CEO of Systemic Trust.

Systemic Trust welcomes Arshie Cheema (MBA, BSc-Eng) as our new Chief Operations Officer. With over 25 years of experience in technical, architectural and operational leadership, Arshie is best positioned to deliver on our business objectives. Arshie served as an executive advisor, enhancing operational and security frameworks in cloud computing for two major-globals (TC Energy and Cenovus) while also playing a key strategic role for a significant O&G Merger & Acquisition. Most recently as Binance Canada’s Chief Technology Officer, he spearheaded the implementation and launch of its Crypto Trading Platform and digital asset custody service. “I am both elated and humbled to lend my expertise to Lawrence and the team, hoping that it will be consequential towards advancing Systemic Trust's operational capabilities.”

Systemic Trust welcomes Alvin Leung (MBA, MEM, BSc-CS) as Chief Revenue Officer. Alvin is an accomplished go-to-market (GTM) leader with over 20 years of experience across various leadership roles (in marketing, product and data) in technology and tech-enabled industries. In addition to previously serving as the Head of Growth at Matic Insurance and a GTM leader at Meta Platforms (formerly named Facebook), Alvin most recently led Growth and Marketing at database technology vendor Vaticle, where he successfully implemented a product-led growth (PLG) GTM strategy targeting tenured software engineers.

Systemic Trust welcomes Alessandro Tocco as Chief Compliance Officer. Alessandro leverages over 13 years of regulatory compliance, investigations and AML expertise. He spearheaded Binance Canada's anti-money laundering/anti-terrorist financing (AML/ATF) compliance program, creating comprehensive ML/TF risk controls and initiating a transaction monitoring program aligned with FINTRAC and FATF guidelines. In addition to overseeing the Trade Surveillance program at Bank of America and serving as a securities investigator at the Alberta Securities Commission, Alessandro also served as Deputy Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) at Irish Progressive Services International Limited, where he collaborated closely on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing matters.

Lawrence Truong will be leading Systemic Trust as Chief Executive Officer, leveraging his 25 plus years of experience in the capital markets, expertise in regulatory compliance, extensive network and relationships that meet the compliance requirements expected by regulators and financial institutions alike. Lawrence commented, “I am excited to join the DMG family and plan to use my experience and expertise to build bridges between traditional finance (TradFi) and blockchain to further blockchain adoption. Given DMG’s strong digital asset team, we will have the opportunity to build infrastructure that can service the needs of the largest financial institutions.”

DMG’s CEO Sheldon Bennett added, “Lawrence brings a wealth of experience and contacts that could significantly enhance DMG’s Core+ strategy to monetize bitcoin transactions. We are excited to add him to our team and focus the company’s software development in a way that could significantly increase DMG’s software revenue over time.”

About DMG Blockchain Solutions Inc.

DMG is an environmentally friendly vertically integrated blockchain and data center company that manages, operates and develops end-to-end digital solutions to monetize the blockchain ecosystem. DMG’s sustainable businesses are segmented into two business lines under the Core and Core+ strategies and unified through DMG’s vertical integration.

For more information on DMG Blockchain Solutions visit: www.dmgblockchain.com
Follow @dmgblockchain on Twitter and subscribe to DMG's YouTube channel.

For further information, please contact:

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

Sheldon Bennett, CEO & Director
Tel: 516-222-2560
Email: investors@dmgblockchain.com
Web: www.dmgblockchain.com

Investor Relations Contact
Core IR 516-222-2560

For Media Inquiries
Jules Abraham
Core IR
917-885-7378
julesa@coreir.com

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains forward-looking information or statements based on current expectations. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release include statements regarding DMG’s strategies and plans, obtaining regulatory approval of Systemic Trust, launching Systemic Trust’s operations, delivering products that enable the monetization of bitcoin transactions, developing and executing on the Company’s products and services, increasing self-mining, the launch of products and services, events, courses of action, and the potential of the Company’s technology and operations, among others, are all forward-looking information.

Future changes in the Bitcoin network-wide mining difficulty rate or Bitcoin hash rate may materially affect the future performance of DMG’s production of bitcoin, and future operating results could also be materially affected by the price of bitcoin and an increase in hash rate mining difficulty.

Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations, or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as "may", "expect", "estimate", "anticipate", "intend", "believe" and "continue" or the negative thereof or similar variations. The reader is cautioned that assumptions used in the preparation of any forward-looking information may prove to be incorrect. Events or circumstances may cause actual results to differ materially from those predicted, as a result of numerous known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company, including but not limited to, market and other conditions, volatility in the trading price of the common shares of the Company, business, economic and capital market conditions; the ability to manage operating expenses, which may adversely affect the Company's financial condition; the ability to remain competitive as other better financed competitors develop and release competitive products; regulatory uncertainties; access to equipment; market conditions and the demand and pricing for products; the demand and pricing of bitcoins; security threats, including a loss/theft of DMG's bitcoins; DMG's relationships with its customers, distributors and business partners; the inability to add more power to DMG's facilities; DMG's ability to successfully define, design and release new products in a timely manner that meet customers' needs; the ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel; competition in the industry; the impact of technology changes on the products and industry; failure to develop new and innovative products; the ability to successfully maintain and enforce our intellectual property rights and defend third-party claims of infringement of their intellectual property rights; the impact of intellectual property litigation that could materially and adversely affect the business; the ability to manage working capital; and the dependence on key personnel. DMG may not actually achieve its plans, projections, or expectations. Such statements and information are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the demand for its products, the ability to successfully develop software, that there will be no regulation or law that will prevent the Company from operating its business, anticipated costs, the ability to secure sufficient capital to complete its business plans, the ability to achieve goals and the price of bitcoin. Given these risks, uncertainties, and assumptions, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. The securities of DMG are considered highly speculative due to the nature of DMG's business. For further information concerning these and other risks and uncertainties, refer to the Company’s filings on www.sedarplus.ca. In addition, DMG’s past financial performance may not be a reliable indicator of future performance.

Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward-looking statements include, failure to obtain regulatory approval, the continued availability of capital and financing, equipment failures, lack of supply of equipment, power and infrastructure, failure to obtain any permits required to operate the business, the impact of technology changes on the industry, the impact of Covid-19 or other viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, secure equipment, and hire personnel, competition, security threats including stolen bitcoins from DMG or its customers, consumer sentiment towards DMG's products, services and blockchain technology generally, failure to develop new and innovative products, litigation, adverse weather or climate events, increase in operating costs, increase in equipment and labor costs, equipment failures, decrease in the price of Bitcoin, failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations, government regulations, loss of key employees and consultants, and general economic, market or business conditions. Forward-looking statements contained in this news release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking information. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release are made as of the date of this news release. Except as required by law, the Company disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, the Company undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of or statements made by third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.