April, 2022 - Trusting Disruption by Deltec

How 3D Printing Will Lead the Next Generation of Manufacturing

Posted on April 23, 2022May 5, 2022 by Jean Chalopin

By ordering and stocking parts as needed, Toyoda reduced unnecessary inventory. When complemented with other strategies, the resultant savings enabled Toyota to overtake American automakers and rise to the top.

The lesson was clear: dispose of trash or don’t buy what you don’t need—order the bare necessities and put in place stringent quality controls. Then, increase your revenues by keeping upstream suppliers available to generate inventory on-demand.

JIT became the primary manufacturing method for a wide range of products, from automobiles to electronics to fast fashion.

However, JIT had a problem. Suppliers had to be faultless in delivering inventory or raw supplies on time, every time. So, if one supplier failed to meet a deadline, the entire production halted. Factories used to have months’ worth of components on hand accounting for this possibility but incurred greater expenses.

Enter COVID-19. The regular flow of parts crumbles under the weight of lockdowns, quarantines, sickness, and social isolation. While most regard the existing production method (JIT) as undeniably efficient, it suffers from ongoing reputational damage because of coronavirus.

*Source:* *https://leanfactories.com/what-is-jit/*

Much agility in the supply chain was lost due to JIT’s brittleness and inability to shift gears when important suppliers came under pressure. Is JIT dead? No. The answer lies in innovation, and in embracing new technologies.

3D Printing in Manufacturing and Global Supply Chains

3D printing saves time, money, and helps preserve the environment.

It generates nearly no waste, minimizes overproduction, and lessens the environmental impact of the process overall (i.e., by requiring fewer inputs). 3D represents the next stage of JIT.

*Source:* *https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Explanatory-diagram-of-how-3D-Printing-works-T-RowePrice-nd_fig3_294871979*

Even in the 1980s, researchers created 3D models using photo-hardening polymers or sheets of stacked powdered metal.

At the time milling and laser sintering were the primary material removal methods, rather than contrary additive techniques, so the process didn’t garner much attention at the time. Additive means to manufacture by adding sequential layers of material, as opposed to removing from a larger template or block.

It took until the turn of the millennium for 3D printing using liquid resins to become widely popular. This launched a new fascination with metalworking, resulting in shortened supply chains, lower production costs, and reduced waste.

The current supply chain disruptions should accelerate the adoption of 3D printing and robots as workforce shortages persist. 3D printing and robots may grow at a rate of 56% per year, from a public enterprise value of $70 billion in 2020 to over $6 trillion in 2030.

Understanding 3D Printing and Robotics

There are various ways that 3D printing can help to reinvent supply chains and strategies like JIT.

Decentralization

Because this technology is ‘portable,’ enterprises transport their products to local markets or clients faster. It’s likely we will see a sizable shift away from low-cost mass production towards local assembly hubs.

Low-cost mass production also suffers from hiking input costs in the event of trade wars or similar geopolitical tensions—further pushing the need for 3D printing.

Inventory and Logistics

Transporting physical items across countries and continents becomes less necessary as “on demand” production turns into the norm. With fewer stock-keeping units needed for production, the dynamics surrounding storage and tariffs change drastically. In effect, they feel unnecessary or obsolete.

Speed of Prototyping

Volkswagen is using 3D printers to produce tooling equipment at its factory in Portugal. Producing parts internally reduces production costs by 90% and cuts lead times to days rather than weeks.

For example, a liftgate badge once took 35 days to develop with traditional manufacturing, costing around 400 Euros. 3D printing produces the tool in four days at the cost of 10 Euros.

Product Customization

3D printing allows companies to create products tailored to their customer’s individual needs and improve the overall consumer experience.

This leads to flexible supply chains responding quickly to market developments. Design, manufacturing, and distribution might eventually integrate into a single supply chain function with higher customer engagement throughout the entire cycle.

Ownership and Control

Manufacturers of 3D printed items may create and distribute the goods directly, giving them total control over the materials used in manufacturing, storage, and distribution. Alternatively, and to fully profit from the benefits of 3D printing, they may offer digital files allowing the buyer to build the item themselves.

Because digital files are easily copied and shared, intellectual property and copyright infringement will likely be a deterrent for enterprises considering digital distribution. However, this strategy provides revenue continuity during times of heavy shipping backlogs, like with the ongoing pandemic.

Use Cases for 3D Printing

The potential uses for 3D printing span several industry verticals.

Healthcare

When COVID-19 triggered a scarcity of ventilators worldwide, many patients were forced to seek medical assistance. Several organizations and businesses responded with 3D-printable alternatives.

3D-printable splitters allowed multiple patients to share a single ventilator machine, whereas the ventilators and adaptors enable commercially available snorkelling masks to be adapted for ventilation purposes, all of which can be printed and assembled on-site.

In the same way, the need for nasal swabs spiked early in the pandemic, and multiple 3D printed choices are now publicly accessible for download and printing to meet that need.

*Source:* *https://learn.adafruit.com/filti-face-mask/3d-printing*

Personal objects like face masks may be made more comfortable and well-fitting using 3D printing and other technologies, such as 3D laser scanning, which creates a digital model of the wearer’s face and enables computer-aided design manipulation. It’s also possible to melt down 3D printed objects to their constituent polymers and reuse them for future 3D printing projects, making them recyclable.

Construction

Even though the technology is still in its infancy, building giants have begun to appreciate the promise of 3D printers and have already made considerable advancements. The market for 3D printing concrete was approximately $56.4 million in 2021.

As a result, an increasing number of businesses are forming in this field to develop fresh, cutting-edge ideas. Russian 3D printing company Apis Cor is able to produce a complete house in under 24 hours.

*Source:* *https://youtu.be/xktwDfasPGQ*

Food

Soon, we may be able to prepare meals in our kitchens using 3D-printed ingredients. Innovative food products with unique shapes and recipes are being developed by a growing number of organizations incorporating 3D printing technology. A 3D printer for edible items has already been developed by Hershey’s and 3D Systems.

Source: https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2015/01/27/3D-chocolate-printing-has-bright-future-says-Hershey

Chemicals

The chemical industry has an enormous chance to innovate and develop new income streams through 3D printing technology. As it collaborates with 3D printer manufacturers to produce new materials suitable for additive manufacturing, the industry is likely to be the new center of the production process.

Major chemical businesses are already collaborating directly with 3D printer manufacturers to develop new resins, polymers, and powdered metals to usher in a new era. BASF, a chemical powerhouse, is one of the corporations leading the way with a dedicated 3D printing branch. It’s already collaborating with many hardware OEMs, software providers, and materials specialists.

Summary

The pandemic has accelerated the additive manufacturing revolution, and businesses may need to act sooner than they might think. Organizations should start reviewing their supply chains to understand the opportunities of 3D printing and how the technology can improve efficiencies.

It’s clear that traditional methods are not working in a post-COVID-19 world, and that focusing on innovation ensures a lead ahead of the competition.

Disclaimer: The author of this text, Jean Chalopin, is a global business leader with a background encompassing banking, biotech, and entertainment. Mr. Chalopin is Chairman of Deltec International Group, www.deltecbank.com.

The co-author of this text, Robin Trehan, has a bachelor’s degree in economics, a master’s in international business and finance, and an MBA in electronic business. Mr. Trehan is a Senior VP at Deltec International Group, www.deltecbank.com

The Future of Autonomous Ride-Hailing

Posted on April 23, 2022May 9, 2022 by Jean Chalopin

Electric vehicles lead the market in being less expensive to maintain and in operating more efficiently than combustion-engine equivalents. Further, car-sharing produces a lower cost-per-mile-driven for both enterprises and end-users. When you combine this with the progressive automation of vehicles (and the resultant drop in accidents), you have a trifecta of economic drivers encouraging a mobility revolution.

According to Statista, revenues of the ride-hailing and taxi segments are expected to reach $314.2 billion in 2022. These segments succeed where car ownership fails through lower cost and greater ease. Younger generations seem unwilling to burden themselves with the costs of owning vehicles. Environmental factors also play a significant role.

A study by Pew Research shows that the percentage of Americans using ride-sharing services went from 15% to 36% between 2015 and 2018. Despite a slump during the pandemic, continued growth is expected.

Source: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/04/more-americans-are-using-ride-hailing-apps/

Autonomous ridesharing is widely seen as the automotive industry’s next significant step. Large ride-hailing businesses such as Lyft, Uber, and Didi have made significant technological advances in the production of self-driving vehicles. Analysts generally forecast that the likes of Uber and Lyft shall pursue the autonomous market worldwide.

The Cost of Autonomous Ride-Hailing

Analyst for the popular ETF “ARKQ” (Autonomous Technology & Robotics), Tasha Keeney, says that recent research estimates the total addressable opportunity for the ride-hail market to be $11-12 trillion by 2030.

Much of this growth comes from autonomous vehicles over human-driven counterparts, and from lower labour and insurance costs. The current average price of an Uber is $2 per mile, and $0.50-0.70 for Didi. When at scale, platforms could profit from rides costing only $0.25 per mile.

Regulations, technical maturity, business-case attractiveness, and consumer choice all play roles in the deployment of robo-taxis and robo-shuttles.

The cost of an autonomous vehicle heavily influences the consumer’s preference. The high price tag comes from the relativeness newness of the underlying technology, the length of time it takes to develop it, and the operations behind it. This is not so dissimilar to the modern car before the arrival of Ford’s Model T.

We naturally expect the cost of autonomous vehicle production to rapidly decline over this decade. In time, nonautonomous automobiles shall strongly compete against autonomous counterparts.

Source: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/automotive-and-assembly/our-insights/the-road-to-affordable-autonomous-mobility

The Current State of Autonomous Ride-Hailing

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) approved the deployment of automatic lanes for public highways in January 2021.

Drivers will be able to disengage from the task of driving given certain conditions, such as staying to a speed of less than 60kph (37mph), operating on pedestrian-free roads (i.e., highways), and having an automated 10-second warning (to impact) to re-engage.

Japan and Germany formally allowed “conditional eyes off” or “level 3” autonomous driving on public highways. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom and other European Union countries are anticipated to follow their lead in 2022.

In March 2021, Japan’s Honda announced that the car model “Legend” would be the country’s first level 3 car on the road.

Later in the same year, Germany authorized level 3 vehicles, with Mercedes claiming to be the first original equipment manufacturer to meet worldwide criteria for such cars. France indicated that revisions shall take place so their national legislation includes UNECE’s requirements. The UK stated that level 3 use will be permitted on the road by the end of 2021.

Germany’s Federal Minister, Andreas Scheuer, introduced new rules in February 2021 intended to make it the first country in the world to regulate level 4 autonomous driving. Level 4 autonomy entails the capacity to manoeuvre, steer, accelerate, and brake without a driver’s assistance. USA’s Waymo, and China’s Baidu, already supply and test such mobility services.

How Is the USA Doing?

Tesla has been working on full self-driving (FSD) vehicles in the United States. The firm sent its FSD beta software to approximately a thousand drivers in San Francisco and has actively made various enhancements.

Robo-taxis are the most in-demand self-driving cars, amassing test kilometres and drawing significant investments. Numerous fresh trials were conducted in the United States, China, Dubai, and Europe in the last twelve months. Particularly in China, there is an incredible amount of interest in robo-taxi companies.

Across all nations, private companies vie to hit the streets before others, understanding the potential market opportunity. For example, Cruise, Zoox, and Waymo have concentrated their testing on San Francisco’s crowded streets.

Mobileye plans to launch a driverless commercial on-demand service in Tel Aviv.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/8/30/20840954/china-didi-chuxing-self-driving-car-robot-taxi-launch-experiment-shanghai

Then there’s China, which in November 2021 allowed the commercial use of the country’s first autonomous taxis, developed by Chinese tech giant Baidu and start-up Pony.ai. This brought hundreds of robo-taxis to the streets of Beijing. Also, firms like AutoX and Didi are boosting their testing around the country.

The Aptiv-Hyundai joint venture, Motional, launched a new robo-taxi service in Las Vegas in February 2022. The service provides free rides in autonomous vehicles to the public around downtown Las Vegas, with human safety operators behind the wheel. They want to accomplish two objectives: advertise the service and collect user feedback.

Cruise and Waymo started with free services in San Francisco but were recently given the green light to start charging fees.

The Future

Ride-hailing, autonomous vehicles and electrification continues to converge and offer city dwellers a better way to travel. Research from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) estimates that by 2030, a quarter of all miles driven in the US will be in shared autonomous vehicles.

Adoption could be even faster and more widespread if technological advances and pricing strategies decrease consumer prices further. Radically different vehicle designs (such as autonomous pods), new customized services (such as pooled ride-sharing), and new income streams (in-vehicle advertising) are all possible innovations waiting to happen.

For many people, their next car purchase seems their last, as the automotive industry transforms. Vehicle manufacturers need to completely redesign their business models and develop new methods of earning revenue.

Level 5 autonomous cars pilot themselves in any environment without human input nor oversight. We are still some ways off in necessary technology and overall consumer trust, but a lot of ground has been covered in the last few years.

While 100% autonomous self-driving is a long-term goal, semi-autonomous vehicles represent a feasible, short-term milestone that provides many of the same advantages. This will effectively slingshot long-term reform and adoption.

Companies owning the autonomous technology stack stand ready to dominate enterprise values within the future automotive ecosystem. So, most of today’s companies may not survive the transformation.

Asset Tokenization

Posted on April 23, 2022May 9, 2022 by Jean Chalopin

The adoption of blockchain technologies and distributed ledgers is still in its infancy for capital markets, and it’s continuing to find new use cases. One of these broad cases is the tokenization of assets whereby the token is a digital representation of either an asset that only exists on a blockchain, a noncertified security, or an asset that exists off the blockchain.

The tokenization of assets from the “real world” continues to grow in popularity, and investments in this space are cropping up across finance.

Tokenization, Short and Sweet

Tokenization is not a new concept for the blockchain space, but the finance industry’s attention is on the tokenization of real-world assets. At its core, tokenization is the conversion of a full right, or at least a portion of ownership, to a digital form (a token) that is stored on a blockchain. Regulated financial instruments, like equities and bonds, futures contracts, precious metals, real estate, and even intellectual property rights for patents, writing, and music could be tokenized.

Graphic courtesy of smart chainers

The benefits of tokenization are apparent for assets that do not currently trade electronically. Items that need increased transparency and basic liquidity stand to benefit greatly, such as artworks and other collectibles.

Tokenization, Fractional Ownership, and Securitization

Through timestamps and encryption, asset tokenization brings improved information security. The terms tokenization, fractional ownership, and securitization are interrelated and easy to confuse but have some considerable differences.

Tokenization is the transformation of real-world assets into digital tokens, increasing their liquidity. However, securitization is the conversion of assets with low liquidity into instruments with higher liquidity. “Security tokens” enable liquid trading with financial exchanges, as well as in over-the-counter (OTC) markets. Blockchain tokenization differs from fractional ownership as the latter refers to shared digital ownership of an asset.

Token Types

Tangible tokens represent assets with specific monetary values and ultimately are in the physical form.

Fungible tokens represent those digital assets which are all equal in value—similar to fiat currency. One bitcoin in your wallet is equal to one bitcoin in someone else’s wallet.

Non-fungible tokens represent digital or real-world assets having unique traits and are not interchangeable, like art.

Tokenization’s Benefits

When physical assets are tokenized, market participants gain several new benefits.

Increased Geographic Reach

By their nature, public blockchains have no barriers. In legacy (developed) markets, extensive Know Your Customer (KYC), and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations must be followed. These requirements have slowed the wider adoption of public blockchains.

Nevertheless, there are now public blockchains performing KYC and AML tasks, building overall trust, and increasing the reach of tokenized assets. This important segment of “Permissioned Blockchains” is evolving, allowing the interest of the all-important institutional investor to grow.

A Growing Investor Base

While institutional investors comprise much of finance, retail investors are also important.

For most real-world assets, there is limited fractionalizations. For example, trading fractions of shares has now grown into a massive market with online brokers.

Selling 1/20^th of an apartment or 1/100^th of a painting is possible with tokenization. This means a much broader investment base can access and participate in restricted investments such as fine art, which have traditionally only been available to the very wealthy.

24/7 Trading

The tokenization of assets also means 24/7 market liquidity.

These assets sit on the blockchain in smart contract form, available for instantaneous trading so long as the smart contract’s parameters are filled—and these parameters can change throughout the token’s lifecycle. This digitization streamlines trading by removing classical intermediaries.

Counterparty risk is also reduced with blockchain transactions, as is the possibility of trade breaks.

Reduced Administrative Costs

Blockchains are immutable, distributed digital ledgers. Asset recordkeeping is always ongoing, and those records are easily accessible.

Administrative tasks like profit sharing, buybacks, voting rights, dividends, and stock splits are much more efficient with tokenization and distributed ledger technology. As the world’s markets slowly accept the distributed ledger as golden, the need for reconciliation could potentially be eliminated, with users just accepting the ledger as is.

Upgraded Infrastructure

Many asset classes are slow and labor-intensive, like real estate or private equity. They require the exchange of traditional paper-based documentation.

With the digitization of such assets on distributed ledgers, the efficiency of these markets can be greatly improved. The possibilities for other segments currently having limited infrastructure become apparent as well.

Improved Regulation

Regulators are slowly moving into preestablished markets and laying the foundation of a regulatory framework for digital asset exchanges. The real-time immutable data contained in a digital ledger enhances the protection of investors.

Asset Collateralization

With the fractionalization of novel asset classes, tokenization expands the range of collateral to beyond traditional assets.

This significantly increases market activity by providing a new universe of acceptable noncash holdings to be staked as collateral. Through blockchain technology, collateral management can be effectual, transparent, and available to new asset classes.

The Future of Tokenization

Large financial institutions already understand the opportunities that the tokenization of financial assets brings.

The transition of legacy assets like corporate securities into digital markets is tempting. We are already seeing American and European exchanges take steps in the development of tokenized offerings. In addition, the enhanced liquidity purports new fiduciary duties for financial services providers.

We are still in the embryonic stage of security tokens, yet these have the potential to change the entire financial services industry–making markets more dynamic, bringing in new investors, and fractionalizing investments. The sky is the limit.

Crypto Staking

Posted on April 23, 2022May 5, 2022 by Jean Chalopin

Crypto Staking Basics

Staking cryptos involves committing your holdings to a particular blockchain network for it to confirm transactions. Staking is available for currencies using the “Proof-of-Stake” (PoS) consensus method to process transactions.

Peercoin, introduced in 2012, was the first crypto to use Proof-of-Stake. Proof-of-Stake represents a much more energy and computationally efficient alternative to Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus method requiring miners to compete to solve computational equations for prizes.

Staking provides buy-and-hold investors with additional passive income, especially for some cryptos offering high-interest staking rates. However, before staking, you should understand its requirements.

How Staking Works

Crypto coins using the PoS consensus mechanism validate new transactions being added to the network’s blockchain.

Staking participants pledge their crypto to the network’s protocol, and from the pool of pledging participants, the protocol chooses validators to confirm the newest transaction blocks. The more coins an investor pledges, the higher their chance of being chosen as a validator.

For every new block added to the blockchain, new crypto coins are minted and provided as staking rewards to the new block’s validator. Generally, the reward matches the same crypto type the participant staked.

If you’re interested in staking, you must own a cryptocurrency using PoS, as not all cryptos allow staking. You then choose your stake amount before placing your request through a crypto exchange–simple.

The staked coins remain in your possession, but since you are using them as part of their underlying blockchain, you must manually un-stake them later. Investors often find minimum staking periods for some cryptos, wherein their coins must remain “staked.”

Since its inception, PoS has quickly gained popularity due to its efficiency with using (less) energy and computing.

Proof-of-Work requires significant resources, garnering environmental criticism, while Proof-of-Stake doesn’t. Further, PoS can scale to handle more transactions.

Ethereum is switching to a PoS model and is already allowing people to commit their ETH (Ether) for staking. However, there is a significant base commitment of 32 ETH.

How to Stake Your Crypto

The staking process may be confusing at first, but it’s not so difficult.

Here are the basics:

Buy a Crypto Using PoS

Not all cryptos have a PoS consensus mechanism, so you must purchase one that does.

Here are the four top possibilities:

Ethereum is transitioning to a PoS model and is the first cryptocurrency with smart contract capability giving developers the ability to create dApps.

Cardano develops through peer-reviewed research and is eco-friendly.

Polkadot allows different blockchains to interconnect through its “Parachains.”

Solana offers fast transactions with low fees, designed for scalability.

Several PoS cryptos offer staking rewards–learn what is involved with each, and then buy on a reputable exchange when you have decided.

Stake on an Exchange or Add to a Wallet

Once purchased, depending on the exchange, you may be able to stake the crypto immediately through the exchange. This is the easiest option but look at the requirements before doing so. Otherwise, you will need to move the currency to a blockchain “crypto” wallet. Crypto wallets can be in software or hardware forms.

Once the wallet is set up, choose to deposit the currency in your wallet, which will generate a wallet address. Then, from your exchange account, choose to withdraw your crypto and copy the address from the wallet into the “transfer to” area.

Staking Pools

Most cryptos use staking pools. Pools are where traders combine their funds to receive better chances of earning rewards. Make sure you research any pool first. There are a few things to analyze:

Size. Small pools suffer from reduced chances of being chosen to validate blocks. However, they provide more significant rewards when chosen. If a pool is too small, it may outright fail. If a pool is too large, it may fail by paying an overly cheap reward. It’s a goldilocks scenario–try to find a mid-size pool.

Reliability. This is easy to check: a pool’s servers should have little remaining capacity relative to 100% (i.e., 95% used); if their servers are down, your chance of earning turns to zero.

Fees. Pools take a small cut of the rewards for providing the hardware and management of the pool. The cut depends on the crypto, but expect between 2% and 5% of the reward.

Once you have found a good pool, you can stake your crypto through your wallet to start earning.

Proof-of-Stake Explained

For a comprehensive explanation of PoS, click here.

Blockchains use a consensus mechanism to validate their blocks, allowing the nodes to be in singular agreement about the chain’s state and its transactions.

PoS is the second most popular consensus mechanism behind PoW. Investors often prefer it to PoW given the extra crypto rewards.

Each blockchain has a set reward for a block’s validation, and if an investor’s stake is chosen to validate, they will receive this reward.

Staking’s Benefits

The primary benefit of staking is earning crypto at a very high yield (or “APY”).

Some yields reach up to 20% per year. With the right investment, your return compounds quickly.

Investors balance the fiat cost of the crypto against the possible staking gain. The more extensive the network, the larger the reward becomes.

Lastly, staking requires nothing in terms of equipment, unlike PoW’s “mining.”

Staking’s Risks

Staking comes with two key risks, no matter the crypto.

First, volatility appears often elevated. No matter their levels, crypto enthusiasts understand the potential of price drops outweighing their potential staking rewards. More unstable coins offer higher staking yields on average.

Second, staking usually requires the locking or “vesting” your assets for a minimum amount of time. In other words, the crypto’s inherent blockchain requires liquidity to be handed over in exchange for a staking reward. It’s vital to know the minimum staking period first.

Is Proof-of Stake the Best Consensus Mechanism?

Many investors debate which consensus mechanism is best, with security taking center stage.

Bitcoin supporters admit that PoW uses an immense amount of power, although PoW blockchains remain more difficult to attack. As a result, security-focused projects choose PoW over PoS.

A third consensus mechanism, though less well known, is Proof-of-Burn (PoB). Here, miners “burn” or destroy their existing coins in exchange for the right to add new blocks to the blockchain and, in so doing, earn new rewards. Instead of using computational power, the required resources remain just the burned coins.

Finally, there is Proof-of-Authority (PoA). Rather than coins, PoA validators stake reputation. PoA networks are secured by validators that are randomly selected as “trustworthy entities.” This method is a more human approach, with staked reputation, making it more secure and sustainable. It also is highly scalable because it only needs a few validators.

Who Should Stake Their Crypto?

If you’re holding crypto for an extended time (for more than one month) and presently don’t have a plan to trade them, consider staking. It requires nothing further on your part other than liquidity.

If you don’t have any crypto to stake and are looking for one to invest in, consider the quality of the coin as a long-term investment first. Those preferring liquidity and relatively less volatility should seek alternative investments.

Summary

The PoS consensus mechanism has benefitted crypto projects and their investors. The PoS system allows for processing many transactions at minimal costs while also providing the network’s investors with additional passive income. So if your investment criteria matches the requirements of staking, it could be worthwhile for you.

Disclaimer: The author of this text, Jean Chalopin, is a global business leader with a background encompassing banking, biotech, and entertainment. Mr. Chalopin is Chairman of Deltec International Group, www.deltecbank.com.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed in this text are solely the views of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect those of Deltec International Group, its subsidiaries, and/or its employees. This information should not be interpreted as an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider, service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade.