The contents of this newsletter are point-in-time statements. Please note the date of publication.

22 December 2023

As we reach the end of 2023 it is time for a brief review of the highlights and ponder some plans for 2024.

The big news early in the year was the collapse of the 3 largest crypto banks Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank. This was followed by the debanking of many crypto projects and exchanges. Then followed the unprecedented action by regulators against the largest exchanges and projects across the world including Binance, Coinbase and Kraken. This was followed by dozens of class actions against issuers, promoters, and celebrities. The highlight for the industry was mid-year when a USA court ruled in favour of large crypto project Ripple Labs after 3 years of court proceedings.

However, notwithstanding these events the market value of the crypto industry has grown remarkably over the year – doubling from US$825 billion in January to US$1.65 trillion today per the S&P Digital Asset Index.

It is widely anticipated in media reports that the industry should continue the recent bull run through 2024 due to the recent applications of crypto spot ETF’s by many of the world’s largest asset managers, as well as the Bitcoin halving coming up in April.

This year Team Tech made the best progress in the last 3 years by deploying the following important features and assets:

• biometric KYC identification,
• separation of the Q Shop into the Q Market for products and services listings and a directory for business listings,
• chat bot feature for automated or prompt helpdesk responses,
• intercom system to enable in app messaging as well push notifications to engage the community directly and make relevant offers to selected user profiles,
• access to multiple blockchains in addition to the Qoin blockchain like Ethereum, Binance Smart Chain, Polygon MainNet, and the Cronos blockchain.
• transacting with crypto assets in addition to QOIN and wQOIN including the popular WBTC, ETH, BNB, MATIC, UNI, LINK and CRO.
• the Euro EUR and United Arab Emirates Dirham AED currencies are in final testing and will be deployed in the wallet early in 2024, making it possible to transact in the 27 EU countries and the UAE in 2024, subject to regulatory compliances.
• wallet-connect function to enable split payments of card and alt currencies
• fair trading badge to recognise those merchants who are committed to the highest standards of trading. Approximately 300 merchants have received badges on their listings in the first month.

The number one priority for 2023 was to improve spending opportunities and increase transactions. There were several strategies to achieve this – including collaborating with online platforms to supply products to the community. A number of merchants were featured on QDN throughout the year.

Our Trading Team in collaboration with the elected Community Leaders made the most progress yet towards increasing the utility application of Qoin. We have seen new partnerships develop between Q Market and platforms like Q Premium, GrabbaCoupon, DealDash and Qoinerz.club.

The highlight was when online retail platform DealDash joined the Qoin ecosystem as a merchant in November – offering great products to the community. According to Mr Paul Hewitt, executive at the platform, DealDash has partnerships ranging from Harvey Norman to Event Cinemas. All products on their platform include a substantial portion that can be paid in alternate currencies, including Qoin. He said they loaded more than 300 products in December alone and will be listing thousands of more products in 2024. Paul invited all viewers to check out their website at www.dealdash.deals.

A key priority for 2024 is to complete the development of a merchant rewards program that will make it simple for merchants to attract and reward cash paying customers with a Qoin Back Rewards function – code named the “QBR” project.

The community made 53,597 transactions at a wallet value of AU$284 Million over the past year. Since the start in January 2020 the community made 554,000 transactions at a wallet value exceeding a whopping AU$2.5 Billion.  This data excludes incentives and internal related transactions. That in itself, AU$2.5 Billion of transactions, is a good testimony to the robustness of the Qoin blockchain and Qoin Wallet as well as the sustainability of the trading platforms in the ecosystem.

The highly regarded BPS legal team defended the proceedings brought by the Australian regulator ASIC. The central part of the case involved the licensing arrangements for the digital wallet issued by BPS. In the end it was a complex technical interpretation of the statute and the agreements between the licensing parties. The legal team did a remarkable job over the past 12 months. We are confident that justice will prevail when judgment is delivered in the next few months. Regardless of the outcome, if required, the licensing arrangements will be adjusted to align with such judgment.

In the Representative Proceedings the applicants requested mediation. The purpose of mediation is to achieve a settlement. BPS and the other respondents agreed to mediation subject to a number of conditions. On 29 November 2023 the court orders included a process for the mediation and the date was set for 5 April 2024. The BPS legal team remains confident of a positive outcome.

It has been resolved to extend the Wrapped Qoin process in Beta testing until the legal proceedings above have been resolved. This is anticipated in the first half of 2024. Please note that the Qoin Wallet transacts wQOIN and any user has the ability to transfer their Wrapped Qoin to any other Qoin or Ethereum based wallet across the world, subject to the User accepting wQOIN.

I look forward to a new year of peace and prosperity. A year where conflicts will be resolved, and we can accelerate forward to continue making Qoin the alt currency for everyday payments.

Thanks to each one of you across Australia, New Zealand, UK, South Africa and Singapore who have downloaded the Qoin Wallet App.

We wish you each a Merry Christmas and a Blessed 2024.