ME TOO, KODAK CRIES
Bitcoin-mania move
Bitcoin should change its logo to a lifesaver — as the crypto-asset craze on Tuesday rescued yet another foundering company.
The latest to grab hold of the digital asset is 130-year-old Eastman Kodak, which said on Tuesday it will launch its own digital currency — called KodakCoin — that it hoped will underpin a “new economy” for photographers to license their work.
The news sent shares of Kodak up nearly 200 percent at around 6 p.m., to $8.90 — including a 120 percent rise in regular trading.
Before the KodakCoin announcement, the Rochester, NY, company’s shares were down 77 percent over the last year. It lost $35 million in the nine months ended Sept. 30 as revenue fell 8.5 percent.
The move by Kodak — and investor reaction — was not unlike that of Long Island Iced Tea in December.
The beverage company, which had reported losses in consecutive quarters over a number of years, said on Dec. 21 that it changed its name to Long Blockchain. It would focus on the hot crypto-asset.
Its shares spiked 183 percent in one day, to $7.80.
A third company, Croe Inc., a development-stage fitness apparel company, changed its name in 2017 to The Crypto Co. — focusing, you guessed it, on bitcoin-like technology.
Crypto shares were up 2,700 percent in one month before the Securities and Exchange Commission on Dec. 18 halted trading in them for two weeks.
Shares had soared from $4.50 in the fall to $642 in December. They closed Tuesday at $174, down $1.
At Kodak, the company is teaming with photography rights company WENN Digital, to mint tokens, through initial coin offerings, or ICOs, that would help photographers and agencies license their work.
Because of digital coins’ volatility and lack of regulation, SEC Chairman Jay Clayton has voiced concern about Main Street investors jumping into ICOs.
At Long Blockchain, its digital dreams are already being pared back. It said Tuesday it didn’t have enough money to fund its bitcoin-mining plan. Its shares were trading at $5.80 after-hours on Tuesday.