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Meet the company that’s enabling you to own your online identity and data…and secure it! While doing it creatively.
Liquid Avatar Technologies Inc. (
CSE.LQID,
OTCMKTS: TRWRF,
Forum) – formerly KABN Systems – is a fintech company with a laser focus on verification, management, and monetization of digital ID, letting users control and benefit from engagements.
The Liquid Avatar App allows users to create unique facets of their online ID giving control over the use of data and thoroughly protecting their digital identity. At
no cost to consumers, Liquid Avatar gains revenues through permission-based offers and services, such as KABN Visa Card, KABN KASH, and other services and marketplace programs.
Stockhouse Media’s Dave Jackson was joined, once again, by David Lucatch, CEO of Liquid Avatar, to discuss exciting new company developments, what SSIs are all about, the huge surge in consumer and investor interest over Non-Fungible Tokens (or NFT’s), and much, much more.
TRANSCRIPT BELOW:
SH: A lot has gone on with the company since we last caught up in January. Can you update our investor audience and your Liquid Avatar shareholders on all the new company developments, especially in the wake of COVID-19?
DL: Wow. A lot has happened since January hasn't it, but we've changed the name from KABN to Liquid Avatar, which was a natural progression for us because the Liquid Avatar product has become so prominent in what we're doing. And we also, you know, launched in February, we launched the foundational level of Liquid Avatar, the first phase of the Liquid Avatar mobile app. And just recently, in fact we've now launched phase two, so we've got the phase one foundational and we sort of put the first floor on the building and we're very happy about that. And we've also launched Oasis Digital Studios, which is our NFT platform. So we've been pretty busy, Dave.
SH: David, can you explain the idea behind biometrically-verified Self Sovereign Identity or S-S-I and biometrically enabled verifiable credentials?
DL: It's actually not as complicated as it sounds. Biometrics is using something that belongs to me. Facial recognition, fingerprint, DNA, heartbeat, you pick retina, pick your poison. We start with a facial recognition because if we're going to identify you, Dave, we need to have a frame of reference. And unless I you're, you're very special. You probably don't have anything in your wallet today that has your fingerprints or your retina ID right on it. And, and so what we do is we start with facial recognition and everyone who signs up for our liquid avatar mobile app uses facial recognition and a username and password. We didn't want to get too sophisticated at that point. And so we can great one user and one account in our system. That's really important. So everyone in our system is biometrically verified to create the first part of their self-sovereign identity.
Now, when it comes to Self-Sovereign Identity, I'm just going to reach over and grab my wallet. You know, when we leave the house, we leave our house with a wallet and we leave our house generally with a key ring. And I know I'm a big Spiderman fan. So you can see that they're both things Spiderman on them. You know, you can see by my background and I, I make no bones about it. I'm a comic book collector, but so self-sovereign identity, that wallet, I can carry anything I want in that wallet. It is self-sovereign. I am in control. So I put what I want in that wallet. The key is how do we prove who we are online? And we usually do it in the real world by facial recognition in some form of identity, but in the virtual world or in the online world, how do we do that?
So we've created ways for people to be able to prove who they are online by using their biometrics in our system. Plus in phase three of Liquid Avatar’s mobile app, which comes out in late March, we're launching an ID credentials wallet, so a verifiable credentials wallet. So we will be creating credentials with you and others will be creating credentials that you can keep in Liquid Avatar. Again, no cost, which prove who you are. This will help reduce identity fraud, be able to prove when you do education online, government services online, or a whole host of services that you are Dave Jackson. And I am David Lucatch. That's what it's all about. So that’s Self-Sovereign Identity.
SH: You just launched the new Liquid Avatar App in the Apple Store and Google Play in February. Can you expand on this for our investor audience?
DL: Yeah. it was really important to us that we bring a mobile app to bear. I mean, at the end of the day, there's very little that our mobile app does on the phone. All the magic is done in the cloud because if you lose your phone or it's corrupted or whatever happens to your phone, you're not going to lose your data. If you use an edge-based wallet, a wallet that is located on your phone, it's like carrying one of these things, right? What happens if I lose it? There are issues plus that edge wallet. And I'm not going to comment on which edge wallet, but that edge wallet is not yours to control. It's controlled by the device, the manufacturer or a software provider. So at the end of the day we provide cloud-based services. So the app for us provides a gateway.
So even when we use biometrics, we're checking your biometrics in the cloud against everyone in our system. It might to some, it might deem to be a little bit slower right now than it would be if you're just signing into your phone, it's because we're taking it to the cloud and we're comparing it to the plethora of people we have in our system to make sure it's only you, that using that information to get in. So it's a, the app for us is a long-term play again, free of charge. There are no in-app purchases. There are no ads. If you choose to participate in offers that we bring you inside the app, that's completely at your choice. We don't sell or rent data and that's how we earn revenue, by you participating. But there is no cost for our app.
SH: Can you clarify what Non-Fungible Tokens and A-R-Enhanced Non-Fungible Tokens are all about?
DL: Wow, that's, that's a big mouthful too. And, and everybody's been hearing the buzz about NFTs. It's, it's all the rage. And I could go into a lot of detail and I'm always happy to do that. But at its surface, a Non-Fungible Token is one that is not interchangeable. If I take two $10 bills in my hand, they're interchangeable, but a non-fungible token is not interchangeable and it's not divisible. It's generally binary it's one or zero. I can’t be broken into parts. So at the end of the day what the big buzz is about is connecting non fungible tokens or blockchain technology to digital assets and changing the collectables world. Now for my generation, my comic books are physical. Yeah. So, but for me to carry my collection, I'd have to go from my house to your house and carry boxes, but using NFTs, I could carry that collection on my phone.
I can collect it on my iPad. I can, I can put it anywhere. Where any digital asset is. So it's a new and innovative way. And for people who are millennials and Gen Z, or for Canadian friends, Gen Zeds, you know, it isn't, it is right in their wheelhouse. We have for a lot of reasons, given up a lot of physical product for experiential and opportunity. And AR enhanced NFTs are exactly what they sound like. We're adding augmented reality experiences with our friends at ImagineAR, CSE:IP, I want to put a little plug in for them. So we're, we're working with Alen Paul Silverrstieen and the team there to enhance AR, enhance NFT products, my apologies. To be able to extend the experience beyond the, the sort of the digital world into the physical digital world. And we haven't even started talking about the metaverse yet and what's happening there. And so we've formed Oasis Digital Studios to manage NFTs. And the reason we can do that is because we've got such a great experience and background in, in the sports and the entertainment world. So we, a lot of our, our clients and our talent are coming to us through that, that mechanism. We're seeing a lot of people asking us, can we help them with NFTs because we've already got avatars, what's next.
SH: You recently announced a strategic partnership with ImagineAR and the launch of Oasis Digital Studios. This will be news to many investors. Can you unpack the benefits of this?
DL: Well, I'll start with the name of Oasis. So for anybody, who's a bit of a pop culture buff. It is an homage to the movie Ready Player One, or the book Ready Player One, and the Oasis. So there's virtual digital world that, that people exist in. And so Oasis Digital Studios is an agency. We're here to help creative talent, artists and personalities create NFTs, non-fungible tokens with their digital artwork and or digital and physical product. And, and so our business model is very simple. We work with our clients and we take a percentage of the net sale of, of an NFT. It's a very, very clear and distinct program that is enhanced by the fact that it comes back to Liquid Avatar and it supports ImagineAR. So it's not a division that is timely just because we wanted to put something out there. That was, well, you know what? NFTs are hot, let's do something. This has always been in our wheelhouse. It's just that the market's caught up to where we are and NFTs really, as a big buzz word are, are really binding the crypto world and the physical world and the virtual world together. So it's, everybody knows what's going on and everybody's excited about it.
SH: The Company looks set for strong growth in 2021. How are you placed to expand operations to meet this growing demand?
DL: Well, Dave, that's, that's a really good question. We, we've got an amazing team and the team has been growing. So we're, we're right now, we're continuing our growth curve. We're focusing on our core products and our core products at Liquid Avatar, and now Oasis Digital Studios. So we believe those two sectors have immense growth. Again, going back to Liquid Avatar because digital identity can be so pervasive. We think of it as the fourth leg of the chair of the internet, right? That is the internet. And if you think about the other three legs, you know, everyone uses search. Everyone uses a browser, and as we're doing right now, everyone uses communication. We think digital identity is that fourth leg. And that really is now addressable to 5.8 billion people online. So for us to take a small slice of that could make us very, very successful.
SH: I have to mention your stock has really taken off since early December 2020…nearly tripling in value since then. What can you tell our investor audience regarding the current valuation of your stock and why you think it’s still a good buy right now?
DL: Well, I think when I look at a company, I look at three factors. I looked at perceived value, earning per share and enterprise value. And, and so for any small cap company or microcap company, there's always going to be, the perception is always going to be ahead of the value, the physical value of the company and what we're experiencing right now, as people are learning about our company and they're excited and that's great, but to be performance oriented, we have to focus on building our user base, at Liquid Avatar`, because our user base has valued. That's going to increase our enterprise value and programs like Oasis and our KABN KASH and KABN KARD program are going to build revenues that we can eventually, and hopefully report earnings per share. So we're focused on the fundamentals of a business. And I think that people realize that we're experienced enough. Our team is mature enough to be able to look at those three fundamentals and focus on each one of them separately, but also understand how they all come together.
SH: Let’s discuss the long-term strategy for the company moving forward, and what retail and institutional investors should be looking out for?
DL: Well, I think we're already seeing two of those major factors. One is that digital identity is all over the news. I mean, with, with COVID testing, going on and making sure that the people who have a COVID test are the right people. And we've seen reports at airports where people are showing up with fake results, vaccination records, how do we know that people are vaccinated? When we look at education, how do we know that people are taking the tests that they're intended to take? There's lots of reasons for digital identity to be pervasive. Reducing identity theft and the costs around identity, identity theft. So we're in the right space at the right time and we're built to perform and succeed on the on the other side, I was going to say that NFTs are a big buzz and we're right in the, in the center of that market. So I think we're in two really strong growth markets and people have to look at, you know, do we have the right team? Do we have the right opportunities? Are we taking advantage of those right opportunities? And can those opportunities ultimately produce value? And for me personally, obviously I checked the box on all four of those, but everyone needs to do their own due diligence.
SH: And finally, David, if there’s anything I’ve overlooked please feel free to elaborate.
DL: No, Dave, I think we've covered a lot. I think there's a lot of news that has come out recently and we're prepped for hopefully a lot more. We're seeing very exciting times at the company and we want to keep our stakeholders informed and give them good information and, and really look for their feedback. I mean, we're always open to speak to shareholders, speak to investors and to speak to institutions. And we really appreciate your time.
For regular updates, visit
liquidavatar.com.
FULL DISCLOSURE: This is a paid article produced by Stockhouse Publishing.