Blockchain Is the New Pets.com

Here’s the latest from the world of internet bubble-osity:

Bloomberg provides the details:

A British company that has been investing in internet and information businesses is having its best day on record.

On-line Plc jumped as much as 394 percent on Friday after announcing plans to change its name to On-line Blockchain Plc….“Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are a new and exciting area we have been working on for some time,” the Essex-based company said in a statement on Thursday. “We feel the time is right to re-name the company to reflect these developments, where we believe the future growth will be in our sector.” The shares pared gains after the company published a follow-up release on Friday, cautioning investors that the development of its blockchain product is still at an early stage.

Ah yes, early stages indeed. Here’s what the company said this morning:

As announced yesterday, the Company has worked as an incubator and investor in internet and information businesses and the Company has been investigating the development of potential applications and customer markets. In particular, the Company has focused on information technology where On-line’s links with ADVFN provide an opportunity to develop a Blockchain-based product to support financial website users’ ratings of information contributors using token-based applications.

Shareholders should note that the while the Company has identified an initial product, the Company’s development of a Block-chain product is still at an early stage of investigation and development, and its current plans envisage that the first application will only be tested early in 2018.

Roger that. But it dampened enthusiasm only a bit:

From Thusday to the close of Friday, the stock tripled in value because it’s “investigating” an extension of its product line that would use “token-based applications” to help web commenters on financial boards more reliably rate “information contributors” (i.e., fellow commenters).

This is just one report from the world of penny stocks. It probably doesn’t mean anything. But for those of us of a certain age who used to work in the tech industry, it brings back memories.

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

The short of it: Last year, we had to cut $1 million from our budget so we could have any chance of breaking even by the time our fiscal year ended in June. And despite a huge rally from so many of you leading up to the deadline, we still came up a bit short on the whole. We can’t let that happen again. We have no wiggle room to begin with, and now we have a hole to dig out of.

Readers also told us to just give it to you straight when we need to ask for your support, and seeing how matter-of-factly explaining our inner workings, our challenges and finances, can bring more of you in has been a real silver lining. So our online membership lead, Brian, lays it all out for you in his personal, insider account (that literally puts his skin in the game!) of how urgent things are right now.

The upshot: Being able to rally $253,000 in donations over these next few weeks is vitally important simply because it is the number that keeps us right on track, helping make sure we don't end up with a bigger gap than can be filled again, helping us avoid any significant (and knowable) cash-flow crunches for now. We used to be more nonchalant about coming up short this time of year, thinking we can make it by the time June rolls around. Not anymore.

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