After several months of complicated market conditions for cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and other digital assets are rising in value once again. Generally, the acceptance of digital currencies as a payment or as an investment opportunity is becoming more common around the world. For example, according to data published by Blockdata, most major banks have invested in crypto and blockchain-related companies in 2021. Out of the top 100 banks by assets under management, 55 have invested in cryptocurrency and/or blockchain-related companies, either directly or through subsidiaries. ISW Holdings Inc. (OTC: ISWH), Riot Blockchain, Inc. (NASDAQ: RIOT), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: HVBT), Canaan Inc. (NASDAQ: CAN), Bitfarms Ltd. (NASDAQ: BITF)

Just last week, Mastercard announced that it has agreed to acquire the blockchain analytics start-up CipherTrace, in the latest sign of how major companies are warming to the technology. “Digital assets have the potential to reimagine commerce, from everyday acts like paying and getting paid to transforming economies, making them more inclusive and efficient,” said Ajay Bhalla, President, Cyber & Intelligence at Mastercard. “With the rapid growth of the digital asset ecosystem comes the need to ensure it is trusted and safe. Our aim is to build upon the complementary capabilities of Mastercard and CipherTrace to do just this.”

ISW Holdings Inc. (OTC: ISWH), transitioning to ‘BlockQuarry,’ pending name change, reported earlier this week that an update for, “current and prospective shareholders on core performance metrics, timeframe for hosting deployment, and corporate identity.”

Performance Metrics. Mining is fully underway in Pennsylvania, and nearing full capacity on hashrate. Final adjustments and updates are being implemented into month end to push performance up to peak potential, at which time the Company’s PA mining operations will be producing mining revenues that will contribute to an overall monthly revenue run rate of $1.5 million at current cryptocurrency pricing.

In addition, the Company anticipates a breakout record quarter for the three months ending September 30, 2021. However, the fourth quarter should be a much more significant breakout in financial terms given that it will be the first quarter featuring a full three months of mining at peak capacity as well as the start of revenues from hosting operations.

Hosting Power Deployment. Management conducted site visits to its primary Southeastern US cryptocurrency mining hosting site earlier in the week. Based on that visit, the project is on schedule and the Company believes it will meet its approximate target for deploying the first 20 megawatts of power at the site around the end of October. This will begin the process of scaling up hosting operations to the full 200 MW that the project is designed to deploy to the Company’s hosting clientele.

Corporate Identity. The Company is still awaiting final approval of its corporate name and stock symbol change from FINRA. As communicated in the Company’s August 3 release, ISW Holdings has officially filed for a corporate name change to ‘BlockQuarry Corp.’ The Company also filed to change its trading symbol. Both filings are now actively going through FINRA, and more details will be announced when FINRA has completed its due diligence process.

Management Commentary. “We will unquestionably log our best quarter in Company history – by a wide margin – when the books close at the end of the month,” noted Alonzo Pierce, ISWH CEO. “But that will likely be dwarfed by what rolls in over coming quarters. We have made a few final adjustments and updates that are being implemented right now that will take us to full capacity in terms of achievable hashrate in Pennsylvania. That will bring us to a topline run-rate of approximately $1.5 million per month, which may double again beginning midway through the fourth quarter as we begin to ramp up hosting revenues.”