BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc. ("BIG") Engages ATB Financial Services in Pilot Project for Risk Assessment & Compliance of Crypto-Mining Client Activity


VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 01, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc. ("BIG" or the “Company") (CSE:BIGG) (WKN:A2JSKG) (OTC:BBKCF), a leading developer of Blockchain technology search, risk-scoring and data analytics solutions, is pleased to announce it has engaged ATB Financial (ATB) – the largest Alberta-based financial institution, with assets of $50.7 billion – in a pilot project designed to explore and identify opportunities around risk assessment and compliance related to crypto-mining client activity. The pilot project will enable ATB Financial to evaluate firsthand BIG's proprietary cryptocurrency verification product, BitRank VerifiedTM, and the Company's blockchain investigation security platform, QLUETM.

Crypto-mining plays a vital role within the Cryptocurrency eco-system and the open, distributed ledger that is the blockchain. Crypto-miners help to complete blocks of transactions on the blockchain and, in turn, generate new coins. Crypto-miners and other organizations in the emerging cryptocurrency market are seeking to work with financial institutions and regulators to ensure that their operations and business activities meet eligibility requirements for securing banking services.

ATB Financial will utilize BIG’s comprehensive suite of security and forensics tools for evaluating the operations of Crypto-mining companies and assessing the risk management and compliance obligations in order to understand how they can support crypto-mining businesses in terms of providing banking services, consistent with their mission to support Alberta entrepreneurs.

This collaborative project will include: on-site training and orientation by BIG's professional support team; application of BIG's BitRank VerifiedTM and QLUETM products to mining operations; a gap analysis against expected risk management and compliance practices; and the development of go-forward recommendations and plan.

We're excited for this opportunity to work collaboratively with a large, respected and innovative financial institution like ATB Financial,” said BIG CEO, Lance Morginn. “This pilot project will enable us to put our tools to work on a unique case study that's squarely focused on managing financial risk and compliance, which are two of the primary benefits we bring to the financial sector. The project also aligns perfectly with BIG’s goals of bringing trust to this new era of money while creating a clearer path to mainstream acceptance and usage of cryptocurrencies.”

BIG's President, Shone Anstey, added: "As the world increasingly embraces cryptocurrencies, our commitment is to enable progressive financial institutions to provide the very best services for their clients. This pilot project is designed to explore and identify the best tools and security measures available to make that possible. That's why we're looking forward to working with ATB's team on the project scope outlined to date while also assessing opportunities for possible future engagement."

On behalf of the Board,

Lance Morginn

CEO & Co-Founder

About BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc.

BIG Blockchain Intelligence Group Inc. (“BIG”), has developed from the ground up a Blockchain agnostic search and analytics engine, QLUETM, allowing RegTech, Law Enforcement & Government Agencies to trace, track and monitor cryptocurrency transactions at a forensic level. Our commercial product, BitRank VerifiedTM, offers a “risk score” for Bitcoin wallets allowing banks, exchanges and eCommerce sites to meet traditional regulatory/compliance requirements.

About ATB Financial

With assets of $50.7 billion, ATB Financial is Alberta's largest home-grown financial institution. Established in 1938, ATB is a network of 175 branches, 142 agencies, a Customer Care Centre, three Entrepreneur Centres, along with mobile and online banking. ATB's more than 5,000 team members help more than 740,000 customers in 247 Alberta communities.

About BitRank VerifiedTM

BIG developed BitRank VerifiedTM to offer the financial world a simplified front-end results page, enabling consumer-facing bank tellers, exchanges, eCommerce sites and retailers to know whether a proposed transaction is safe to accept, questionable, or should be denied. BitRank VerifiedTM is custom tailored to provide the FinTech sector with a reliable tool for meeting their regulatory requirements while mitigating exposure to risk of money laundering or other criminal activities.

About QLUETM

BIG developed its proprietary flagship product, QLUETM (Qualitative Law Enforcement Unified Edge), to enable the RegTech and FinTech sectors to mitigate cryptocurrency transaction risks by following the “virtual” money involved. QLUE's tracking and tracing capabilities enable financial institutions and law enforcement to level the playing field and identify individuals engaging in money laundering or criminal activities involving cryptocurrencies.

Investor Relations - United States 

KCSA Strategic Communications
Valter Pinto, Managing Director
Scott Eckstein, VP of Market Intelligence
email:  BlockChainGroup@KCSA.com
P: (212) 896-1254

Investor Relations - Canada

Skanderbeg Capital Advisors
Adam Ross
email: adam@skanderbegcapital.com
P: (604) 687-7130

BIG Investor Relations

Anthony Zelen
email:  anthony@blockchaingroup.io
P: (778) 819-8705

For more information and to register to BIG’s mailing list, please visit our website at www.blockchaingroup.io.  Follow @blocksearch on Twitter.  Or visit SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements:

Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include completion of the search technology software and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe” and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward- looking statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both general and specific that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts, projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets in particular, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of BIG. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking information because BIG can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from BIG’s expectations include, consumer sentiment towards BIG’s products and Blockchain technology generally, technology failures, competition, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release. Except as required by law, BIG disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Additionally, BIG undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.