Energy Firm Discloses Major Crypto Losses Amid Blockchain Rebrand

An energy firm that is publicly traded in Hong Kong and chaired by a Chinese billionaire is planning to rebrand itself as a blockchain company despite having lost millions investing in cryptocurrencies.

Called Global Energy Resources International Group, the firm filed a proposal with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Monday indicating it seeks to change its Chinese name to "Global Token Limited," given its recent move into the crypto space.

Based on the filing, the firm has over the past several months launched cryptocurrency trading platforms based in Hong Kong, as well as making investments in crypto assets and blockchain technology solutions.

"As announced by the Company on 18 January 2018, the Board had resolved to re-allocate approximately HK$50.0 million ($6.3 million) of the unutilized net proceeds ... to make investment in, among others, cryptocurrency," the company wrote.

According to the interim financial report disclosed by the firm on Aug. 10, at the end of June, the firm invested a total of $2.4 million in cryptocurrency assets, which amid this year's bear market, led to a near 50-percent loss of $1.02 million.

Global Energy Resources currently holds 2,135 ether and over 20 million XPA tokens, which are together worth around $1.2 million as of press time, according to data from CoinMarketCap and CoinDesk's price index.

As stated in the Hong Kong filing, over the past several months, the energy firm has also launched a fiat-to-crypto exchange called TideBit and a crypto-to-crypto platform named TiDeal, which brought in some revenue.

However, in part due to the losses arising from cryptocurrency and related technology investments, the firm recorded an overall net loss of $6.3 million in the first half of the year, compared to just $573,277 in the same period last year.

Although Global Energy Resources is little known as a publicly traded firm, it is notably chaired by Chen Ping, a billionaire Chinese publisher who also owns the Sun TV, a satellite network based in Hong Kong.

According to the interim report, Chen owns 85 percent of the TideBit trading platform. TiDeal was also launched by Chen, according to the exchange's website.

Obviously a fan of the technology, Chen said in an interview in May:

"Blockchain can solve any problem of the society in the future that involves interpersonal communication."

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