Charlotte, North Carolina-based Hooters franchisee Chanticleer Holdings saw its share price surge in trading Wednesday (Jan. 3) following an announcement that it is gearing up to launch a blockchain-driven customer loyalty program.
According to a report in Bloomberg News, Chanticleer is collaborating with Mobivity Holdings to create the blockchain-driven loyalty program using Mobivity Merit tokens. That news sent the stock price up 41 percent, although shares are still down more than 75 percent over the past three years.
Chanticleer is the latest small company to switch its focus to blockchain or cryptocurrency and see its stock climb as a result. Some are likening the phenomenon to the dotcom bubble in which companies tacked a dot.com to the end of their names and saw their share prices subsequently increase.
Other small companies that have similarly announced blockchain businesses are also seeing their stock prices surge. In a similar move, Long Island Iced Tea Corporation saw its stock price surge late last month after changing its name to the Long Blockchain Corporation. According to a Reuters report at the time, shares increased more than 300 percent following the company’s rebranding as Long Blockchain and announcement that it is focusing its business on blockchain technology.
Long Blockchain said it was in the early stages of looking at specific opportunities to grow the blockchain side of its business. It also plans to maintain its beverage business, which sells Long Island Iced Tea and Long Island Lemonade. With the 300 percent increase in shares, Long Blockchain’s market value increased from $23.8 million to $92 million as of the close of trading Wednesday (Dec. 20).
Obscure companies are not the only ones benefiting from the cryptocurrency craze. Overstock, the online retailer previously known for its home goods and furniture, recently rebranded and is now focusing solely on its blockchain efforts. As a result, it has seen its stock climb throughout 2017.
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