8. Long-term Investments

On September 27, 2022, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) with Koala Malta Limited, a private limited liability company registered under the laws of Malta (the “Seller”). Upon the execution of the SPA, the Company purchased 65,700 issued ordinary shares of Koala Crypto Limited (now renamed as QBSG Limited) from Seller, representing 9% of the total issued share capital of QBSG, and in exchange, the Company issued 86,339 shares of its common stock to Seller in a private placement (the “Consideration Shares”) valued at $1,350,000. As allowed under ASC 321-10-35, the Company has elected to measure the equity investment in QBSG Limited at cost as QBSG Limited is a private company and does not have a readily determinable fair value. The Company evaluates the investment for any impairment annually. The shares of QBSG are recorded in the consolidated balance sheet as ‘other assets’.

Upon execution of the SPA, the Company, the Seller and QBSG also entered into a Shareholders’ Agreement. The Shareholders’ Agreement imposes certain transfer restrictions on the Seller and the Company as shareholders of QBSG, provides for certain governance and approval rights among the parties, and gives the Company a put option with respect to its investment in QBSG in the event of a change of control of the Seller. At the same time, Alan Tak Wai Yau, an individual and the majority shareholder of Koala Capital Limited, which is the parent company of the Seller (“Koala Capital”), provided the Company with a share charge over 15 percent of the issued share capital of Koala Capital (the “Share Charge”) and Koala Capital provided the Company with a guaranty and indemnity (the “Guarantee”), which Share Charge and Guarantee were granted as security for a number of the Seller’s obligations as set forth therein including obtaining the lifting of the voluntary suspension of QBSG’s virtual financial assets license by the Malta Financial Services Authority (“MFSA”). Koala Capital had submitted and responded to all queries raised by the MFSA, and the authorization/supervision unit has approved its application. To enhance the governance of QBSG's profits and dividends, QBSG has agreed to assign one board seat to the Company's CEO.

On December 5, 2024, the Company entered into a Profit Participation Agreement (the “PPA”) with Koala Malta Limited, a private limited liability company registered under the laws of Malta (the “Seller”). Upon the execution of the PPA, the Company purchased a 6% right in QBSG Limited (the “Target”, previously Koala Crypto Limited) to receive all distributions and dividends which may be declared and/or distributed by the Target on an annual basis in terms of applicable law, along with all rights, title, and interest from the Seller. The consideration of the Profit Participation is $1,200,000, including $700,000 cash and $500,000 value of the Company’s common stocks, or a total of 113,636 shares at a price of $4.40 per share. In addition to the 9% share purchase from the Seller in September 2022, the Company now owns the right to receive 15% of all distributions and dividends by the Target.

As the Profit Participation investment does not include the ownership of equity of QBSG Limited, only the right to future distributions, the Profit Participation investment does not meet the criteria to be recorded under ASC 321-10-35 and is subject to fair value accounting standards. As of December 31, 2024, the Company holds a Level 3 investment recorded at a cost of $1,200,000, representing 6% of all distributions and dividends from QBSG Limited. As of December 31, 2024, Management believes that cost represents fair value as it relates to the Profit Participation valuation as there were no material changes in the underlying company, QBSG Limited between December 5, 2024 and December 31, 2024.

The fair value of the investment is estimated using a combination of valuation methodologies, including Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis, Relative Valuation, and Transaction Comparables. These approaches incorporate significant unobservable inputs, such as projected cash flows, discount rates, market data from publicly traded companies in the crypto infrastructure and digital asset services sectors, as well as data from recent merger and acquisition transactions within the industry.

There was no activity in Level 3 investments other than the acquisition of the Profit Participation investment.