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. 

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, resulting in an average fair value estimate of $1,156,000. These methods incorporate significant unobservable inputs, such as a weighted average cost of capital of 15%, a long-term revenue growth rate of 10%, a long-term pre-tax operating margin of 15%, a 20% discount for lack of control, and a 40% discount for lack of marketability. The valuation also considers 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. The inputs and estimates used may be subject to change as more current information becomes available and accordingly the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates. It is at least reasonably possible that the estimate of the effect of a condition, situation or set of circumstances that existed at the date of the financial statements, which management considered in formulating its estimate could change in the near term due to one or more future confirming events, including regulation changes in Malta, inability of QBSG to meet revenue and income forecasts or QBSG's inability to pay dividends, all of which could significant decrease the value of the Company's investment. Accordingly, the actual results could differ significantly from those estimates

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

On  January 26, 2025, the Company entered into a Stock Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) with AI Geometric Ltd, a company organized under the laws of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the “Seller”).Pursuant to the SPA, the Seller agreed to issue and sell 1,300 shares of the Seller to the Company, representing 13% of all issued and outstanding shares of the Seller, at a consideration of $1,300,000 (the “Transaction”). The board of directors of the Company approved the Transaction on  January 17, 2025.The closing of the Transaction took place on  January 27, 2025. As allowed under ASC 321-10-35, the Company has elected to measure the equity investment in Al Geometric, Ltd. at cost as it 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 AI Geometric Ltd. are recorded in the consolidated balance sheet as ‘other assets’.