Major cryptocurrencies continued their comeback this week, with the

two largest assets leading the way. As of Friday evening, Bitcoin had

climbed more than 7% on the day, peaking above $43,000 USD.

Ethereum continued its climb to $2900 USD, advancing 65% since

mid-July. With the market appearing to be rotating out of large cap

stocks after Q2 earnings season, the cryptocurrency market is looking

poised for another bull run. Ethereum in particular looks set to move

August 7th, 2021Issue 2

higher, with the successful activation of the “London hard fork”, effectively changing the code that

Ethereum runs on, and stabilizing transaction fees on the network. With the price of Ethereum closing in

on $3000 USD, miners are set to reap the profits, and Bluesky Digital finds itself in a particularly strong

position, with a high percentage of its GPU equipment focused on Ethereum for several months now.

Bluesky utilizes a combination of ASIC and GPU hardware, with ASIC mining focused on Bitcoin.

There is anticipation of a very profitable Q2, with earnings expected out in the next few weeks, and the

stock has already started to move, rising sharply Friday (9.4%) and 51% since July 15th. Despite the current

positive momentum, Bluesky shares are still trading at a 70% discount to the early spring highs.

In a recent interview, CEO Ben Gelfand referred to an upcoming announcement regarding a proprietary

A.I-based software platform that he expects to create a significant second vertical for revenues, all made

possible by the profitability of their mining operations. He also reaffirmed the company’s commitment to

operating with a low energy footprint compared to others in the space.

With Q2 Financials and the A.I software announcement as key drivers, Bluesky is a company to watch

closely over the next few weeks.

In This IssuePeak Fintech EntersGuangzhou Market; Signs onTwo New Banks

The Round-up: FansUnite; Score

Media; Penn National

Stock Fam Educational Series:

The Canadian Registered

Retirement Savings Plan

Behind the Headlines with Sean

Khatibi: Think Long Term

Introducing : Awakn Life

Sciences Corp (AWKN)

Junior Biotech Investor Checklist

Join the Community

On the Zhongke Software Intelligence Ltd front, two new banks from the analytics provider have joined the

Business Hub Ecosystem. With both Lishui Rural Commercial Bank and Xinghua Rural Commercial Bank on

board, and Peak in the process of acquiring Zhongke, it is only a matter of time before all 42 banking clients

join the ever-expanding ecosystem.

On Tuesday the company announced a new steel trading platform to accommodate more than 1000 clients and

steel traders of Xingcheng Special Steel Works Ltd, China’s 2nd largest specialized steel supplier. The Link-Steel

Platform (http://www.link-steel.net/) will also act as a gateway for clients in the steel industry to join the

Business Hub Ecosystem, acting in a similar way to The Gold River Platform.

This past week was filled with Economics news/data on how the world's economy is navigation the re-

opening and unemployment situation. On Friday, the job numbers surprised even the most optimistic

analysts with 943K jobs added in July vs 845K expected. While Nasdaq dropped and Dow Jones closed

100 points higher, I find the job numbers to be a bullish indicator for the equity markets. In this

STOCK FAM SPOTLIGHT ISSUE 202

The news continued to flow from Peak Fintech this week, as the company announced a new office in

Guangzhou, in the heart of “The Greater Bay Region” comprising Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. The

office is integral to strategic development plans to make the region -considered the largest agglomeration in the

world with 45 million people- another successful hub for the company, replicating their success in other city

centres. Peak’s technology partner, Rongbang Technology Limited (subsidiary of China Union Pay) has their

head office in Guangzhou, so the move will continue the close cooperation between the two firms following

Peak’s recent minority purchase of Rongbang. Reuters has referred to the region as the “Silicon Valley”of

China, and with partners such as Rongbang (and, indirectly, China Union Pay), Peak is positioned for massive

future growth in just this one vertical. The potential for business in Guangzhou dwarfs that of other successful

Peak city hubs, such as Jiangsu.

News releases such as these tend can be difficult for

investors to quantify, but one look at the guidance

numbers for 2021 and beyond (and comparing them to

previous guidance numbers) shows just how much each of

these deals add to the top and bottom line for the

company. Peak is not just expanding; it is mushrooming, and

not just in one part of the business, but in all of them. With

NASDAQ about to expose their story to a far wider

audience of sophisticated investors, the company stands at

a major inflection point in the near term.

environment , we are witnessing an historically low interest rate coupled with a Federal Reserve that has adopted a very

generous emergency monetary policy. While the 10 Year Bond yield rose to 1.29 on Friday , the real yields still remain in the

negative territory. Economy is expected to grow 6.5% in 2021 and 4.5% in 2022; interest rates are expected to remain

unchanged until 2023 and employment will be rising. This is a very constructive environment for stocks and hence I have

upgraded my P500 targetto 4660 by years end. This is the time to look beyond the headlines and invest in strong companies

with superior fundamentals and double digit growth into the future. I’d like to screen for asset light, high-margin cloud

companies that will remain unaffected with a potential elevated pricing this year, ie. Peak Fintech, Google, Facebook and Uber.

Massive news for FansUnite ($FANS, $FUNFF) this week, as the company’s subsidiaries were granted full

licences from the UK Gambling Commission, both as a Business-to-Business technology provider for casinos

and sports books as well as a Business-to-Consumer operator across the massive UK gambling market. This is a

game changer for FansUnite, as the industry generated over £14 billion in 2019-2020. The granting of this

license represents an inflection point for the company as it aims to grow globally. Investors have taken notice,

with a 21% gain in the stock price over the week.

In major news from the industry, Penn National Gaming Inc. completed a $2 billion USD buyout of Score

Media & Gaming, demonstrating the appetite of large companies to enter the Canadian sports betting market,

which will be legalized in early 2022. Score Media had reported a modest $5 million in revenue and a loss of

$30 million in Q2, but the acquisition shows how hungry large gaming firms are for increased market share.

Score Media was an attractive target for Penn National because of its proprietary technology stack and player

account management software, making it very similar to FansUnite, and although FansUnite has expansion

plans of its own, PennNational’s acquisition of a company such as Score Media demonstrates the appetite and

willingness of major gaming firms to pay a premium for greater market share in a booming global space.

STOCK FAM SPOTLIGHT ISSUE 203

Hello and welcome to the Stock Fam Investor Education Series, where we provide the fundamentals of investing, fromequities to fixed-income vehicles, from account selection to taxation, and everything in between. Stock Fam is dedicatedto bringing a broad range of education to individual investors, enabling everyone to know what they own, and feelcomfortable with their investments.

In our first series, we take a close look at investment accounts, both on the Canadian and American side of the border.Today we dive into the Canadian Registered Retirement Savings Plan, or RRSP, a staple for Canadians since 1957.

But before we dive into everything you need to know about RRSP investing, let’s first dispel a few myths about theaccount itself. Despite containing the word “Savings” in its name, the RRSP should not be confused with a regular savingsaccount. RRSPs were created as a vehicle for long term investment growth, making them similar, in some ways, to a taxFree Savings Account, or TFSA. Check out the first video in our series for a full breakdown of the Canadian RegisteredTFSA.

The second myth that often circulates is the belief that RRSPs can only be accessed once you have retired, making themsimilar to a pension, and therefore not something that a younger person needs to think about. This couldn’t be furtherfrom the truth for a couple of very important reasons. First, RRSPs can be withdrawn at any time, making them a usefulinvestment account for all Canadians. Second, the earlier you begin investing in your RRSP, the more time your moneyhas to grow with the beauty of compound interest.

So, now that we understand that RRSPs are useful to ALL Canadians, let’s look more closely at how to best utilize themas a part of our investment portfolio: Article continues in PDF form here

The Landscape

Since the stock market embarked on an historic recovery following the 2020 pandemic-induced crash, the industriesleading the way have been well-documented. American FAANG stocks rose to dizzying heights, with stay-at-homecompanies such as Zoom and Peloton enjoying runaway success. Hordes of new investors flexed their financialmuscles, piling into cryptocurrencies, electric vehicle manufacturers, and food delivery companies. But as marketsproved their resilience, economies continued to suffer, and so too did collective mental health. In particularAddictions have remained a massive problem during the pandemic, it's estimated that between 15% and 20% of theglobal adult population are suffering from substance addiction, that’s between 840 million and 1.1 billion people. Thecost of drug and alcohol addiction on the US economy is estimated at over $600 billion.

The biotech industry was quick to champion advancements in psychedelics as potential treatments for mental healthdisorders such as depression, PTSD, suicidal ideation, and even addiction. Having noted increased government andcapital market acceptance of cannabis for medical use in recent years, investors poured their money into the biotechcompanies pioneering psychedelic research, particularly in the junior markets.

And while research into psychedelics remains promising on several fronts, many of those same investors are nowlearning some important lessons about the biotech industry, including the reality that the research and developmentprocess from the early discovery phase all the way to bringing a product to market is typically 5-7 years, which canpass painfully without any revenue at all. Many biotechs are forced to raise money constantly to fund their R&D,diluting their stock while often racking up debt in the process. And despite positive initial lab results, most newmedicines never make it to FDA approval.

So why invest in the biotech space at all? The answer is simple: very few other industries can match the gains ofbiotech companies that develop effective, disruptive treatments. One look at the stock chart of a COVID-19 vaccinedeveloper such as Moderna demonstrates the reward for investors who can navigate the biotech space, as thatparticular company rose from below $19 USD in January 2020 to $348 USD by mid July 2021, representing morethan 1700% growth in just 18 months.

But are biotech winners easy to find? Is there a formula to uncovering companies poised to succeed? And is there away to weed out all the others? Stock Fam has a very simple guide to finding success in the industry:

Company: Awakn Life Sciences Corp

CEO: Anthony Tennyson

Industry: Biotech & Healthcare (Psychedelic treatments for addiction)

Symbol: AWKN

STOCK FAM SPOTLIGHT ISSUE 204

Choose a company that has a much shorter path to revenue than the 5-7 year average, preferably

within a year, as short-term revenue helps fund further research and development and lessens

dilution of the stock.

Make sure the company has different opportunities for success in their

pipeline and are not just banking on one particular drug.

Focus on the medicine itself and be sure that it already has regulatory

approval, or a clear path to being granted it.

Be absolutely certain that the research team is well-respected and published in reputable journals

within the scientific community. This cannot be overstated.

If your due diligence leads you to a small-cap biotech company that checks each of the fourIf your due diligence leads you to a small-cap biotech company that checks each of the four

boxes above, you may have found yourself a diamond in the rough.boxes above, you may have found yourself a diamond in the rough.

STOCK FAM SPOTLIGHT ISSUE 205

Although there is mounting evidence that multiple psychedelic drugs may one day play a role in treating depression,only one has been approved for use by both the FDA and World Health Organization for clinical use: ketamine.

Ketamine has been utilized by doctors for decades to induce and maintain anesthesia for surgeries. It produces adissociative state in patients, relieving pain and sedating them while preserving airways and stimulating heartfunction. In 2019, esketamine nasal spray became the first psychedelic drug approved by the FDA for psychiatricdisorders, as studies had found that ketamine not only reduces the effects of psychiatric disorders in some patientsin a space of just 4 hours, but can even have long lasting effects when administered as part of a clinical program.

It has gained traction ever since, with Johnson & Johnson now distributing its version of esketamine to clinics acrossthe country.

Across the pond in the U.K, a biotech company called Awakn Life Sciences is at the forefront of an industry that isprescribing ketamine off-label to treat the very serious, and growing, problem of addiction,.

Before delving into AWAKN’s business model, the discerning reader will have noticed that we have already checked offour third box for biotech investing. No regulatory approval is needed for prescribing ketamine.

This affects 5% of the global adult population and the treatment rates are verylow, with only 16% of people seeking treatment. Unfortunately, over 70% ofthose who do receive traditional treatment relapse in the first year. Traditionaltreatment programs have been largely ineffectual, as attempts to use medicineto “switch off” cravings have not gained any traction. Twelve-step programsfocusing on talk therapy have undoubtedly helped some who struggle withalcohol addiction, but for many, the support they offer is not enough.

At this point, the obvious question should be “Does it work?” And this is where we check off box #4.

Among its list of researchers, Awakn has two of the foremost experts in the field. Dr. David Nutt is considered a globalauthority on brain mechanics related to opioid, alcohol and behavioural addictions. He has published over four-

hundred papers and more than twenty books on addiction. He is the Chair in Neuropsychopharmacology at ImperialCollege London and Director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit in the Division of Brain Sciences at the institution.He held the position of President of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology. (His list of accomplishmentsdoesn’t end there, but a quick trip to your search engine can provide the full list.) Dr. Nutt has focused a great deal of

his research on improving addiction treatment by addressing the lower level brain functions of impulsivity andcompulsivity, which overpower the rational brain in people with addictions. Ketamine serves that purpose by disruptingthese lower level functions, and the psychotherapy then helps the person to learn new more adaptive ways to respond

to addictive urges, cravings and the underlying psychological processes that drive them.

Another recognized expert in the field, Dr. Celia Morgan, is currently completing the first ever clinical trial of ketamine-assisted psychotherapy, with results to be published in The American Journal of Psychotherapy in the next few weeks.

She is Head Professor of Psychopharmacology, University of Exeter. Both Dr. Nutt and Dr. Morgan give 50% of theirprofessional time to Awakn, where the clinics coming on board in 2021 and beyond will put their peer-reviewed

methodology into practice, primarily addressing AUD. It cannot be over-emphasized that Awakn will be the onlycompany in the world putting this research into revenue-generating practice.

So, before moving forward, let’s review the progress on our checklist: Article continues in PDF form here:

STOCK FAM SPOTLIGHT ISSUE 206

The model itself is two-pronged, focusing on not only research but also delivery, and this is where Awakn checks off box#1. Awakn will be opening three physical clinics in the U.K. in 2021, with another five to follow in 2022. Continentalexpansion is expected to bring the total number of clinics to 20 across Europe by the end of 2024. While these clinicswill generate meaningful revenues and free cash flow to fund further research, it isn’t the clinics themselves that shouldgarner the most excitement; it is how they plan to use them. Awakn is using a novel combination of psychedelic(ketamine) assisted psychotherapy to specifically treat alcohol use disorder (AUD; in layman’s terms, alcoholism).

With AWAKN’s disruptiveapproach, ketamine isadministered in clinics by qualified practitioners insupervised optimal conditions,and this acts as one half of theprogram, with psychotherapy representing the other half. Thiscontrasts with most American practitioners, who prescribe the drugbut do not combine it with qualified psychotherapy.