- Corporate Realignment Supports Planned
Divestiture of Cyber Security Businesses -
LONDON,
ON, Jan. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ - VersaBank
(TSX: VBNK) (NASDAQ: VBNK), a North American leader in
business-to-business digital banking, as well as technology
solutions for cybersecurity, today announced the internal transfer
of certain assets, including intellectual property, and other
resources, including personnel, related to its revolutionary
Digital Deposit Receipt technology ("DDR") to an existing, wholly
owned subsidiary of DRT Cyber Inc. ("DRTC") (the "Transfer").
The subsidiary, which will exclusively hold DDR assets and
resources, has been renamed Digital Meteor, Inc., and is expected
to enable VersaBank to generate additional shareholder value by
capitalizing on its proven, proprietary digital asset technology
and intellectual property, alongside its strong anticipated growth
from ramping up its Receivable Purchase Program ("RPP") in the U.S.
The Transfer also supports the Bank's planned divestiture of
its Cyber Security businesses. There are no material
financial implications associated with the Transfer.
"We continue to be encouraged by the favorable stance of
President Donald Trump and the new
administration with respect to digital assets and the role they can
play in the future of banking and commerce, not only in
the United States but around the
world," said David Taylor, President
and Chief Executive Officer, VersaBank. "We are especially
encouraged by President Trump's executive order on January 23
to "promote United States
leadership in digital assets and financial technology", which
includes establishing a working group to "advise on digital asset
policy and work with Congress on digital asset legislation, as well
as the SEC's creation of a digital currency task force last week.
VersaBank is proud to be at the forefront of this revolution as
leaders in digital asset innovation. We are the first bank to our
knowledge to have successfully completed a pilot program with our
blockchain-based DDR, providing a secure representation of
federally regulated bank deposits, on the Algorand,
Ethereum and Stellar blockchains, and received
SOC 2 Type I certification for the
underlying VersaVault® technology in 2022.
Importantly, our DDRs can be seamlessly converted to and from other
digital currencies such as Bitcoin."
"With renewed optimism about the future of digital assets in
the United States and our further
expansion into the U.S. financial services market, we are observing
increasing third party interest in our proprietary DDR technology.
This technology combines the safety of traditional banking with the
efficiency, cost savings, security, and flexibility of blockchain
technology. Additionally, it addresses the need for properly
regulated custody of digital assets with secure platforms such as
VersaVault®. Licensed banks are the trusted, regulated
safekeepers of personal and business cash assets and other
valuables and are naturally positioned to do the same for digital
currencies. We believe our trusted and secure solutions, along with
the potential for DDRs to be an ultra-low-cost source of deposit
funding, will play a meaningful role in enabling U.S. banks and
other entities to confidently engage in the rapidly developing
field of digital commerce."
About VersaBank's Digital Deposit Receipts (DDRs)
VersaBank's DDRs are highly encrypted digital assets, that
represent an actual fiat currency on deposit with the Bank. Issued
on secure blockchains such as Algorand, Ethereum, and
Stellar, DDRs offer superior security, stability, and regulatory
compliance compared to traditional stablecoins. As a SOC2 compliant
digital asset with a continuously known value, DDRs provide a
trusted alternative for mainstream financial applications.
About VersaBank
VersaBank is a North American bank (federally chartered in
Canada and the U.S.) with a
difference. VersaBank was the world's first fully digital financial
institutional and today has a cloud-based, branchless,
business-to-business model based on its proprietary
state-of-the-art technology that enables it to profitably address
underserved segments of the banking industry in a significantly
risk mitigated manner. Because VersaBank obtains its deposits and
provides financing electronically through financial intermediary
partners, it benefits from significant operating leverage that
drives efficiency and return on common equity. In August 2024, VersaBank launched its unique
Receivable Purchase Program (RPP) funding solution, which has been
highly successful in Canada for
nearly 15 years, to the underserved multi-trillion-dollar U.S.
market. Based on the Bank's proprietary technology, the Bank's RPP
provides funding for very low-risk point-of-sale finance companies
through the automated electronic purchase of cash flow streams
derived from the finance partner's loans.
VersaBank also owns Washington,
DC-based DRT Cyber Inc., a North
America leader in the provision of cyber security services
to address the rapidly growing volume of cyber threats challenging
financial institutions, multi-national corporations and government
entities.
VersaBank's Common Shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange
("TSX") and Nasdaq under the symbol VBNK.
Visit our website at: www.versabank.com
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SOURCE VersaBank
