It is extraordinary to see the level of optimism around this...

It is extraordinary to see the level of optimism around this company. This company has gone from around 100M shares on offer at the end of 2014 to 5 billion shares on offer in 2021. For their dilution of about 50 times on their holdings, shareholders now enjoy revenue of less than 100k a month.

People still seem to be buying into the delusion of a rosy future of contracts rolling in, when this company failed in a much easier market than it has now or is likely to have in future. Authentication products appeal to companies that have a recognisable brand that are trying to sell into markets that have high levels of fake products (mostly China). However, not only are foreign brands being excluded from the market in China wherever possible, the level of interest in authenticating products is also declining. People here in China (I live in China) are fatigued and accept that nothing can be trusted, while brands are realising that authentication is an unnecessary cost, unless (perhaps if) it is associated with very expensive, one off luxury goods (a very niche market).

My personal experience is that a while back the water bottles for my water cooler had a QR code on them to verify that the product was not fake, but no longer put them on their bottles. As a consumer I scanned the code once out of curiosity, which made me understand that authentication products require a high level of commitment from consumers to be of value, and few consumers are willing to spend time scanning products (imagine doing that for every item on your weekly supermarket shop). There is also the further problem that in a market that lacks trust, authentication products are also not trusted.

My view is that there is a reason that the company is struggling to get contracts - there is little demand.