Btl Group to Commence Interbit Blockchain Pilot with Wien Energie and Other Major Global Energy Companies
BTL GROUP TO COMMENCE INTERBIT BLOCKCHAIN PILOT
WITH WIEN ENERGIE AND OTHER MAJOR GLOBAL ENERGY
COMPANIES
For Immediate Release
Vancouver, British Columbia February 14, 2017
BTL GROUP LTD. (TSX Venture: BTL) (“BTL”) is pleased to announce that it is working with a
group of leading energy companies, including Wien Energie GmbH, Austria’s largest regional
energy company, on a blockchain pilot using BTL’s Interbit platform. As with previous projects
that BTL has successfully completed in this space, the goal is to demonstrate how BTL’s
technology can significantly drive down costs associated with energy trading. This revenue
generating pilot will run alongside the other work BTL is continuing to undertake in the energy and
finance industries.
Guy Halford-Thompson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of BTL said, “We are very
excited about working on this project with a number of major energy companies, including Wien
Energie, a large and well-established European energy provider. The experience and expertise
we expect to acquire from this pilot will be in addition to the knowledge we have obtained from
our past work with leading energy companies. By commencing this project we are one step closer
to live application of Interbit in the energy sector.”
"With the pilot project now being launched, we are able to build up know-how in the blockchain
area with our partners and test the new technology for its opportunities and benefits. We also
want to analyze how new business models can arise from this”, says Peter Gönitzer, Managing
Director at Wien Energie. “Through different experimental arrangements with the technology, new
insights into the use of blockchain in the energy business are to be gained and possible process
optimization and cost savings are to be explored."
Wien Energie’s Chairman, Michael Strebl added, "Blockchain technology is a further digitization
trend in the energy industry. As Austria's largest energy service provider, we want to actively
make use of the technology and its chances for our customers and us.”
This pilot project is being supported by global consultancy firm EY and is expected to run for three
months, from March to May 2017, after which further commercial strategies will be assessed.
Andreas Freitag, Manager at EY Austria added that, "The energy industry should actively deal
with blockchain technology. The impact on existing processes and markets could be enormous.
Now is a good time to test the technology and adjust the company to the upcoming changes. With
EY playing a critical role in the pilot, led by BTL, we are able to get to know the technology and to
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assess the future potential even better. At the end of the project, we will be a step further to assess
how Interbit will affect the energy industry."
Guy Halford-Thompson continues:
“The energy industry has a complex ecosystem with a myriad of business lines from raw material
exploration to electricity generation and delivery. Currently, record keeping and data management
are incredibly cumbersome leading to costly mistakes when it comes to trading energy products
and tracking asset ownership. From the work we have done so far, we have demonstrated how
the Interbit platform can vastly improve existing infrastructures. We believe this project we are
undertaking with some of the world’s largest energy companies will further prove how our
blockchain technology can increase efficiencies and lead to considerable cost savings for energy
companies.”
ABOUT BTL GROUP LTD.
Operating from both Canada and the UK, BTL offers blockchain solutions to businesses across
multiple industries, in particular the finance, energy and gaming sectors. BTL has built prototypes
that showcase the capabilities of its Interbit platform, a proprietary blockchain based interbank
payment network and settlement and asset trading solution.
Interbit is an open, multi-chain, asset settlement platform with a suite of APIs and smart contracts
that allow businesses from across the world to provide global access to fast, secure, and auditable
financial and asset trading services.
With offices in Vancouver and Canary Wharf in London, BTL is positioning itself as a front-runner
in the blockchain ecosystem, providing advice and knowledge to industry leaders.
Website: www.btl.co
Twitter: https://twitter.com/blockchainltd
ABOUT WIEN ENERGIE GMBH
Wien Energie is the largest regional energy provider in Austria. The company supplies electricity,
natural gas and heat to more than two million people, around 230,000 commercial facilities,
industrial facilities and public buildings, as well as around 4,500 agricultural enterprises in Vienna,
Lower Austria and Burgenland. The electricity and heat production comes from waste recycling,
cogeneration plants and from renewable energy such as wind, water and solar energy as well as
biomass. Wien Energie relies heavily on decentralized generation and energy services.
Information on the company can be found online at www.wienenergie.at
ABOUT EY
EY is a global leader in assurance, tax, transaction and advisory services. The insights and quality
services we deliver help build trust and confidence in the capital markets and in economies the
world over. We develop outstanding leaders who team to deliver on our promises to all of our
stakeholders. In so doing, we play a critical role in building a better working world for our people,
for our clients and for our communities.
EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst
& Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited,
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a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. For more information
about our organization, please visit ey.com.
For further information please contact:
Guy Halford-Thompson, Chief Executive Officer, BTL Group Ltd.
Phone: +1 855 256 5246
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.btl.co
Certain statements in this release are forward-looking statements, which include the success of
the announced pilot project, commercialization of BTL’s Interbit platform, the ability of BTL’s
technologies to generate efficiencies and costs savings, increases in BTL’s revenues, further
development of BTL’s business relationships and the development and success of BTL’s
technologies and products, and other matters. Forward-looking statements consist of statements
that are not purely historical, including any statements regarding beliefs, plans, expectations or
intentions regarding the future. Such information can generally be identified by the use of
forwarding-looking wording such as “may”, “expect”, “estimate”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “believe”
and “continue” or the negative thereof or similar variations. Readers are cautioned not to place
undue reliance on forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans,
intentions or expectations upon which they are based will occur. By their nature, forward-looking
statements involve numerous assumptions, known and unknown risks and uncertainties, both
general and specific, that contribute to the possibility that the predictions, estimates, forecasts,
projections and other forward-looking statements will not occur. These assumptions, risks and
uncertainties include, among other things, the state of the economy in general and capital markets
in particular, the development of competitive technologies, the marketplace acceptance of BTL’s
technologies and products, and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of BTL.
Forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified by this
cautionary statement.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this
press release. Except as required by law, BTL disclaims any intention and assumes no obligation
to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future
events or otherwise. Additionally, BTL undertakes no obligation to comment on the expectations
of, or statements made by, third parties in respect of the matters discussed above.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Service Provider (as that term is
defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the
adequacy or accuracy of this release.