I-ON Digital Corp. - Annual Report: 2022 (Form 10-K)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One)
☒ ANNUAL REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022
☐ TRANSITION REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from ______________to ______________
Commission File Number 000-549995
I-ON DIGITAL CORP.
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
(formerly known as I-ON Communications Corp.)
Delaware
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46-3031328
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(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)
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(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)
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1244 N. Stone Street, Unit #3, Chicago, IL
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60610
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(Address of Principal Executive Offices)
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(Zip Code)
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(866) 440-2278
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class
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Trading
Symbol(s)
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Name of each exchange on which registered
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Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share
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IONI |
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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Yes ☐ No ☒
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act of 1934 during the past 12
months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirement for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T
(§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes
☒ No ☐
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers in response to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of
the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, smaller reporting company, or an emerging
growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer ☐
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Accelerated filer ☐
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Non-accelerated filer ☒
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Smaller reporting company ☒
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Emerging growth company ☐
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If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised
financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over
financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7762(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes ☐ No ☒
As of June 30, 2022 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), the aggregate market value of the common stock held by
non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $1.4 million based on the closing sales price of $0.071___ on the OTC Markets. All
executive officers and directors of the registrant have been deemed, solely for the purpose of the foregoing calculation, to be “affiliates” of the registrant.
As of April 27, 2023, there were approximately 20,994,242
shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE:
None.
PART I
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Page
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Item 1.
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2
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Item 1A
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5
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Item 1B
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10 | |
Item 2.
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Item 3.
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Item 4.
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10 | |
PART II
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Item 5.
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11
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Item 6.
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12 | |
Item 7.
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12 | |
Item 7A
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Item 8.
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Item 9.
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33 |
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Item 9A
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33
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Item 9B.
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33 | |
PART III
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Item 10.
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34
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Item 11.
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35 | |
Item 12.
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36
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Item 13.
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36
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Item 14.
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36 | |
PART IV
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Item 15.
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37
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39
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PART I
SPECIAL NOTE ON FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
The information in this report contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact made in this report are forward looking. In particular, the
statements herein regarding industry prospects and future results of operations or financial position are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “believes,” “estimates,”
“intends”, “plans”, “could,” “possibly,” “probably,” anticipates,” “projects,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” or “should,” “designed to,” “designed for,” or other variations or similar words or language. No assurances can be given that the
future results anticipated by the forward-looking statements will be achieved. Forward-looking statements reflect management’s current expectations and are inherently uncertain. Our actual results may differ significantly from
management’s expectations.
Although these forward-looking statements reflect the good faith judgment of our management, such statements can only be based upon facts and factors currently known to us.
Forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond our control. As a result, our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a
result of various factors, including those set forth below under the caption “Risk Factors.” For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. You should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. They give our expectations regarding the future but are not guarantees. We undertake no
obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless required by law.
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Organization and Corporate History
I-ON Digital Corp. (formerly known as I-ON Communications Corp.) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 18, 2013 as ALPINE 3 Inc. Alpine 3 Inc. was set up to serve as
a vehicle to effect an asset acquisition, merger, exchange of capital stock or other business combination with a domestic or foreign business. ALPINE 3 did not undertake any effort to cause a market to develop in its securities, either debt or
equity, before it successfully concluded a business combination. On April 4, 2014, The Michael J. Rapport Trust (the “Trust”) purchased 10,000,000 shares of common stock which was all of the outstanding shares of Alpine 3, Inc., and subsequently
changed the name to Evans Brewing Company Inc. (“EBC”) on May 29, 2014. On October 9, 2014 the Trust agreed to the cancellation of 9,600,000 of the shares of common stock that it had acquired and retained 400,000 shares of common stock.
On September 17, 2015, the independent Bayhawk shareholders approved an Asset Purchase and Share Exchange Agreement (the “Agreement”) and Bayhawk sold to EBC and EBC purchased from Bayhawk
assets of Bayhawk, including but not limited to the assets relating to the Bayhawk Ales label and the Evans Brands (collectively, the “Transferred Assets”).
On January 25, 2018, Evans Brewing Company, Inc. consummated an Agreement of Merger and Plan of Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”), with I-ON Digital Corp. a company organized under the
laws of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) (“I-ON”) and I-ON Acquisition Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company (“Acquisition”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Acquisition merged with and into I-ON in a statutory reverse
triangular merger (the “Merger”) with I-ON surviving as a wholly owned subsidiary of the Registrant. As consideration for the Merger, the Registrant agreed to issue the shareholders of I-ON (the “I-ON Holders”) an aggregate of 26,000,000 shares
of our Common Stock, in accordance with their pro rata ownership of I-ON capital stock. Following the Merger, the Registrant adopted the business plan of I-ON in information technology consultancy and software development. On December 14, 2017,
in connection with the Merger, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amendment”) to change its name to I-ON Digital Corp.
On March 21, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an amendment to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to change the name of the Company to I-ON Digital Corp. The Company filed
a Certificate of Amendment to effectuate the name change on or about April 2, 2019.
On September 28, 2022, the Company entered into a Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with I-ON Acquisition Corp., a Florida corporation (“IAC”). Pursuant
to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, as amended, IAC acquired 3,600 shares of a newly created Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series A Preferred”) for proceeds in the amount of $250,000 (the
“Subscription Amount”) in the form of a promissory note (the “Note”) which was secured by the pledge of the Series A Shares, the Series B Shares (as defined herein) and other assets of IAC in a Stock Pledge and Escrow Agreement (the “Pledge
Agreement”). Each Series A Preferred Share is convertible into Ten Thousand (10,000) shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock” and is entitled to vote on matters as to which holders of the Common
Stock shall be entitled to vote at a rate of One Hundred (100) votes per share of Series A Preferred.
I-ON Digital Corp (“I-ON,” or the “Company”) designs, develops, and acquires technologies to deploy fully compliant, institutional-level ecosystems that fuel financial asset digitization,
safe and secure wealth transfer, and data and identity sovereignty for a new generation of financial and data-driven transactions.
I-ON is fundamentally a technology company that currently is changing how we manage and interact with sensitive data. I-ON is revolutionizing identity, consent, and data security in
healthcare, banking, and the payments industries through the thoughtful application of advanced blockchain, smart contracts, and artificial intelligence (“AI“) based technologies.
I-ON’s primary focus is the development of the world's most efficient, regulatory-compliant, institutional-grade digital asset ecosystem. The
Company's primary, targeted channels for value creation include service fees associated with asset digitization, escrow and custodial services, secure transactional revenues, and the licensing of the Company’s growing intellectual property
portfolio for offerings to tier-one level institutional organizations within the financial, healthcare, and information technology services marketplace.
The Company goal is to create a secure, digital world where data is used responsibly without compromising individual or organizational privacy. To achieve this goal,
I-ON has established strategic partnerships with leading companies such as Nodalium and INSTRUXI to optimize its digitized asset ecosystem.
These partnerships have enabled I-ON to develop robust data solutions allowing for secure transactions between users and service providers. Utilizing a global hosting backbone supported by
two layers of distributed ledger technology (DLT) for maximum security and privacy, I-ON ensures that encrypted user data is protected in flight and at rest. A digital identity makes it impossible to identify or track people across multiple
platforms or services without explicit permission from the user.
I-ON additionally leverages AI algorithms to analyze data sets quickly and accurately to provide enhanced user insights. Smart contracts are utilized to automate complex processes like asset
ownership and custody, digital identity verification, and secure payment processing between individuals or businesses.
With its unique technology partnerships, its cutting-edge technology solutions, and its commitment to ethical practices in protecting user data privacy, I-ON hopes to become an emerging
industry leader in providing secure identity management solutions for healthcare providers, banks, and financial institutions, as well as payment-service providers around the world.
COMPETITION
The Company competes with a range of US and global based digital solutions providers, many of which have greater name recognition and financial
resources than the Company. The digitization of products and services is becoming increasingly transformative across US and global business sectors, the Company anticipates that, as the range of existing and potential digital product and
service providers continues to grow, it will require I-ON to continuously differentiate itself by developing and improving on its core business platforms.
MANAGEMENT AND EMPLOYEES
As of December 31, 2022, I-ON had no employees other than its executive management.
PROPERTIES
The Company does not own any physical location. I-ON currently leases its corporate headquarters in Chicago, Illinois for the amount of $2,925 per month which lease expires on July 1, 2023.
POTENTIAL FUTURE PROJECTS AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Members of the Company’s management may serve in the future as an officer, director or investor in other entities. Neither the Company nor any of its shareholders would have any interest in
these other companies’ projects. Management believes that it has sufficient resources to fully discharge its responsibilities for all current and future projects.
GOVERNMENT REGULATION
We believe we are in compliance with applicable federal, state and other regulations and that we have compliance programs in place to ensure compliance going forward. There are no regulatory
notifications or actions pending.
LEGAL MATTERS
None.
RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS
The Company has sold a total of 3,600 Series A Preferred shares to ION Acquisition Corp of which Carlos X Montoya is the majority shareholder,
President and Chief Executive Officer; and Rod A. Smith is a shareholder and Corporate Secretary. The purchase price paid was $250,000 for 3,600 Preferred A shares on January 20, 2023.
The Company entered into a technology Licensing Agreement with I-ON Acquisition Corp. (“IAC”) on March 30, 2023. Under the terms and conditions of the
Company’s precedent I-ON Digital – Nodalium Inc. Channel Partnership Master Agreement, the Company has formally granted I-ON Acquisition Corp. full use and access, specifically licensing up to 65 workstations, empowered by the Nodalium Enterprise
Workflow/ Intelligent Automation Platform. The enterprise software platform solution features Nodalium’s Digital Trust product suite. I-ON Acquisition paid an upfront price of $110,500, or $1,700 per workstation, plus a one-time setup and
registration fee of $20,000 for combined transaction amount of $130,500.
The Company has reached an agreement in principle to purchase rights to an existing Asset Exchange
Agreement involving the prior arms-length purchase by Orebits Acquisition Group and IAC involving ownership rights to 180 Orebits Gold-Backed Digital Assets (technically, 179.9742). Pursuant to the terms of the original $335,700 transaction,
the seller, an unrelated third-private party (as trustee), agreed to sell the Orebits Gold-Backed Digital Assets in exchange for a combination of cash and marketable securities. In acquiring the contractual rights I-ON will pay combination of
$85,700 in cash and the equivalent of $250,000 in I-ON Digital Corp shares of the Company’s common stock. As calculated, this equates to 1,136,363.64 shares of I-ON Digital
common stock at the previously published price of $0.22 to be issued to the original seller.
The subject 180 Orebits will be central to an asset digitization beta project involving the I-ON Digital Blockchain Platform, now under construction by I-ON Digital and technology partner
INSTRUXI.
Available Information
We will make available free of charge any of our filings as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file these materials with, or otherwise furnish them to,
the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). We are not including the information contained in our website as part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this report on Form 10-K.
The public may read and copy any materials we file with the SEC at the SEC’s Public Reference Room at 100 F Street, N.E., Room 1580, Washington, D.C. 20002. The public may
obtain information on the operation of the Public Reference Room by calling the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330. The SEC maintains an Internet site that contains reports, proxy and information statements, and other information regarding issuers that file
electronically with the SEC at http://www.sec.gov.
Within our website’s “Investor” section, “SEC Filings” tab, all of our filings with the Commission and all amendments to these reports are available as soon as reasonably
practicable after filing.
Website
Our website address is www.iondigital.com
Our Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 1244 N. Stone Street, Unit #3, Chicago, IL 60610 and our telephone number is (866) 440-2278. We can be contacted by email at
info@iondigital.com
Our business, financial condition, operating results and prospects are subject to the following risks. Additional risks and
uncertainties not presently foreseeable to us may also impair our business operations. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition or operating results could be materially adversely affected. In such case, the
trading price of our common stock could decline, and our stockholders may lose all or part of their investment in the shares of our common stock.
This Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as
“believes,” “estimates,” “intends”, “plans”, “could,” “possibly,” “probably,” anticipates,” “projects,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” or “should,” “designed to,” “designed for,” or other variations or similar words or language. Actual results could
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including those set forth below and elsewhere in this Form 10-K.
Risks Related to Pandemics
The recent COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic may adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, and cash flow.
While the impact on our business from the recent outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus is unknown at this time and difficult to predict, various aspects of our business could
be adversely affected by it.
As of the date of this Annual Report, COVID-19 coronavirus has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization, has been declared a National Emergency by the United
States Government and has resulted in several states being designated disaster zones. COVID-19 coronavirus caused significant volatility in global markets, including the market price of our securities. The spread of COVID-19 coronavirus has
caused public health officials to recommend precautions to mitigate the spread of the virus, especially as to travel and congregating in large numbers. In addition, certain states and municipalities have enacted, and additional cities are
considering, quarantining and “shelter-in-place” regulations which severely limit the ability of people to move and travel, and require non-essential businesses and organizations to close.
It is unclear how such restrictions, which will contribute to a general slowdown in the global economy, will affect our business, results of operations, financial condition
and our future strategic plans.
Shelter-in-place and essential-only travel regulations have negatively impacted many of our customers. In addition, while our digesters are manufactured in the United States,
we still could experience significant supply chain disruptions due to interruptions in operations at any or all of our suppliers’ facilities. If we experience significant delays in receiving our products we will experience delays in fulfilling
orders and ultimately receiving payment, which could result in loss of sales and a loss of customers, and adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, our headquarters are located in Seoul, South Korea, which was also subject to large COVID-19 outbreak requiring its government to enact travel and work
restrictions. While these restrictions were lessened as of the date of this Annual Report, it is unclear at this time how these restrictions will affect our operations and revenues.
Risks Specific to Our Business
If we fail to successfully execute on our business plan or if digital assets and blockchain do not become widely used on a mass scale, our results of operations could be
adversely affected.
We currently design, develop, and acquire technologies to deploy fully compliant, institutional-level ecosystems that fuel financial asset
digitization, safe and secure wealth transfer, and data and identity sovereignty for financial and data-driven transactions. Our ability to succeed depends on the success of our continued development and
expansion of our product and service offerings. There are various risks related to these efforts, including the risk that these efforts may not provide the expected benefits in our anticipated time frame, if at all, and may prove costlier
than expected; and the risk of adverse effects to our business, results of operations and liquidity if past and future undertakings, and the associated changes to our business, do not prove to be cost effective or do not result in benefits at
the levels that we anticipate. There is no assurance that a digital asset ecosystem will develop as we anticipate or develop on a mass scale at all, or that our business model will achieve the expected results. To be successful over time, we
may need to change our business model. Any such efforts may not be successful.
Due to unfamiliarity and some negative publicity associated with digital asset and blockchain technology, the general public may lose confidence in
digital asset or blockchain technology.
Products and services that are based on digital assets are relatively new. Many players in the industry are unlicensed, unregulated, operate without supervision by any
governmental authorities, or do not provide the public with significant information regarding their ownership structure, management team, corporate practices, cybersecurity, and regulatory compliance. As a result, the general public may lose
confidence in digital asset and blockchain technology, including associated data center operations like ours.
Since the inception of the cryptoeconomy, numerous digital asset and digital asset businesses and platforms have been sued, investigated, or shut down due to fraud,
illegal activities, the sale or issuance of unregistered securities, manipulative practices, business failure, and security breaches.
In addition, there have been reports that a significant amount of digital asset trading volume is fabricated and false in nature, with a specific focus on unregulated
platforms, products and services located outside the United States. Such reports may indicate that the market for products and services utilizing digital assets and other digital assets is significantly smaller than otherwise understood.
Negative perception, a lack of stability and standardized regulation in the cryptoeconomy, and the closure or temporary shutdown of platforms utilizing digital assets due
to fraud, business failure, hackers or malware, or government mandated regulation may reduce confidence in the cryptoeconomy and result in greater volatility of the prices of assets, including significant depreciation in value. Any of these
events could have a material and adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Concerns about the environmental impacts of blockchain technology could adversely impact usage and perceptions digital assets or our services and
offerings.
Because we are unable to influence or predict future regulatory actions taken by federal, state, local or foreign governments, we may have little opportunity or ability
to respond to rapidly evolving regulatory positions which may have a materially adverse effect on our industry and, therefore, our business and results of operations. If further extreme regulatory action is taken by various government entities,
our business may be negatively affected.
Risks Related to Securities Markets and Investments in Our Securities
General securities market uncertainties resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the outset of the pandemic the US and worldwide national securities markets have undergone unprecedented stress due to the uncertainties of the pandemic and the
resulting reactions and outcomes of government, business and the general population. These uncertainties have resulted in declines in all market sectors, increases in volumes due to flight to safety and governmental actions to support the
markets. As a result, until the pandemic has stabilized, the markets may not be available to the Company for purposes of raising required capital. Should we not be able to obtain financing when required, in the amounts necessary to execute on
our plans in full, or on terms which are economically feasible we may be unable to sustain the necessary capital to pursue our strategic plan and may have to reduce the planned future growth and scope of our operations.
Our executive officers and certain stockholders possess the majority of our voting power, and through this ownership, control our Company and our
corporate actions.
Our current executive officers, directors and largest stockholders of the Company, held approximately 64% of the voting power of the outstanding shares of our capital stock
as of December 31, 2022. These officers, directors and certain stockholders have a controlling influence in determining the outcome of any corporate transaction or other matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including mergers,
consolidations and the sale of all or substantially all of our assets, election of directors, and other significant corporate actions. The interests of our executive officers and certain shareholders may give rise to a conflict of interest with
the Company and the Company’s stockholders. For additional details concerning voting power please refer to the section below entitled “Description of Securities.”
Liquidity of our common stock has been limited.
Our common stock is quoted on OTC Markets under the symbol “IONI”. The liquidity of our common stock is very limited and is affected by our limited trading market. The OTC
Markets is an inter-dealer market much less regulated than the major exchanges, and is subject to abuses, volatilities and shorting. There is currently no broadly followed and established trading market for our common stock. An established
trading market may never develop or be maintained. Active trading markets generally result in lower price volatility and more efficient execution of buy and sell orders. Absence of an active trading market reduces the liquidity of the shares
traded.
The trading volume of our common stock may be limited and sporadic. This situation is attributable to a number of factors, including the fact that we are a small company that
is relatively unknown to stock analysts, stock brokers, institutional investors and others in the investment community that generate or influence sales volume, and that even if we came to the attention of such persons, they may tend to be
risk-averse and would be reluctant to follow an unproven company such as ours or purchase or recommend the purchase of our shares until such time as we became more seasoned and viable. As a consequence, there may be periods of several days or
more when trading activity in our shares is minimal, as compared to a seasoned issuer that has a large and steady volume of trading activity that will generally support continuous sales without an adverse effect on share price. We cannot give
any assurance that a broader or more active public trading market for our common stock will develop or be sustained, or that current trading levels will be sustained. As a result of such trading activity, the quoted price for our common stock
while on the OTC Markets may not necessarily be a reliable indicator of its fair market value.
Because we became public by means of a “reverse business combination,” we may not be able to attract the attention of major brokerage firms.
There may be risks associated with us becoming public through a “reverse business combination.” Securities analysts of major brokerage firms and securities institutions may
not provide coverage of us because there were no broker-dealers who sold our stock in a public offering that would be incentivized to follow or recommend the purchase of our common stock. The absence of such research coverage could limit investor
interest in our common stock, resulting in decreased liquidity. No assurance can be given that established brokerage firms will, in the future, want to cover our securities or conduct any secondary offerings or other financings on our behalf.
Our stock price may be volatile.
The market price of our common stock is likely to be highly volatile and could fluctuate widely in price in response to various factors, many of which are beyond our control,
including the following:
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the concentration of the ownership of our shares by a limited number of affiliated stockholders may limit interest in our securities;
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limited “public float” with a small number of persons whose sales or lack of sales could result in positive or negative pricing pressure on the market price for
our common stock;
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additions or departures of key personnel;
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loss of a strategic relationship;
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variations in operating results from the expectations of securities analysts or investors;
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announcements of new products or services by us or our competitors;
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reductions in the market share of our products;
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announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions, strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
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investor perception of our industry or prospects;
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insider selling or buying;
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investors entering into short sale contracts;
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regulatory developments affecting our industry; and
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changes in our industry;
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competitive pricing pressures;
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our ability to obtain working capital financing;
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sales of our common stock;
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our ability to execute our business plan;
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operating results that fall below expectations;
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revisions in securities analysts’ estimates or reductions in security analysts’ coverage; and
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economic and other external factors.
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Many of these factors are beyond our control and may decrease the market price of our common stock, regardless of our operating performance. We cannot make any predictions or
projections as to what the prevailing market price for our common stock will be at any time, including as to whether our common stock will sustain current market prices, or as to what effect that the sale of shares or the availability of common
stock for sale at any time will have on the prevailing market price.
In addition, the securities markets have from time to time experienced significant price and volume fluctuations that are unrelated to the operating performance of particular
companies. These market fluctuations may also materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Our common stock is subject to price volatility unrelated to our operations.
The market price of our common stock could fluctuate substantially due to a variety of factors, including market perception of our ability to achieve our planned growth,
quarterly operating results of other companies in the same industry, trading volume in our common stock, changes in general conditions in the economy and the financial markets or other developments affecting the Company’s competitors or the
Company itself.
A decline in the price of our common stock could affect our ability to raise working capital and adversely impact our ability to continue operations.
A prolonged decline in the price of our common stock could result in a reduction in the liquidity of our common stock and a reduction in our ability to raise capital. A
decline in the price of our common stock could be especially detrimental to our liquidity, our operations and strategic plans. Such reductions may force us to reallocate funds from other planned uses and may have a significant negative effect on
our business plan and operations, including our ability to develop new services and continue our current operations. If our common stock price declines, we can offer no assurance that we will be able to raise additional capital or generate funds
from operations sufficient to meet our obligations. If we are unable to raise sufficient capital in the future, we may not be able to have the resources to continue our normal operations.
Concentrated ownership of our common stock creates a risk of sudden changes in our common stock price.
The sale by any shareholder of a significant portion of their holdings could have a material adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.
Sales of our currently issued and outstanding stock may become freely tradable pursuant to Rule 144 and may dilute the market for your shares and have a
depressive effect on the price of the shares of our common stock.
A substantial majority of the outstanding shares of Common Stock are “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144 under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
“Securities Act”) (“Rule 144”). As restricted shares, these shares may be resold only pursuant to an effective registration statement or under the requirements of Rule 144 or other applicable exemptions from registration under the Securities Act
and as required under applicable state securities laws. Rule 144 provides in essence that a non-affiliate who has held restricted securities for a period of at least six months may sell their shares of common stock. Under Rule 144, affiliates
who have held restricted securities for a period of at least six months may, under certain conditions, sell every three months, in brokerage transactions, a number of shares that does not exceed the greater of 1% of a company’s outstanding shares
of common stock or the average weekly trading volume during the four calendar weeks prior to the sale. A sale under Rule 144 or under any other exemption from the Securities Act, if available, or pursuant to subsequent registrations of our
shares of common stock, may have a depressive effect upon the price of our shares of common stock in any active market that may develop.
We do not plan to declare or pay any dividends to our stockholders in the near future.
We have not declared any dividends in the past, and we do not intend to distribute dividends in the near future. The declaration, payment and amount of any future dividends
will be made at the discretion of the board of directors and will depend upon, among other things, the results of operations, cash flows and financial condition, operating and capital requirements, and other factors as the board of directors
considers relevant. There is no assurance that future dividends will be paid, and if dividends are paid, there is no assurance with respect to the amount of any such dividend.
The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and distract management.
As a public company, we are subject to the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (the
“Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), and the Securities Act. These rules, regulations and requirements are extensive. We may incur significant costs associated with our public company corporate governance and reporting requirements. This may divert
management’s attention from other business concerns, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. We also expect that these applicable rules and regulations may make it more difficult
and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be
more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers.
Future changes in financial accounting standards or practices may cause adverse unexpected financial reporting fluctuations and affect reported results of
operations.
A change in accounting standards or practices can have a significant effect on our reported results and may even affect our reporting of transactions completed before the
change is effective. New accounting pronouncements and varying interpretations of accounting pronouncements have occurred and may occur in the future. Changes to existing rules or the questioning of current practices may adversely affect our
reported financial results or the way we conduct business.
“Penny Stock” rules may make buying or selling our common stock difficult.
Trading in our common stock has previously been subject to the “penny stock” rules. The SEC has adopted regulations that generally define a penny stock to be any equity
security that has a market price of less than $5.00 per share, subject to certain exceptions. These rules require that any broker-dealer that recommends our common stock to persons other than prior customers and accredited investors, must, prior
to the sale, make a special written suitability determination for the purchaser and receive the purchaser’s written agreement to execute the transaction. Unless an exception is available, the regulations require the delivery, prior to any
transaction involving a penny stock, of a disclosure schedule explaining the penny stock market and the risks associated with trading in the penny stock market. In addition, broker-dealers must disclose commissions payable to both the
broker-dealer and the registered representative and current quotations for the securities they offer. The additional burdens imposed upon broker-dealers by such requirements may discourage broker-dealers from effecting transactions in our common
stock, which could severely limit the market price and liquidity of our common stock.
SHOULD ONE OR MORE OF THE FOREGOING RISKS OR UNCERTAINTIES MATERIALIZE, OR SHOULD THE UNDERLYING ASSUMPTIONS PROVE INCORRECT, ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER
SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THOSE ANTICIPATED, BELIEVED, ESTIMATED, EXPECTED, INTENDED OR PLANNED
None.
We do not own any physical location. I-ON currently leases its corporate headquarters and other offices in Chicago, Illinois for the rent of $2,925 per month which lease
expires on July 1 , 2023. We believe that our current offices are sufficient in size for current and future operations.
From time to time, we are a party to, or otherwise involved in, legal proceedings arising in the normal and ordinary course of business. As of the date of this report, we are
not aware of any other proceeding, threatened or pending, against us which, if determined adversely, would have a material effect on our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial position.
Not applicable.
PART II
ITEM 5: MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY RELATED SHAREHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES.
(a) |
Market Information
|
Our common stock first became quoted on the OTC Markets under the trading symbol “EVBW” on March 27, 2014. On February 24, 2016, our common stock began trading under the name
Evans Brewing Company, Inc. and under the trading symbol “ALES”. On April 21, 2016, the common stock was uplisted to the OTCQB Venture Marketplace and on August 2, 2018 our trading symbol was changed to IONI. Over the counter market quotations
reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission, and may not necessarily represent actual transactions. The following table lists the high and low sale information for our common stock as quoted on the OTC Markets
for the fiscal years ended 2022 and 2021:
Quarter Ended
|
Price
Range
High ($)
|
Low ($)
|
||||||
December 31, 2022
|
$
|
0.106
|
0.064
|
|||||
September 30, 2022
|
$
|
0.078
|
0.063
|
|||||
June 30, 2022
|
$
|
0.075
|
0.055
|
|||||
March 31, 2022
|
$
|
0.098
|
0.065
|
|||||
December 31, 2021
|
$
|
0.19
|
0.14
|
|||||
September 30, 2021
|
$
|
0.24
|
0.18
|
|||||
June 30, 2021
|
$
|
0.36
|
0.17
|
|||||
March 31, 2021
|
$
|
0.49
|
0.10
|
The above quotations from the OTC Markets reflect inter-dealer prices, without retail mark-up, mark-down or commission, and may not represent actual transactions.
(b) Holders
The number of record holders of our common stock as of December 31, 2022, was approximately 300 based on information received from our transfer agent. This amount excludes an
indeterminate number of shareholders whose shares are held in “street” or “nominee” name with a brokerage firm or other fiduciary.
(c) Dividends
We have not paid or declared any cash dividends on our common stock and we do not anticipate paying dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future.
RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
On September 28, 2022, the Company entered into a Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with I-ON Acquisition Corp., a Florida corporation (“IAC”). Pursuant
to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, as amended, IAC acquired 3,600 shares of a newly created Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series A Preferred”) for proceeds in the amount of $250,000 (the
“Subscription Amount”) in the form of a promissory note (the “Note”) which was secured by the pledge of the Series A Shares, the Series B Shares (as defined herein) and other assets of IAC in a Stock Pledge and Escrow Agreement (the “Pledge
Agreement”). Each Series A Preferred Share is convertible into Ten Thousand (10,000) shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock” and is entitled to vote on matters as to which holders of the Common
Stock shall be entitled to vote at a rate of One Hundred (100) votes per share of Series A Preferred.
Also on September 28, 2022, the Company entered into a Contribution Agreement (the “Contribution Agreement”) with certain Purchasers (the “Purchasers”) pursuant to which the Purchasers agreed
to purchase 6,000 shares of a newly created Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series B Preferred”), in exchange for the Purchasers’ rights and title to certain assets of the Purchasers described in the
Contribution Agreement. Each Series B Preferred Share is convertible into One Thousand (1,000) shares of Common Stock and entitled to vote on matters as to which holders of the Common stock shall be entitled to vote at a rate of One Thousand
(1,000) votes per Series B Preferred Share.
All of the securities referred to above were offered and sold without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”) in reliance on the exemptions provided by
Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as provided in Rule 506(b) of Regulation D and/or Regulations promulgated thereunder. The securities have not been registered under the Securities Act or any other applicable securities laws, and unless so
registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
We are a smaller reporting company as defined by 17 C.F.R. 229(10)(f)(i) and are not required to provide the information under this heading.
ITEM 7: MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with the information contained in the consolidated financial statements of the Company and the notes thereto appearing elsewhere herein
and in conjunction with the Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations set forth in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021. Readers should carefully review the risk
factors disclosed in this Form 10-K and other documents filed by the Company with the SEC.
As used in this report, the terms “Company”, “we”, “our”, and “us” refer to I-ON Digital Corp., a Delaware corporation.
PRELIMINARY NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as
“believes,” “estimates,” “intends”, “plans”, “could,” “possibly,” “probably,” anticipates,” “projects,” “expects,” “may,” “will,” or “should,” “designed to,” “designed for,” or other variations or similar words or language. The forward-looking
statements are based on the current expectations of the Company and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including those set forth in the discussion under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and
Results of Operations” in this report. Actual results may differ materially from results anticipated in these forward-looking statements. We base the forward-looking statements on information currently available to us, and we assume no obligation
to update them
Organization and Corporate History
I-ON Digital Corp. (formerly known as I-ON Communications Corp.) was incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware on June 18, 2013 as ALPINE 3 Inc. Alpine 3 Inc. was set up to serve as
a vehicle to effect an asset acquisition, merger, exchange of capital stock or other business combination with a domestic or foreign business. ALPINE 3 did not undertake any effort to cause a market to develop in its securities, either debt or
equity, before it successfully concluded a business combination. On April 4, 2014, The Michael J. Rapport Trust (the “Trust”) purchased 10,000,000 shares of common stock which was all of the outstanding shares of Alpine 3, Inc., and subsequently
changed the name to Evans Brewing Company Inc. (“EBC”) on May 29, 2014. On October 9, 2014 the Trust agreed to the cancellation of 9,600,000 of the shares of common stock that it had acquired and retained 400,000 shares of common stock.
On September 17, 2015, the independent Bayhawk shareholders approved an Asset Purchase and Share Exchange Agreement (the “Agreement”) and Bayhawk sold to EBC and EBC purchased from Bayhawk
assets of Bayhawk, including but not limited to the assets relating to the Bayhawk Ales label and the Evans Brands (collectively, the “Transferred Assets”).
On January 25, 2018, Evans Brewing Company, Inc. consummated an Agreement of Merger and Plan of Reorganization (the “Merger Agreement”), with I-ON Digital Corp.., a company organized under the
laws of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) (“I-ON”) and I-ON Acquisition Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company (“Acquisition”). Pursuant to the terms of the Merger Agreement, Acquisition merged with and into I-ON in a statutory reverse
triangular merger (the “Merger”) with I-ON surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Registrant. As consideration for the Merger, the Registrant agreed to issue the shareholders of I-ON (the “I-ON Holders”) an aggregate of 26,000,000 shares
of our Common Stock, in accordance with their pro rata ownership of I-ON capital stock. Following the Merger, the Registrant adopted the business plan of I-ON in information technology consultancy and software development. On December 14, 2017,
in connection with the Merger, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an amendment to its Certificate of Incorporation (the “Amendment”) to change its name to I-ON Digital Corp.
On March 21, 2019, the Company’s Board of Directors approved an amendment to the Company’s Certificate of Incorporation to change the name of the Company to I-ON Digital Corp. The Company filed
a Certificate of Amendment to effectuate the name change on or about April 2, 2019.
On September 28, 2022, the Company entered into a Series A Preferred Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with I-ON Acquisition Corp., a Florida corporation (“IAC”). Pursuant
to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, as amended, IAC acquired 3,600 shares of a newly created Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series A Preferred”) for proceeds in the amount of $250,000 (the
“Subscription Amount”) in the form of a promissory note (the “Note”) which was secured by the pledge of the Series A Shares, the Series B Shares (as defined herein) and other assets of IAC in a Stock Pledge and Escrow Agreement (the “Pledge
Agreement”). Each Series A Preferred Share is convertible into Ten Thousand (10,000) shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock” and is entitled to vote on matters as to which holders of the Common
Stock shall be entitled to vote at a rate of One Hundred (100) votes per share of Series A Preferred.
I-ON Digital
Following the Merger but prior to the Sell-Off, as described more fully herein, the Company adopted the business plan of I-ON. I-ON was founded by
Jae Cheol Oh, who served as CEO. The Company’s roots are in IT consultancy and software development. I-ON services South Korea’s enterprise content management system’s (CMS) market and specializes in advancing market-leading internet software
applications to capitalize on rapidly growing market sectors.
On September 29, 2022, the Company effectuated an Equity Transfer Agreement (the “Sell-Off Agreement”) among the Company, Communications and JFJ
Digital Corp., a Delaware corporation (“JFJ”), whereby all of the outstanding equity of Communications was transferred to JFJ in exchange for the return of 15,306,119 shares of the Company’s Common Stock held by Jae Cheol Oh and Hong Rae Kim,
the Company’s principal executive officer and members of the Board of Directors (the “Sell-Off”) . Pursuant to the Sell-Off Agreement, in addition to acquiring all of the outstanding capital stock of Communications, JFJ assumed all
responsibilities for any debts, obligations and liabilities of Communications and acquire all rights to any assets of Communications, including, but not limited to, the Subscription Amount.
As a result of the Sell-Off, Communications ceased being a subsidiary of the Company. Accordingly, the operating results of Communications are
reported in net loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented. In addition, the related assets and liabilities held prior to the Sell-Off are reported as Assets and
Liabilities of Discontinued Operations on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. All amounts and disclosures included in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements reflect only the Company's continuing operations unless otherwise noted.
Results of Operations
Comparison of results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2022 as Compared to the year ended December 31, 2021
The following table sets forth selected items from our consolidated statements of operations by dollar and as a percentage of our net sales for the
periods indicated:
Years Ended December 31,
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
2022
|
2021
|
Change
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Amount
|
% of
Revenue
|
Amount
|
% of
Revenue
|
Amount
|
%
|
|||||||||||||||||||
Net sales
|
$
|
7,578,685
|
100.0
|
%
|
$
|
16,199,710
|
100.0
|
%
|
$
|
(8,621,025
|
)
|
-53.2
|
%
|
|||||||||||
Cost of goods sold
|
6,923,957
|
91.4
|
%
|
10,834,719
|
66.9
|
%
|
(3,910,762
|
)
|
-36.1
|
%
|
||||||||||||||
Gross profit
|
654,728
|
8.6
|
%
|
5,364,991
|
33.1
|
%
|
(4,710,263
|
)
|
-87.8
|
%
|
||||||||||||||
Operating expense
|
2,714,315
|
35.8
|
%
|
3,558,698
|
22.0
|
%
|
(844,383
|
)
|
-23.7
|
%
|
||||||||||||||
Other income (expense)
|
1,807,581
|
23.9
|
%
|
(120,825
|
)
|
(0.7
|
)%
|
1,928,406
|
-1,596.0
|
%
|
||||||||||||||
Income (loss) before provision for income taxes, loss on equity investment, and non-controlling interest
|
(252,006
|
)
|
(3.3
|
)%
|
1,685,468
|
10.4
|
%
|
(1,937,474
|
)
|
-115.0
|
%
|
|||||||||||||
Provision for (benefit from) income tax
|
30,002
|
0.4
|
%
|
(306,780
|
)
|
(1.9
|
)%
|
336,782
|
-109.8
|
%
|
||||||||||||||
Income (loss) before loss on equity investment and non-controlling interest
|
(282,008
|
)
|
(3.7
|
)%
|
1,992,248
|
12.3
|
%
|
(2,274,256
|
)
|
-114.2
|
%
|
|||||||||||||
Loss on equity investment
|
(18,725
|
)
|
(0.2
|
)%
|
-
|
0.00
|
%
|
(18,725
|
)
|
N/A
|
||||||||||||||
Income (loss) before non-controlling interest
|
(300,733
|
)
|
(4.0
|
)%
|
1,992,248
|
12.3
|
%
|
(2,292,981
|
)
|
-115.1
|
%
|
|||||||||||||
Non-controlling interest income (loss)
|
(273,108
|
)
|
(3.6
|
)%
|
(171,628
|
)
|
1.1
|
%
|
(101,480
|
)
|
59.1
|
%
|
||||||||||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Parent Company from discontinued operations
|
(27,625
|
) |
0.4
|
%
|
2,163,876
|
13.4
|
%
|
(2,191,501
|
)
|
-101.3
|
%
|
|||||||||||||
Comprehensive income statement:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss)
|
(300,733
|
)
|
(4.0
|
)%
|
1,992,248
|
12.3
|
%
|
(2,292,981
|
)
|
-115.1
|
%
|
|||||||||||||
Foreign currency translation loss
|
(1,691,420
|
)
|
(22.3
|
)%
|
(1,016,433
|
)
|
(6.3
|
)%
|
(674,987
|
)
|
66.4
|
%
|
||||||||||||
Total comprehensive income (loss)
|
$
|
(1,992,153
|
)
|
(26.3
|
)%
|
$
|
975,815
|
6.0
|
%
|
(2,967,968
|
)
|
-304.2
|
%
|
Net Sale
Net sales decreased by $8,621,025 or 53.2%, to $7,578,685 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from$16,199,710 for the year ended December 31, 2021.
The change in net sales reflected the following:
- Customization revenue decreased by approximately $3,854,000 from approximately $8,722,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $4,868,000 for
the year ended December 31, 2022 mainly due to decrease in new contracts and discontinued operation since September 30, 2022.
- Installation revenue decreased by approximately $2,559,000 from approximately $3,153,000 for the year ended December 31, 2021 to $594,000 for the
year ended December 31, 2022 mainly due to decrease in new contracts and discontinued operation since September 30, 2022.
Cost of Goods Sold
Cost of goods sold decreased by $3,910,762 or 36.1%, to $6,923,957 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $10,834,719 for the year ended December
31, 2021. The decrease was in aligned with the decrease of the revenue as illustrated above resulting from the discontinued operation.
Gross Profit
Gross profit decreased by $4,710,263 to $654,728, or 8.6% of net sales, for the year ended December 31, 2022, from $5,364,991 or 33.1% of net sales,
for the year ended December 31 , 2021. The decrease in gross profit for the compared periods was primarily driven by decreased net sales.
Operating Expenses
Operating expenses consist of research and development expenses and general and administrative expenses.
Research and development expenses decreased by $975,606 or 65.0%, to $524,611 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $1,500,217 for the year ended
December 31, 2021. The decrease was due to decrease in head count computer programmers at the research and development department.
General and administrative expenses increased by $131,223 or 6.4%, to $2,189,704 for the year ended December 31, 2022 from $2,058,481 for the year
ended December 31, 2021. The expenses have been continuously increased mainly due to an increase in salary.
Other Income (Expense)
The increase in other income was primarily due to the $1,736,227 received from SK E&S for small businesses’ research & development projects.
Comprehensive income - Foreign currency translation
Foreign currency translation loss was $1,691,420 for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared to loss of $1,016,433 for the year ended December 31, 2021. The change was due to devaluation of
Korean Won compared to US dollar in year ended December 31, 2022 compared to December 31, 2021. The average exchange rate for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was KRW 1,278.7 and KRW 1,143.7, respectively.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
As of the Sell-Off date, which was September 29, 2022, the Company had approximately $12.6 million of total assets and $3.6 million of total
liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet. Those assets and liabilities were owned by Communications or Communications’ subsidiaries, such as I-ON, Ltd (Japanese subsidiary), eformworks Co., Ltd. (Korean subsidiary) and EIPGRID (Korean
subsidiary). As a result of the Sell-Off Agreement, all assets and liabilities were transferred to JFJ.
Critical Accounting Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are affected by the accounting policies used and the estimates and assumptions made by management during
their preparation. A complete summary of these policies is included in Note 2 of the notes to our consolidated financial statements. We have identified below the accounting policies that are of particular importance in the presentation of our
financial position, results of operations and cash flows, and which require the application of significant judgment by our management. Management has carefully considered the recently issued accounting pronouncements that altered generally
accepted accounting principles and does not believe that any other new or modified principles will have a material impact on the Company’s reported financial position or operations in the near term.
I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
Table of Contents
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm (PCAOB ID # )
|
17 |
Consolidated Financial Statements
|
|
18 | |
19 | |
20 | |
21 | |
22 |
To the Board of Directors
and Stockholders of I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
Opinion on the Consolidated Financial Statements`
We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of I-ON Digital Corp. and subsidiaries (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and
2021, and the related statements of operation, stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes and schedules (collectively referred to as the consolidated
financial statements). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for
each of the two years in the period ended December 31, 2022, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.
Explanatory Paragraph – Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As more fully
described in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company sold its subsidiaries on September 29, 2022. As a result of the Sell-Off, the Company discontinued operations by the subsidiaries. These conditions raise substantial doubt
about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans regarding these matters are described in Note 2. The consolidated financial statements do not include any adjustments that might become necessary should the Company be
unable to continue as a going concern.
Basis for Opinion
These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the
Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in
accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain
reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over
financial reporting. As part of our audits, we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over
financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to
error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating
the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Critical Audit Matters
The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that were
communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relate to accounts or disclosures that are material to the financial statements and (2) involved especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The
communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matters below, providing separate opinions on the critical audit
matters or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.
● Revenue
recognition for certain long-term fixed-price contracts
Critical Audit Matter Description
As discussed in Notes 2 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company has a few long-term fixed-price contracts whereby the Company
recognizes revenue over the contract period using actual days incurred on a monthly basis. The Company provides long-term fixed-price contracts to customers based on estimated days to complete the services to fulfill the contract requirements.
Accordingly, the Company recognizes revenue on a monthly basis based on percentage completion over the contract period based on actual days incurred. Estimates regarding the
Company’s costs, which is primarily labor costs, associated with the service are used in determining the estimated days to complete the contract. The Company has historically been materially accurate in estimating the days over the contract period
compared to actual days incurred.
We identified the evaluation of revenue recognition for certain long-term fixed-price contracts as a critical audit matter as the Company’s
estimated days to incur over the contract period to complete services require a high degree of subjective auditor judgment given the nature and complexity of the work to be performed. The determination of, and changes to, those estimates may
have a material impact on revenue recorded.
How the Critical Audit Matter was Addressed in the Audit
The following are the primary procedures we performed to address this critical audit matter. We inquired of financial and operational personnel
of the Company and inspected supporting documents to identify factors on how the Company estimates days over the contract period. We evaluated the Company’s revenue recognition for long-term fixed-price contracts as follows:
o |
reading the underlying contracts and related amendments to obtain an understanding of the contractual requirements and related performance obligations,
|
o |
considering days incurred to-date and the relative progress towards completion of the contracts,
|
o |
considering, if relevant, the estimated reserves on specific contracts that include estimation uncertainty based on the nature of the contract, and
|
o |
evaluating the Company’s assessment of contract performance risks included within the estimated days to complete.
|
/s/ Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP
(Formerly Paris, Kreit & Chiu CPA LLP)
We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2019.
Los Angeles, CA
PCAOB ID
April 27 2023
I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
December 31,
|
2022
|
2021
|
||||||
|
||||||||
ASSETS
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Current assets:
|
||||||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||
Restricted cash
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Short-term financial instruments
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Short-term loan receivable
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Accounts receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts $0
and $0, respectively
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Deferred tax assets - current
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Current assets of discontinued operations |
- | 12,440,710 | ||||||
Total current assets
|
-
|
12,440,710
|
||||||
|
||||||||
Non-current assets:
|
||||||||
Investments
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Property and equipment, net
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Intangible assets, net
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Deposits
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Deferred tax assets - non current
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Non-current assets of discontinued operations |
- | 1,965,736 | ||||||
Total non-current assets
|
-
|
1,965,736
|
||||||
Total Assets
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
14,406,446
|
||||
|
||||||||
Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Current liabilities:
|
||||||||
Accounts payable
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||
Accrued expenses and other
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Value added tax payable
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Income tax payable
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Short-term loan payable
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Government grants outstanding for usage of future projects
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Current liabilities of discontinued operations |
- |
3,516,117 | ||||||
Total current liabilities
|
-
|
3,516,117
|
||||||
Total liabilities
|
-
|
3,516,117
|
||||||
|
||||||||
Commitments and contingencies
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Stockholders’ Equity
|
||||||||
Common stock - $0.0001 par value; authorized 100,000,000 shares;19,724,220
shares and 35,030,339 issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021
|
1,972
|
3,503
|
||||||
Treasury stock
|
-
|
(709,478
|
)
|
|||||
Additional paid-in-capital
|
2,689,391
|
3,713,370
|
||||||
Accumulated other comprehensive loss
|
-
|
(726,500
|
)
|
|||||
Accumulated retained earnings
|
(2,691,363
|
)
|
7,681,661
|
|||||
Total company stockholders’ equity
|
-
|
9,962,556
|
||||||
Preferred stock (I-ON Korea and eformworks) - $0.4380 par value; authorized 2,000,000 shares; zero share issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 600,742 shares issued and outstanding at December
31, 2021
|
-
|
1,093,569
|
||||||
Non-controlling interests
|
-
|
(165,796
|
)
|
|||||
Total stockholders’ equity
|
-
|
10,890,329
|
||||||
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
14,406,446
|
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
Years Ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2022 |
2021
|
|||||||
Net sales
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||
Cost of goods sold
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Gross profit
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Operating expense
|
- | - | ||||||
Income (loss) from operations
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Other income (expense)
|
- | - | ||||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes, loss on equity investment, and non-controlling interest
|
(252,006
|
)
|
1,685,468
|
|||||
Provision for (benefit from) income tax
|
30,002
|
(306,780
|
)
|
|||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before loss on equity investment and non-controlling interest
|
(282,008 | ) | 1,992,248 | |||||
Loss on equity investment
|
(18,725 | ) | - | |||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before non-controlling interest
|
(300,733
|
)
|
1,992,248
|
|||||
Non-controlling interest income (loss) from discontinued operations
|
(273,108
|
)
|
(171,628
|
)
|
||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Parent Company from discontinued operations
|
$
|
(27,625
|
)
|
$
|
2,163,876
|
|||
Comprehensive income statement:
|
||||||||
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations
|
$
|
(300,733
|
)
|
$
|
1,992,248
|
|||
Foreign currency translation loss
|
(1,691,420
|
)
|
(1,016,433
|
)
|
||||
Total comprehensive income (loss) from discontinued operations
|
$
|
(1,992,153
|
)
|
$
|
975,815
|
|||
Basic earnings per share from continuing operations
|
||||||||
Net loss before non-controlling interest
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Non-controlling interest
|
$ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | ||||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Diluted earnings per share from continuing operations
|
||||||||
Net loss before non-controlling interest
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Non-controlling interest
|
$ | 0.00 | $ | 0.00 | ||||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Basic earnings per share from discontinued operations
|
||||||||
Net loss before non-controlling interest
|
$ | (0.01 | ) | $ | 0.06 | |||
Non-controlling interest
|
$ | (0.01 | ) | $ | 0.00 | |||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$ | 0.00 | $ | 0.06 | ||||
Diluted earnings per share from discontinued operations
|
||||||||
Net loss before non-controlling interest
|
$ | (0.01 | ) | $ | 0.06 | |||
Non-controlling interest
|
$ | (0.01 | ) | $ | 0.00 | |||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$ | 0.00 | $ | 0.06 | ||||
Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
|
||||||||
Basic
|
19,724,220
|
35,030,339
|
||||||
Diluted
|
19,724,220
|
35,030,339
|
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
Common Stock
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Shares
|
Amount
|
Additional Paid-In Capital
|
Retained Earnings
|
Treasury Stock
|
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
|
Total Company Stockholders' Equity
|
Non-Controlling Interest
|
Preferred Stock
|
Total Stockholders' Equity
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at December 31, 2020
|
35,030,339
|
$
|
3,503
|
$
|
3,713,370
|
$
|
5,517,785
|
$
|
(709,478
|
)
|
$
|
289,933
|
$
|
8,815,113
|
$
|
5,832
|
$
|
475,036
|
$
|
9,295,981
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Issuance of preferred stock
|
618,533 | 618,533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Foreign currency translation
|
- | - | - | - | - | (1,016,433 | ) | (1,016,433 | ) | - | - | (1,016,433 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss)
|
- | - | - | 2,163,876 | - | - | 2,163,876 | (171,628 | ) | - | 1,992,248 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at December 31, 2021
|
35,030,339
|
$
|
3,503
|
$
|
3,713,370
|
$
|
7,681,661
|
$
|
(709,478
|
)
|
$
|
(726,500
|
)
|
$
|
9,962,556
|
$
|
(165,796
|
)
|
$
|
1,093,569
|
$
|
10,890,329
|
||||||||||||||||||
Cancellation of common stock in connection with equity purchase
|
(15,306,119 | ) | (1,531 | ) | (1,023,979 | ) | - | - | - | (1,025,510 | ) | - | - | (1,025,510 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Adjustment from deconsolidation
|
(10,345,399 | ) | 709,478 | 2,417,920 | (7,218,001 | ) | 165,796 | (1,093,569 | ) | (8,145,774 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Foreign currency translation
|
- | - | - | - | - | (1,691,420 | ) | (1,691,420 | ) | - | - | (1,691,420 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations
|
- | - | - | (27,625 | ) | - | - | (27,625 | ) | - | - | (27,625 | ) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Balance at December 31, 2022
|
19,724,220 | $ | 1,972 | $ | 2,689,391 | $ | (2,691,363 | ) | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - | $ | - |
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
I-ON Digital Corp. and Subsidiaries
Year ended December 31,
|
2022
|
2021
|
||||||
Cash flows from operating activities:
|
||||||||
Net income (loss)
|
$
|
(300,733
|
)
|
$
|
1,992,248
|
|||
Less: Net income (loss) from discontinued operations |
(27,625
|
)
|
2,163,876
|
|||||
Net income (loss) from continuing operations
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities from discontinued operations
|
(519,828
|
)
|
307,989
|
|||||
Total net cash provided by (used in) operating activities
|
(792,936
|
)
|
136,361
|
|||||
Cash flows from investing activities:
|
||||||||
Net cash used in investing activities from discontinued operations
|
(705,692 | ) | (347,492 | ) | ||||
Total net cash used in investing activities
|
(705,692
|
)
|
(347,492
|
)
|
||||
Cash flows from financing activities:
|
||||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities from discontinued operations
|
(3,078,447 | ) | (81,099 | ) | ||||
Total net cash used in financing activities
|
(3,078,447
|
)
|
(81,099
|
)
|
||||
Effect of foreign currency translation on cash and cash equivalents
|
(731,569
|
)
|
(666,778
|
)
|
||||
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents
|
(5,308,644
|
)
|
(959,008
|
)
|
||||
Cash and cash equivalents including restricted cash, beginning of period
|
5,308,644
|
6,267,652
|
||||||
Cash and cash equivalents including restricted cash, end of period
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
5,308,644
|
||||
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
|
||||||||
Continuing operations:
|
||||||||
Interest paid
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||
Taxes paid
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||
|
||||||||
Discontinued operations:
|
||||||||
Interest paid
|
$ | 6,218 | $ | 12,891 | ||||
Taxes paid
|
$ | 13,667 | $ | 39,418 | ||||
Significant noncash items:
|
||||||||
Cancellation of common stocks
|
$ | 1,025,510 | $ | - | ||||
See accompanying notes to consolidated financial statements.
NOTE 1. |
Organization and Operations
|
I-ON Digital Corp. (“the Company”) was incorporated on July 5, 1999 and is engaged in developing and supplying computerized system. The corporate headquarter was
located at 15 Teheran-ro 10-gil Gangnam-gu Seoul, South Korea. The Company provided enterprise content management services to customers primarily in Korea, Japan and Indonesia, by developing industry-leading products such as ICS (web content
management system), iDrive (e-document management system), LAMS (load aggregator’s management system), e.Form (mobile contract system), IDAS (digital asset management system) and ICE (content delivery system).
On or about August 1, 2021, the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary I-ON Communications, Ltd. (“Communications”) formed a new subsidiary named eformworks Co., Ltd. (“e.Form”) into which Communications moved its
electronic signature operations. Communications contributed approximately $253,000 on August 1, 2021 and $77,000 on September 30, 2022 to e.Form to subscribe for its founders shares and owns 59.82% of the outstanding capital stock of e.Form.
On June 28, 2022, the board of directors of the Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary I-ON Communications, Ltd. (“Communications”) approved to form a new subsidiary named EIPGRID, which provides the community energy
service platforms. Hence Communications contributed
approximately $773,000 to EIPGRID to subscribe for its founders’ shares, and considered a subsidiary to consolidate.
On September 29, 2022, the Company effectuated an Equity Transfer Agreement (the “Sell-Off Agreement”) among the Company, Communications and JFJ Digital Corp., a Delaware corporation (“JFJ”), whereby all of the
outstanding equity of Communications was transferred to JFJ in exchange for the return of 15,306,119 shares of the Company’s
Common Stock held by Jae Cheol Oh and Hong Rae Kim, the Company’s principal executive officer and members of the Board of Directors (the “Sell-Off”). Pursuant to the Sell-Off Agreement, in addition to acquiring all of the outstanding
capital stock of Communications, JFJ assumed all responsibilities for any debts, obligations and liabilities of Communications and acquire all rights to any assets of Communications, including, but not limited to, the Subscription Amount.
As a result
of the Sell-Off, Communications ceased being a subsidiary of the Company. Accordingly, the operating results of Communications are reported in pretax income (loss), income tax, income (loss) before loss on equity investment, loss on
equity investment, income (loss) before non-controlling interest, non-controlling interest income (loss), and net loss from discontinued operations, in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented. In addition, the
related assets and liabilities held prior to the Sell-Off are reported as Assets and Liabilities of Discontinued Operations on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. All amounts and disclosures included in the Notes to Consolidated Financial
Statements reflect only the Company’s continuing operations unless otherwise noted. For additional information, see Note 3 “Discontinued Operations” and Note 5 “Deconsolidation of Subsidiaries.”
NOTE 2.
|
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
|
The summary of significant accounting policies of the Company is presented to assist in understanding the Company’s consolidated financial statements. The
consolidated financial statements and notes are representations of the Company’s management, who is responsible for integrity and objectivity. These accounting policies conform to accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America and have been consistently applied in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements.
Principles of Consolidation and Basis of Presentation
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries. All intercompany accounts, transactions, and profits have been
eliminated upon consolidation. The accompanying consolidated financial statements and the notes hereto are reported in US Dollars. The consolidated financial statements were prepared and presented in accordance with Financial Accounting
Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 810. Non-controlling interests represent the portion of earnings that is not within the parent Company’s control. These amounts are required to be reported as equity instead of
as a liability on the consolidated balance sheet. ASC requires net income or loss from non-controlling interests to be shown separately on the consolidated statements of operations. The consolidated financial statements included herein have been
prepared by the Company pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). Certain information and footnote disclosures normally included in the financial statements prepared in accordance with
accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) have been omitted pursuant to such rules and regulations.
Going Concern
The accompanying consolidated financial statements have been prepared in conformity with GAAP, which contemplate continuation of the
Company as a going concern. However, the Company had no revenues since the Sell-off of its subsidiaries in September 2022. As
of December 31, 2022, the Company has not completed its efforts to establish a stabilized source of revenues sufficient to cover operating costs over an extended period of time. Therefore, there is substantial doubt about the Company’s
ability to continue as a going concern.
Management anticipates that the Company will be dependent, for the near future, on additional investment capital to fund operating
expenses. The Company intends to position itself so that it will be able to raise additional funds through the capital markets. The Company also line up strategies to raise the funds through merging with operating entities.
Use of Estimates in the Preparation of Financial Statements
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United
States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements
and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting periods. As a result, actual results could materially differ from these estimates.
Foreign Currency Transaction and Translation
The Company’s principal country of operations is Korea. The financial position and results of operations of the Company are determined using the local
currency, Korean Won (“KRW”), as the functional currency.
● |
I-ON, Ltd (Japanese subsidiary) – The financial position and results of operations of I-ON, Ltd, the Japanese subsidiary of the Company, are initially recorded using its
local currency, Japanese Yen (“JPY”). Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currency are translated to the functional currency at the functional currency rate of exchange at the balance sheet date. The results of operations
denominated in foreign currency are translated at the average rate of exchange during the reporting period. All differences are reflected in profit or loss. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the exchange rate was JPY 9.32 and JPY 10.30 per
KRW, respectively. The average exchange rate for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 was JPY 9.91 and JPY 10.41 per KRW, respectively.
|
● |
Consolidation – Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the balance sheet date are translated at the exchange rates prevailing at the balance sheet
date. The results of operations are translated from KWR to US Dollar at the weighted average rate of exchange during the reporting period. The registered equity capital denominated in the functional currency is translated at the
historical rate of exchange at the time of capital contribution. All translation adjustments resulting from the translation of the financial statements into the reporting currency, US Dollar, are dealt with as a component of
accumulated other comprehensive income. As of December 31, 2022, and December 31, 2021, the exchange rate was KRW 1,252.61
and KRW 1,185.50 per US Dollar, respectively. The average exchange rate for the nine months ended December 31, 2022 and
2021 was KRW 1,278.70 and KRW 1,144.42, respectively.
|
Segment Reporting
FASB ASC 280, Segment Reporting, requires public companies to report financial and descriptive information about their reportable operating segments. Operating
segments are defined as components of an enterprise about which separate financial information is available and that is evaluated regularly by the chief operating decision maker in deciding how to allocate resources and in assessing
performance. The Company’s chief executive officer has been identified as the chief decision maker.
Revenue Recognition
Revenues are recognized when control of the promised services is transferred to the Company’s customers, in an amount that reflects the consideration the Company
expects to be entitled to in exchange for those services.
The Company’s revenue consisted of services provided and commissions. These revenue sources are as follows:
●
|
Royalty – the Company receives a fixed amount of royalties from a company in Japan for providing rights to sell the Company’s
products in Japanese market. Revenue is recognized over the contract and service period.
|
●
|
License Solution & Services – the Company recognizes revenue on installation of the web-content management software, services
provided for installation, and customization.
|
●
|
Customizing Services – the Company recognizes revenue from processing transactions between businesses and their customers. Revenue
is recognized over the contract and service period and when service for the contract is completed.
|
●
|
Maintenance – the Company recognizes revenue over the contract term based on percentage-of-completion method.
|
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Company considers all money market funds and highly liquid financial investments with maturities of three months or less when acquired to be cash equivalents.
Property and Equipment
Property and equipment are recorded at cost. Depreciation of property and equipment is computed using the double declining balance method, based on the estimated
useful lives as follows:
Facility equipment
|
4 years
|
Automobile
|
4 years
|
Office equipment
|
4 years
|
Repairs and maintenance are expensed as incurred. Expenditures that increase the value or productive capacity of assets are capitalized. When property and
equipment are retired, sold, or otherwise disposed of, the asset’s carrying amount and related accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts, and any gain or loss is included in operations.
The Company is working on a government research project and many other technical innovation projects. The Company receives government grants that it uses to
offset the amount of assets acquired or expenses incurred.
Research and Development
Research and development costs are expensed as incurred. Research and development costs include travel, payroll, and other general expenses
specific to research and development activities.
Intangible Assets
When the Company acquires an intangible asset, it is recorded at acquisition cost (the purchase price of the intangible asset and the costs directly related to
the preparation of the asset for its intended purpose). The cost of an intangible asset acquired in a business combination is measured at the fair value at the acquisition date according to the accounting standards for business combinations.
Intangible assets with a finite life are amortized using the straight-line method over their estimated useful lives.
The estimated useful lives of the respective asset categories are as follows:
Development costs
|
3 years
|
Intangible assets excluding development costs
|
10 years
|
Other Intangible assets
|
3 to 5 years
|
Severance and Retirement Benefits
In accordance with the Korean Labor Standard Law, employees and directors with at least one year of service are entitled to receive a lump-sum payment upon termination of their employment, based on their length of service and rate of
pay at the time of termination. Accrued severance benefits represent an amount which would be payable assuming all eligible employees and directors were to terminate their employment as of the balance sheet date. The annual severance benefits
expense charged to operations is calculated based upon the net change in the accrued severance benefits payable at the balance sheet date based on the guidance of FASB ASC 960, Accounting – Defined Benefit
Pension Plans.
Impairment analysis for long-lived assets and intangible assets
The Company’s long-lived assets and other assets (consisting of property and equipment and purchased intangible assets) are reviewed for impairment in
accordance with the guidance of the FASB ASC 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment and FASB ASC 205 Presentation of Financial Statements. The Company tests for impairment losses on long-lived
assets used in operations whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the asset may not be recoverable. Recoverability of an asset to be held and used is measured by a comparison of the carrying
amount of an asset to the future undiscounted cash flows expected to be generated by the asset. If such asset is considered to be impaired, the impairment to be recognized is measured by the amount by which the carrying amount of the
asset exceeds its fair value. Impairment evaluations involve management’s estimates on asset useful lives and future cash flows. Actual useful lives and cash flows could be different from those estimated by management which could
have a material effect on our reporting results and financial positions. Fair value is determined through various valuation techniques including undiscounted cash flow models, quoted market values and third-party independent
appraisals, as considered necessary. The Company had not experienced impairment losses on its long-lived assets and intangible assets during any of the periods presented.
Earnings Per Share
FASB ASC Topic 260, Earnings Per Share, requires a reconciliation of the numerator and denominator of the basic and
diluted earnings (loss) per share (EPS) computations. Basic earnings (loss) per share are computed by dividing net earnings available to common shareholders by the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted
earnings (loss) per share is computed similar to basic earnings per share except that the denominator is increased to include the number of additional common shares that would have been outstanding if the potential common shares had been issued
and if the additional common shares were dilutive. In periods where losses are reported, the weighted-average number of common stock outstanding excludes common stock equivalents, because their inclusion would be anti-dilutive.
Fair Value Measurements
The Company follows FASB ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements. ASC 820 defines fair value, establishes a framework for
measuring fair value under generally accepted accounting principles and enhances disclosures about fair value measurements. Fair value is defined under ASC 820 as the exchange price that would be received for an asset or paid to transfer a
liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants.
ASC 820 establishes a hierarchy of valuation inputs based on the extent to which the inputs are observable in the marketplace. Observable inputs reflect market
data obtained from sources independent of the reporting entity and unobservable inputs reflect the entity’s own assumptions about how market participants would value an asset or liability based on the best information available.
Valuation techniques used to measure fair value under ASC 820 must maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs. The
standard describes a fair value hierarchy based on three levels of inputs, of which the first two are considered observable and the last unobservable, that may be used to measure fair value.
The following describes the hierarchy of inputs used to measure fair value and the primary valuation methodologies used by the Company for financial instruments
measured at fair value on a recurring basis.
The three levels of inputs are as follows:
Level 1 |
Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the Company has an ability to access as of the measurement date.
|
Level 2 |
Inputs that are observable, either directly or indirectly, such as quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities, quoted prices in markets that are not active, or other inputs that are observable or
can be corroborated by observable market data for substantially the same term of the assets or liabilities.
|
Level 3 |
Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities.
|
A financial instrument’s categorization within the valuation hierarchy is based upon the lowest level of input that is significant to the fair value measurement.
Our financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, short-term financial instruments, short-term loans, accounts receivable, investments, accounts payables and debt. The carrying values of these financial instruments
approximate their fair value due to their short maturities. The carrying amount of our debt approximates fair value because the interest rates on these instruments approximate the interest rate on debt with similar terms available to us.
Income Taxes
Income taxes are provided for the tax effects of transactions reported in the financial statements and consists of taxes currently due and deferred taxes.
Deferred taxes are recognized for the differences between the basis of assets and liabilities for financial statement and income tax purposes.
The Company follows FASB ASC 740, Income Taxes, which require the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities
for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred income taxes are recognized for the tax consequences in future years of differences between the
tax bases of assets and liabilities and their financial reporting amounts at each period end based on enacted tax laws and statutory tax rates, applicable to the periods in which the differences are expected to affect taxable income.
Valuation allowances are established, when necessary, to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount expected to be realized.
FASB ASC 740-10-25 provides criteria for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of uncertain tax position. The Company must recognize the tax
benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained on examination by the taxing authorities, based on the technical merits of the position. The tax benefits recognized in the
financial statements from such a position are measured based on the largest benefit that has a greater than 50% likelihood of being realized upon ultimate resolution. The Company did not recognize additional liabilities for uncertain tax
positions pursuant to FASB ASC 740-10-25 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Contingencies
Accounting guidance requires that the Company record an estimated loss from a loss contingency when information available prior to issuance of the consolidated
financial statements indicates that it is probable that an asset has been impaired or a liability has been incurred at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Accounting for
contingencies such as legal matters requires significant judgment. Many of these legal matters can take years to resolve. Generally, as the time period increases over which the uncertainties are resolved, the likelihood of changes to the
estimate of the ultimate outcome increases.
Concentration of Credit Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Company to concentrations of credit risk are cash and trade receivable arising from its normal business
activities. The Company deposits its cash in high credit quality institutions. The Company performs ongoing credit evaluations to its customers and establishes allowances when appropriate.
Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at various financial institutions located in Korea and Japan. The Company has never experienced any losses related to
these balances.
Advertising
Costs associated with advertising and promotions are expensed as incurred.
Employee Stock Based Compensation
The Company accounts for its share-based compensation plan in accordance with FASB ASC 718, Stock Compensation, which
establishes a fair value method of accounting for stock-based compensation plans. The Company records stock compensation expense based on the value of the number of shares vesting specified periods over three years.
Stock-based compensation issued to employees and members of our board of directors is measured at the date of grant based on the estimated fair value of the
award, net of estimated forfeitures. The grant date fair value of a stock-based award is recognized as an expense over the requisite service period of the award on a straight-line basis.
For purposes of determining the variables used in the calculation of stock-based compensation issued to employees, the Company performs an analysis of current
market data and historical data to calculate an estimate of implied volatility, the expected term of the option and the expected forfeiture rate. With the exception of the expected forfeiture rate, which is not an input, we use these estimates
as variables in the Black-Scholes option pricing model. Depending upon the number of stock options granted any fluctuations in these calculations could have a material effect on the results presented in our consolidated statements of
operations. In addition, any differences between estimated forfeitures and actual forfeitures could also have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.
Non-controlling Interests
Non-controlling interests are measured at their proportionate share of the acquiree’s identifiable net assets
at the acquisition date and is adjusted at each reporting date for the net income (loss) attributable to that non-controlling interest during that period.
Recently Issued Accounting Pronouncements
In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU No. 2020-04, Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848)—Facilitation of the
Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting. This standard provides optional guidance for a limited time to ease the potential burden in accounting for (or recognizing the effects of) reference rate reform on financial
reporting. The amendments in this standard apply only to contracts and hedging relationships that reference LIBOR or another reference rate expected to be discontinued due to reference rate reform. The expedients and exceptions provided by
the amendments do not apply to contract modifications made and hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after December 31, 2022. The amendments in this standard are elective and are effective upon issuance for all entities. The Company
is evaluating the expedients and exceptions provided by the amendments in this standard to determine their impact.
Other recently issued accounting updates are not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s Financial Statements.
NOTE 3. |
Discontinued Operations
|
On September 29, 2022, the Company effectuated an Equity Transfer Agreement (the
“Sell-Off Agreement”) among the Company, Communications and JFJ Digital Corp., a Delaware corporation (“JFJ”), whereby all of the outstanding equity of Communications was transferred to JFJ in exchange for the return of 15,306,119 shares of the Company’s Common Stock held by Jae Cheol Oh and Hong Rae Kim, the Company’s principal executive officer and members of the
Board of Directors (the “Sell-Off”) . Pursuant to the Sell-Off Agreement, in addition to acquiring all of the outstanding capital stock of Communications, JFJ will assume all responsibilities for any debts, obligations and liabilities of
Communications and acquire all rights to any assets of Communications.
As a result of the Sell-Off, Communications ceased being a subsidiary of the
Company. Accordingly, the operating results of Communications are reported in pretax income (loss), income tax, income (loss) before loss on equity investment, loss on equity investment, income (loss) before non-controlling interest,
non-controlling interest income (loss), and net income (loss) from discontinued operations in the Consolidated Statements of Operations for all periods presented. In addition, the related assets and liabilities held prior to the Sell-Off are
reported as Assets and Liabilities of Discontinued Operations on the Consolidated Balance Sheets.
In accordance with FASB ASC 805, Business Combinations, the transaction was
determined to be transfers and exchanges between entities under the common control. Accordingly, the difference between the proceeds received by the Company and the book value of the Communications and Communication’s subsidiaries has been
recognized as an equity transaction and no gain or loss has been recorded.
The following table presents the components of discontinued operations in relation
to Communications reported in the consolidated statements of operations:
Years ended December 31,
|
||||||||
2022
|
2021
|
|||||||
Net Sales
|
7,578,685
|
16,199,710
|
||||||
Operating costs and expenses
|
9,638,272
|
14,393,417
|
||||||
Income (loss) from operations before other income and income taxes
|
(2,059,587
|
)
|
1,806,293
|
|||||
Other income (loss)
|
1,807,581
|
(120,825
|
)
|
|||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before income taxes, loss on equity investment, and non-controlling interest
|
(252,006
|
)
|
1,685,468
|
|||||
Income tax
|
30,002
|
(306,780
|
)
|
|||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before loss on equity investment and non-controlling interest
|
(282,008
|
)
|
1,992,248
|
|||||
Loss on equity investment
|
(18,725
|
)
|
-
|
|||||
Income (loss) from discontinued operations before non-controlling interest
|
(300,733
|
)
|
1,992,248
|
|||||
Non-controlling interest income (loss) from discontinued operations
|
(273,108
|
)
|
(171,628
|
)
|
||||
Net income (loss) attributable to Parent Company from discontinued operations
|
(27,625
|
)
|
2,163,876
|
|||||
Comprehensive income statement | ||||||||
Net income (loss)from discontinued operations | (300,733 | ) | 1,992,248 | |||||
Foreign currency translation loss | (1,691,420 | ) | (1,016,433 | ) | ||||
Total comprehensive income (loss) from discontinued operations | (1,992,153 | ) | 975,815 |
The following table presents the major classes of assets and liabilities of
discontinued operations of Communications reported in the consolidated balance sheets:
December 31,
2022
|
December 31,
2021
|
|||||||
Cash and cash equivalents
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
3,705,945
|
||||
Restricted cash
|
-
|
1,602,699
|
||||||
Short-term financial instruments
|
-
|
716,154
|
||||||
Short-term loan receivable
|
-
|
126,529
|
||||||
Accounts receivables, net of allowance for doubtful accounts $0
and $645,335, respectively
|
-
|
5,299,951
|
||||||
Deferred tax assets - current
|
-
|
410,259
|
||||||
Prepaid expenses and other current assets
|
-
|
579,173
|
||||||
Total current assets of discontinued operations
|
-
|
12,440,710
|
||||||
Investments
|
-
|
93,168
|
||||||
Property and equipment, net
|
-
|
105,445
|
||||||
Intangible assets, net
|
-
|
438,781
|
||||||
Deposits
|
-
|
737,909
|
||||||
Deferred tax assets – non-current
|
-
|
590,433
|
||||||
Total non-current assets of discontinued operations
|
-
|
1,965,736
|
||||||
Accounts payable
|
$
|
-
|
$
|
320,251
|
||||
Accrued expenses and other
|
-
|
2,546,062
|
||||||
Value added tax payable
|
-
|
202,857
|
||||||
Income tax payable
|
-
|
79,106
|
||||||
Short-term loan payable
|
-
|
337,410
|
||||||
Government grants outstanding for usage of future projects
|
-
|
30,431
|
||||||
Total current liabilities of discontinued operations
|
-
|
3,516,117
|
NOTE 4. |
Earnings Per Share
|
The Company calculates earnings per share in accordance with FASB ASC 260, Earnings Per Share, which requires a dual
presentation of basic and diluted earnings per share. Basic earnings per share are computed using the weighted average number of shares outstanding during the fiscal year. Potentially dilutive common shares consist of stock options outstanding
(using the treasury method).
The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net income per common share:
Years
Ended December 31,
|
||||||||
Periods Ended
|
2022
|
2021
|
||||||
Net income (loss)
|
$
|
(27,625
|
)
|
$
|
2,163,876
|
|||
Net income (loss) from continuing operations
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations
|
(27,625
|
)
|
2,163,876
|
|||||
Weighted-average shares of common stock outstanding:
|
||||||||
Basic
|
19,724,220
|
35,030,339
|
||||||
Dilutive effect of common stock equivalents arising from share option, excluding antidilutive
effect from loss
|
-
|
-
|
||||||
Dilutive shares
|
19,724,220
|
35,030,339
|
||||||
Net income (loss) from continuing operations:
|
||||||||
Earnings per share - Basic
|
||||||||
Net income (loss) before non-controlling interest
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Non-controlling interest
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Earnings per share - Diluted
|
||||||||
Net income (loss) before non-controlling interest
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Non-controlling interest
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.00
|
||||
Net income (loss) from discontinued operations:
|
||||||||
Earnings per share - Basic
|
||||||||
Net income (loss) before non-controlling interest
|
$
|
(0.01
|
)
|
$
|
0.06
|
|||
Non-controlling interest
|
$
|
(0.01
|
)
|
$
|
0.00
|
|||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$
|
0.00
|
$
|
0.06
|
||||
Earnings per share - Diluted
|
||||||||
Net income (loss) before non-controlling interest
|
$ | (0.01 | ) | $ | 0.06 | |||
Non-controlling interest
|
$ | (0.01 | ) | $ | 0.00 | |||
Earnings per share to stockholders
|
$ | 0.00 | $ | 0.06 |
No non-vested share awards or non-vested share
unit awards were dilutive for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
NOTE 5. |
Deconsolidation of Subsidiaries
|
As of the Sell-Off date, which was September 29, 2022, the Company had approximately
$12.6 million of total assets and $3.6
million of total liabilities on its consolidated balance sheet. As part of deconsolidation, we removed the balance of
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (loss) which contains $2.4 million of foreign currency translation gain related to the Sell-Off
companies. Those assets and liabilities were owned by Communications or Communications’ subsidiaries, such as I-ON, Ltd (Japanese subsidiary), eformworks Co., Ltd. (Korean subsidiary) and EIPGRID (Korean subsidiary). As a result of the
Sell-Off Agreement, all assets and liabilities were transferred to JFJ.
Mr. Oh and Mr. Kim returned their shares of the Company, total 15,306,119 approximately 43% of total
outstanding shares, to the Company in exchange for the transfer of all outstanding equity of Communications to JFJ. Stock price on September 29, 2022 was $0.067;
therefore, the fair market value the proceeds was $1,025,510 which was calculated by multiplying the number of shares transferred to the
stock price on September 29, 2022.
In accordance with FASB ASC 805, Business
Combinations, the transaction was determined as transfers and exchanges between entities that are under the common control. Accordingly, the difference between the proceeds received by the Company and the book value of the Communications
and Communication’s subsidiaries will be recognized as an equity transaction and no gain or loss would be recorded.
NOTE 6. |
Subsequent Events
|
The Company evaluates subsequent events and transactions that occur after
the balance sheet date up to the date that the financial statements are issued. Any material events that occur between the balance sheet date and the date that the financial statements were issued are disclosed as subsequent events, while the
financial statements are adjusted to reflect any conditions that existed at the balance sheet date. Based upon this review, except as disclosed below or within the footnotes, the Company did not identify any recognized or non-recognized
subsequent events that would have required adjustment or disclosure in the consolidated financial statements.
As previously disclosed, the Company entered into a Series A Preferred
Stock Purchase Agreement (the “Purchase Agreement”) with I-ON Acquisition Corp., a Florida corporation (“IAC”) on September 28, 2022. Pursuant to the terms of the Purchase Agreement, IAC acquired 3,000 shares of a newly created Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Series A Preferred”) for proceeds in the amount of $250,000 (the
“Subscription Amount”) in the form of a promissory note (the “Note”) which is secured by the pledge of the Series A Shares, the Series B Shares (as defined herein) and other assets of IAC in a Stock Pledge and Escrow Agreement (the “Pledge
Agreement”). The Purchase Agreement was subsequently amended to include the subscription for 3,600 Series A Shares. Each Series A
Preferred Share is convertible into Ten Thousand (10,000) shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.0001 per share (the “Common Stock” and is entitled to vote on matters as to which holders of the Common Stock shall be entitled to vote at a rate
of Ten Thousand (10,000) votes per share of Series A Preferred.
On January 20, 2023, the Note was fully paid and the Series A Preferred
Shares were issued and released to IAC and the Series B Shares were issued and released to the respective purchasers thereof.
The Company adopted the operations of IAC. Accordingly, the Company is in
the business of providing digital-based enterprise solutions, including the digitization and distribution of precious metals, primarily gold, and other asset-based digital securities on the Blockchain.
Asset digitization includes gold and precious metals with proven reserves
that the Company may acquire and for similar assets of independent claim owners. Services to be provided by the Company are to be managed and administered via Distributed Ledger Technology, also referred to as an independent Node Verification
Network, in the form of digital tokens or certificates. The Company’s technology will allow tier-one and institutional-level financial managers or owners of the assets to fully transact or interface for exchange, settlement, transfer or
financial reporting purposes with any regulatory-compliant, blockchain enabled Bank, Financial Institution, Asset Manager or secure Payment Intermediary. The Company is also engaged in the development of U.S. and global markets, commercial
distribution channels and digitization opportunities.
On February 1, 2023, the Company accepted the resignations of Jae Cheol
Oh, as the Chief Executive Officer, Treasurer and Chairman, and Jae Ho Cho, Hong Rae Kim, Eugene Hong, Jean Koh and Charlie Baik as directors of the Company.
To fill the vacancies created by these resignations, Carlos X. Montoya was
appointed to the Board of Directors on February 1, 2023. Mr. Montoya was also appointed as the Company’s President and Rod Smith was appointed Secretary of the Company, both effective immediately.
The Company entered into a technology Licensing Agreement with I-ON
Acquisition Corp. (“IAC”) on March 30, 2023. Under the terms and conditions of the Company’s precedent I-ON Digital – Nodalium Inc. Channel Partnership Master Agreement, the Company has formally granted I-ON Acquisition Corp. full use and
access, specifically licensing up to 65 workstations, empowered by the Nodalium Enterprise Workflow/ Intelligent Automation
Platform. The enterprise software platform solution features Nodalium’s Digital Trust product suite. I-ON Acquisition paid an upfront price of $110,500,
or $1,700 per workstation, plus a one-time setup and registration fee of $20,000 for combined transaction amount of $130,500.
The Company has reached an
agreement in principle to purchase rights to an existing Asset Exchange Agreement involving the prior arms-length purchase by Orebits Acquisition Group and IAC involving ownership rights to 180 Orebits Gold-Backed Digital Assets (technically, 179.9742). Pursuant to the terms of the original $335,700 transaction, the seller, an unrelated third-private party (as trustee), agreed to sell the Orebits Gold-Backed Digital Assets in exchange for a combination of cash
and marketable securities. In acquiring the contractual rights I-ON will pay combination of $85,700 in cash and the equivalent of $250,000 in I-ON Digital Corp shares of the Company’s common stock. As calculated, this equates to 1,136,363.64 shares of I-ON Digital common stock at the previously published price of $0.22 to be issued to the original seller.
The subject 180 Orebits will be central to an asset digitization beta project involving the I-ON Digital Blockchain Platform, now under construction by I-ON Digital and technology
partner INSTRUXI.
Not applicable.
Management’s Report on Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining a system of disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) that is designed to
ensure that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the Commission’s rules and forms. Disclosure
controls and procedures include, without limitation, controls and procedures designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed by an issuer in the reports that it files or submits under the Exchange Act is accumulated and communicated
to the issuer’s management, including its principal executive officer or officers and principal financial officer or officers, or persons performing similar functions, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
An evaluation was conducted under the supervision and with the participation of our management of the effectiveness of the design and operation of
our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2022. Based on that evaluation, our management concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were not effective as of such date to ensure that information required to be
disclosed in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act, is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in SEC rules and forms. The Company had no audit committee. Such officer also confirmed
that there was no change in our internal control over financial reporting during the fiscal year period ended December 31, 2022 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial
reporting.
The Company entered into a technology Licensing Agreement with I-ON Acquisition Corp. (“IAC”) on March 30,
2023. Under the terms and conditions of the Company’s precedent I-ON Digital – Nodalium Inc. Channel Partnership Master Agreement, the Company has formally granted I-ON Acquisition Corp. full use and access, specifically licensing up to 65
workstations, empowered by the Nodalium Enterprise Workflow/ Intelligent Automation Platform. The enterprise software platform solution features Nodalium’s Digital Trust product suite. I-ON Acquisition paid an upfront price of $110,500, or $1,700
per workstation, plus a one-time setup and registration fee of $20,000 for combined transaction amount of $130,500.
The Company has reached an agreement in principle to purchase rights to an existing Asset Exchange Agreement
involving the prior arms-length purchase by Orebits Acquisition Group and IAC involving ownership rights to 180 Orebits Gold-Backed Digital Assets (technically, 179.9742). Pursuant to the terms of the original $335,700 transaction, the seller,
an unrelated third-private party (as trustee), agreed to sell the Orebits Gold-Backed Digital Assets in exchange for a combination of cash and marketable securities. In acquiring the contractual rights I-ON will pay combination of $85,700 in cash and the equivalent of $250,000 in I-ON Digital Corp shares of the Company’s common stock. As calculated, this equates to 1,136,363.64 shares of I-ON Digital common
stock at the previously published price of $0.22 to be issued to the original seller.
The subject 180 Orebits will be central to an asset digitization beta project involving the I-ON Digital Blockchain Platform, now under construction
by I-ON Digital and technology partner INSTRUXI.
All of the securities referred to above were offered and sold without registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities
Act”) in reliance on the exemptions provided by Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act as provided in Rule 506(b) of Regulation D and/or Regulations promulgated thereunder. The securities have not been registered under the Securities Act or any
other applicable securities laws, and unless so registered, may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act.
PART III
The table below lists all current officers and directors of the Company as of the date of this report. All officers serve at the discretion of the Board of Directors. The term of office of each of
our directors expire at our next Annual Meeting of Shareholders or until their successors are duly elected and qualified.
Name
|
Age
|
Position
|
Charles X. Montoya
|
64
|
Director, President
|
Rod Smith
|
67
|
Secretary
|
Carlos X. Montoya, 64, the former President and CEO of Republic Bank of Chicago (current assets: $2.2B), is the Founder and Managing
Member of Tall Ship Resource Development LLC and its affiliate, Tall Ship Partners Fund, LLC (www.tallshippartnersfund.com) each is engaged in the development of U.S. and global markets, product & service enhancements, and expanded asset
circulation opportunities for the Orebits Digital Asset. Mr. Montoya also serves as the Manager and Founder of MCM Advisors, LLC, a Bank and Financial Service-Bureau platform specializing in institutional level Banking, Capital and Strategic
Advisory services. MCM is recognized for achieving several marketplace firsts in establishing an institutional-level Financial Ecosystem for the Orebits Digital Asset, incorporating a highly-secure Distributed Ledger Platform with Global Custody
& Treasury Management Services enabled by a Blockchain interface for institutional level transaction capture, monitoring and reporting.
Rod Smith, 67, has amassed extensive executive leadership, market development expertise, and acumen along his entrepreneurial path,
including negotiating and closing multi-million-dollar commercial real estate transactions and serving as the Founder and CEO of a public company that became a billion-dollar company.
Code of Ethics
As part of our system of corporate governance, the Company adopted a Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (the “Code”) for directors and executive officers of the Company. This
Code is intended to focus each director and executive officer on areas of ethical risk, provide guidance to directors and executive officer to help them recognize and deal with ethical issues, provide mechanisms to report unethical conduct, and
help foster a culture of honesty and accountability. Each director and executive officer must comply with the letter and spirit of this Code. We intend to disclose any changes in or waivers from our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics and our
Code of Ethics for Financial Executives by filing a Form 8-K or by posting such information on our website.
The following tables list the compensation of the Company’s principal executive officers and board members for the years ended December 31, 2022
and 2021. The following information includes the dollar value of base salaries, bonus awards, the number of non-qualified Company Options granted and certain other compensation, if any, whether paid or deferred.
Name and
Principal
Position
|
Year
|
Salary
($)
|
Option
Awards
|
All
Other
Comp.
($)
|
Total
($)
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Carlos X. Montoya Director, President(1)
|
2022
|
─
|
─
|
─
|
─
|
─
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rod Smith Secretary(1)
|
2022
|
─
|
─
|
─
|
─
|
─
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Jae Cheol Oh, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer (2)
|
2022
|
$
|
88,166
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
88,166
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2021
|
$
|
85,928
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
85,928
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Hong Rae Kim, Director (2)
|
2022
|
$
|
90,001
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
90,001
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
2021
|
$
|
79,022
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
79,022
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
Jae Ho Cho, Director (2)
|
2022
|
$
|
104,157
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
104,157
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2021 |
$
|
83,132
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
83,132
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Eugene Hong, Director (3)
|
2022
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2021 |
$
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Jean Koh, Director (3)
|
2022
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2021 |
$
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Charlie Baik, Director (3)
|
2022
|
$
|
5,242
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
5,242
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
2021 |
$
|
5,084
|
-
|
$
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
-
|
$
|
5,084
|
(1) Appointed February 1, 2023.
(2) Appointed January 25, 2018, resigned February 1, 2023.
(3) Appointed August 10, 2018, resigned February 1, 2023.
Compensation of Directors
Option Grants Table
There were no individual grants of stock options to purchase our common stock made to the executive officers named in the Summary Compensation Table through to date.
Aggregated Option Exercises and Fiscal Year-End Option Value Table
There were no stock options exercised during periods ending December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2021 by the executive officer named in the Summary Compensation Table.
Long-Term Incentive Plan (‘LTIP’) Awards Table
There were no awards made to a named executive officer in the last completed fiscal year under any LTIP.
Compensation Arrangements with Executive Management
There were no compensation contracts for any of the executives of the Company at the end of December 31, 2022.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters
The following tables set forth, as of the date of this Annual Report, the beneficial ownership of Common Stock for: (1) each director currently serving on our Board of Directors; (2) each of our
named executive officers; (3) our directors and executive officers as a group; and (3) each person known to the Company to beneficially own more than 5% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock. As of April 27, 2023, there were 20,994,242
shares of Common Stock outstanding. Except as otherwise noted, each stockholder has sole voting and investment power with respect to the shares beneficially owned. Beneficial ownership consists of a direct interest in the shares of common stock,
except as otherwise indicated.
Shareholder (1)
|
Beneficial
Ownership
|
Percent of
Class (2)
|
|||
Carlos X. Montoya
|
─
|
*
|
%
|
||
Rod Smith
|
─
|
*
|
%
|
||
Officers and Directors as a Group (3 persons)
|
─
|
*
|
%
|
(1) The address for all officers, directors and beneficial owners is 1244 N. Stone Street, Unit #3, Chicago, Illinois 60610.
(2) Does not include the 36,000,000 shares of Common Stock underlying the conversion of 3,600 shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, par value $0.0001 per share which is convertible into
Common Stock at the rate of ten thousand (10,000) per share, held by I-ON Acquisition Corp., over which Mr. Montoya holds voting and dispositive control.
The Company receives loan guarantees from the chief executive officer with regards to its long-term borrowing, and the Company’s restricted cash provided as collateral to the Company’s chief
executive officer’s loans.
Audit and Non-Audit Fees
The following table sets forth the fees for professional audit services and the fees billed for other services rendered by our auditors, in
connection with the audit of our financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021,
and any other fees billed for services rendered by our auditors during these periods.
|
Year Ended
December 31,
2022 ($)
|
Year Ended
December 31,
2021 ($)
|
||||||
Audit fees
|
$
|
74,000
|
$
|
75,000
|
||||
Audit-related fees
|
0
|
-0-
|
||||||
Tax fees
|
8,000
|
|||||||
All other fees
|
0
|
-0-
|
||||||
Total
|
$
|
74,000
|
$
|
82,000
|
Since our inception, our Board of Directors, performing the duties of the audit committee, has reviewed all audit and non-audit related fees at least annually. The Board, acting as the audit
committee, pre-approved all audit related services for the year ended December 31, 2022.
PART IV
Number
|
Description
|
|
Agreement of Merger and Plan of Reorganization among Evans Brewing Company, Inc., I-ON Digital Corp.., I-ON Acquisition Corp. and I-on Digital, Ltd. (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to
the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on December 26, 2017, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Spin-Off Agreement among Evans Brewing Company, Inc., Michael J. Rapport Trust, Evans Brewing Company, Inc. and EBC Public House, Inc. (previously filed as Exhibit 2.2 to the Company’s
Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on February 1, 2018, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Certificate of Incorporation of the Company (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 10, filed on July 3, 2013, and incorporated herein by
reference)
|
||
Certificate of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation (previously filed as Exhibit 3.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 22, 2014, and incorporated herein by
reference)
|
||
Certificate of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on October 23, 2015, and incorporated herein by
reference)
|
||
Certificate of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on February 1, 2018, and incorporated herein by
reference)
|
||
Certificate of Amendment of Certificate of Incorporation (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on April 3, 2019, and incorporated herein by
reference)
|
||
By-laws of the Company (previously filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form 10, filed on July 3, 2013, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Certificate of Designation of Rights and Preferences for Series A Convertible Preferred Stock (previously filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on
December 15, 2015, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Convertible Note Debenture in favor of Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P., due August 13, 2021 (previously filed as Exhibit 4.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on August
28, 2018, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Common Stock Purchase Warrant of Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P. (previously filed as Exhibit 4.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on August 28, 2018, and incorporated
herein by reference)
|
||
Securities Purchase Agreement between the Company and Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P. (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on August 28,
2018, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Equity Purchase Agreement between the Company and Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P. (previously filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on August 28, 2018,
and incorporated herein by reference)
|
Registration Rights Agreement between the Company and Peak One Opportunity Fund, L.P. (previously filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on August 28,
2018, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Agreement of Merger and Plan of Reorganization (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K, filed on May 4,
2021, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Amendment No. 1 to Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form
10-Q, filed on November 15, 2021, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
Amendment No. 2 to Agreement and Plan of Merger and Reorganization (previously filed as
Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, filed on November 15, 2021, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Series A Preferred Securities Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 28 2022 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 5, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Series B Preferred Securities Contribution Agreement, dated as of September 28 2022 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 5, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Promissory Note dated September 28, 2012 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 5, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Stock Pledge and Escrow Agreement dated September 28, 2022 (previously filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 5, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
Equity Transfer Agreement among I-ON Digital Corp., I-On Communications Co., Ltd. and JFJ Digital Corp. (previously filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 5, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
||
|
|
|
|
Code of Business Conduct and Ethics (previously filed as Exhibit 14.1 to the Company’s Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed on
September 27, 2017, and incorporated herein by reference)
|
|
|
|
|
|
List of Subsidiaries*
|
|
|
|
|
|
Certification of Chief Executive and Financial Officer required by Rule 13a-14(a) or Rule 15d-14(a) under the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, as amended*
|
|
|
|
|
|
Certification of Chief Executive Officer required by Rule 13a-14(b) or Rule 15d-14(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as
amended, and 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002*
|
101.INS
|
XBRL Instance Document*
|
|
101.SCH
|
XBRL Schema Document*
|
|
101.CAL
|
XBRL Calculation Linkbase Document*
|
|
101.DEF
|
XBRL Definition Linkbase Document*
|
|
101.LAB
|
XBRL Label Linkbase Document*
|
|
101.PRE
|
XBRL Presentation Linkbase Document*
|
* |
Furnished herewith.
|
** |
Filed herewith.
|
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.
Dated: April 27, 2023
|
|||
I-ON DIGITAL CORP.
|
|||
By:
|
/s/ Carlos X. Montoya
|
||
Name: Carlos X. Montoya
|
|||
Title:
|
Chairman, President
(Principal Executive, Financial and Accounting Officer)
|
39