IDEANOMICS, INC. - Annual Report: 2018 (Form 10-K)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

x ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended: December 31, 2018

¨ TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from _____________ to _____________

Commission File No. 001-35561

IDEANOMICS, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

55 Broadway, 19^th Floor, New York, NY 10006

(Address of principal executive offices)

(212) 206-1216

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Exchange 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 x

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes ¨ No x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes x 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 x No ¨

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of 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, a 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

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 is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ¨ No x

As of June 30, 2018 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter as of the original date of this filing), the market value of the shares of the registrant’s common stock held by non-affiliates (based upon the closing price of shares as reported by Nasdaq) was approximately $73,955,570. Shares of the registrant’s common stock held by each executive officer and director and each by each person who owns 10% or more of the outstanding common stock have excluded from the calculation in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates of the registrant. This determination affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

There were a total of 134,061,959 shares of the registrant’s common stock outstanding as of April 1, 2019.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

None.

IDEANOMICS, INC.

Annual Report on FORM 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended December 31, 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements

In addition to historical information, this report contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act (as defined below), and Section 21E of the Exchange Act (as defined below). We use words such as “believe,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “project,” “target,” “plan,” “optimistic,” “intend,” “aim,” “will” or similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements include, among others, those concerning our transition to become a next-generation financial technology company; our expectations regarding the market for our new and existing products and industry segment growth; our expectations regarding demand for and acceptance of our new and existing products or services; our expectations regarding our partnerships and joint ventures, acquisitions, investments; our beliefs regarding the potential benefits and opportunities from integrating digital artificial intelligence and blockchain technology as part of our product and services offerings; our business strategies and goals; any projections of sales, earnings, revenue, margins or other financial items; any statements regarding the plans, strategies and objectives of management for future operations; any statements regarding future economic conditions or performance; uncertainties related to conducting business in the PRC; and all assumptions, expectations, predictions, intentions or beliefs about future events. You are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, including, and without limitation, those identified in Item 1A—“Risk Factors” included herein, as well as assumptions, which, if they were to ever materialize or prove incorrect, could cause the results of the Company to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, level of activity, performance, or achievements. Moreover, neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. The forward-looking statements included herein are made as of the date of this report. We undertake no obligation to update any of these forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, that may be made, from time to time, after the date of this report to conform our prior statements to actual results or revised expectations.

Use of Terms

Except as otherwise indicated by the context, references in this report to “we,” “us,” “our,” “our Company,” “the Company,” “IDEX,” or “Ideanomics,” are to the business of Ideanomics, Inc. (formerly known as “Seven Star Cloud Group, Inc.,” “SSC” and “Wecast Network, Inc.”), a Nevada corporation, and its consolidated subsidiaries and variable interest entities.

In addition, unless the context otherwise requires and for the purposes of this report only:

PART I

Overview

Ideanomics, Inc. (Nasdaq: IDEX) was incorporated in the State of Nevada on October 19, 2004. From 2010 through 2017, our primary business activities have been providing premium content video on demand (“VOD”) services, with primary operations in the PRC, through our subsidiaries and variable interest entities under the brand name You-on-Demand (“YOD”). In our YOD business, we provide premium content and integrated value-added service solutions for the delivery of VOD and paid video programming to digital cable providers, Internet protocol television (“IPTV”) providers, Over-the-Top (“OTT”) streaming providers, mobile manufacturers and operators, as well as direct customers.

Starting in early 2017, while continuing to support our YOD business, we began transitioning our business model to become a next-generation financial technology (“fintech”) company, with the intention of offering customized products and services based on best-in-class blockchain, artificial intelligence (“AI”) and other technologies to mature and emerging businesses across various industries. To do so, we are building a technology ecosystem through license agreements, joint ventures and strategic acquisitions, which we refer to as our “Fintech Ecosystem.” In parallel, through strategic acquisitions, equity investments and joint ventures, we are building a network of businesses, operating across industry verticals, that we believe have significant potential to recognize benefits from blockchain and AI technologies including, for example, enhancing operations, addressing cost inefficiencies, improving documentation and standardization, unlocking asset value and improving customer engagement.

Our core business strategy is to promote the use, development and advancement of blockchain- and AI-based technologies, and our positioning in the fintech industry overall, by bringing technology leaders together with industry leaders and creating synergies between the businesses in our expanding Fintech Ecosystem and the businesses in our network of industry verticals, which we refer to as our “Industry Ventures.” Specifically, we believe that the technologies being developed in our Fintech Ecosystem can be customized and leveraged to address various use cases presented by our Industry Ventures, which we believe will not only enhance the performance of our Industry Ventures, but also enhance the capabilities of our Fintech Ecosystem. For example, in 2017, we acquired a crude oil trading business and a consumer electronics trading business with the goal of gaining experience in the traditional logistics management and financing business, providing an initial use case for technologies in our Fintech Ecosystem, and enabling the application of our learning from operating these businesses to the development of an AI- and blockchain-enabled platform for more efficient logistics management and finance generally.

We refer to our YOD business as our legacy YOD segment and all our other operations, including the development of our Fintech Ecosystem and our Industry Ventures, as our Wecast Services segment, to suggest the wide net we are casting in identifying promising technologies and use cases for operations as a next-generation fintech company. The commodities trading component of the logistics management and financing businesses we acquired in 2017 provided 99.7% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018. As we further develop our FinTech services business and this business continues to mature, we have been gradually phasing out of our logistics management and financing business for strategic reasons, as further described in the Management Discussion and Analysis. During the fourth quarter of 2018 we began experiencing market demand for non-logistics management revenue generating opportunities and have begun focusing our efforts on these new market FinTech services opportunities, while phasing out of the oil trading and electronics trading businesses. These new FinTech services market opportunities are in line with our FinTech Ecosystem and Industry Ventures strategy. While we intend to continue to capitalize on our efforts and learnings from the overall logistics management business it is not intended to be our core business. Various other aspects of the development of our Fintech Ecosystem and our Industry Ventures, as described below, are still in the planning and testing phase and are generally not operational or revenue generating.

Fintech Ecosystem

We primarily rely upon third-party intellectual property (“IP”) for the AI and blockchain technology being developed for our Wecast Services segment. In evaluating prospective technologies we seek to acquire, in-license or promote through joint ventures, we are focused on identifying industry leaders with strong and established engineering teams and technologies that are substantially developed. In doing so, we believe we can reduce the risks of reliance on a single technology with speculative functionality and adoption potential, while enhancing our flexibility and adaptability in a rapidly evolving technological environment.

Our strategy is to leverage the technology and teams that comprise our Fintech Ecosystem to create customized solutions for the use cases presented to us by our Industry Ventures. The customization of these business applications would be undertaken by our acquired subsidiaries or the joint ventures, as applicable, with the business development efforts of our parent company focused on expanding the network of technologies in our Fintech Ecosystem and facilitating other synergies between our Fintech Ecosystem and our Industry Ventures. While the development and expansion of our Fintech Ecosystem is primarily driven by a desire to match specific technologies with specific use applications in our Industry Ventures, we believe that many of the technologies in our Fintech Ecosystem will have applications outside of our own Industry Ventures, and that the work in customizing technology to our Industry Ventures can be leveraged to develop products and services for third parties.

BDCG Joint Venture

Between December 2017 and April 2018, we formed BBD Digital Capital Group Ltd., a New York corporation (“BDCG”), as a joint venture with management partner Seasail, an affiliate of Big Business Data (“BBD”). We hold approximately 60% of the equity interest of BDCG and have the power to appoint three of the five directors of the board of BDCG. BDCG intends to capitalize on commodity and energy providers’ needs for more precise risk management services, more informed operational planning and more strategic decision-making, specifically in the trading of index funds, futures and commodities. BDCG focuses on developing AI-driven financial data services as well as building transactional platforms for index, futures and derivative trading, for both global commodity and energy clients. Planned financial data services also include risk management solutions, platforms for trading derivatives and indices, and debt and credit product offerings, with the primary objective being enhancing trading and risk management strategies.

BDCG leverages Pluto, Seasail’s AI technology, which Seasail licenses to BDCG. Pluto takes in dynamic, multi-variable inputs, such as, in the case of crude oil, information regarding trading, production origination, economic data and weather, and processes them according to flexible programmed models. For debt and credit products, BDCG has focused on data collection and integration capabilities based on “massive public data” and “acquired third-party data,” including credit and multi-party loans. BBD has accumulated the information of over 100 million companies. Such information contains more than 150 data tables and over 3,700 data fields, and the amount of data continues to grow rapidly. BDCG can use the data accumulated by BBD to create risk and index models. Once these models are layered into a rating and risk management system and loan approval system for trade finance, the AI system can make informed recommendations as to trading and risk management. Pluto is then sold and licensed to third party financial product stakeholders for these services.

We believe we can leverage BDCG’s AI services for the creation of financial products, risk ratings and indexing, and selection and recommendation systems on behalf of key stakeholders. By using AI technology to analyze the digital securitized assets we intend to develop, we aim to elevate not only the quality of the financial product, but also interactions among stakeholders. We also intend to design the digital securitized assets we develop to have data attributes that can be integrated into BDCG’s approach for processing financial data.

Fundamental Interactions

In June 2018, we entered into a non-exclusive, royalty-bearing licensing agreement with Fundamental Interactions, Inc. (“FI”), which currently expires on June 25, 2021, with respect to certain blockchain technologies, including FI’s Velocity Ledger, a blockchain-based, software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that operates as a private blockchain solution for financial services. Through this agreement, we intend to leverage core FI technology and the Velocity Ledger platform to support the tokenization, secondary trading and settlement of new blockchain-based securities.

FinTalk

In September 2018, we entered into an agreement for the acquisition of FinTalk, a secure mobile messaging, collaboration and information services platform that delivers encrypted text and media messaging, with high performance large file transfer capabilities.

Industry Ventures

We believe there are a number of industries that can benefit from the application of next-generation technologies, such as blockchain, AI, machine learning and big data. Our strategy is not only to promote the development of promising technologies through our Fintech Ecosystem, but also to acquire, invest in and form joint ventures with businesses in the various industries that we believe can be well served by our Fintech Ecosystem. In so doing, we believe that we can benefit both from growth in the Industry Ventures themselves, as well as from the enhanced potential for monetizing the technologies in our Fintech Ecosystem that would come with refining these technologies for our Industry Ventures.

Logistics Management and Financing

Our first group of Industry Ventures has focused on the logistics management and financing industry. Logistics management is the component of supply chain management that helps organizations plan, manage and implement processes to store and move goods from origin to destination. Logistics financing supports businesses where the order-to-delivery cycle may not correlate with cash flow needs. We believe that by ensuring that information is transparent, accurate and verifiable at various stages during the shipping process, blockchain-enabled logistics management platforms can streamline and standardize the product flow from sellers to buyers and eliminate standard transactional intermediaries in the freight and shipping industry. Further, we believe that by decreasing middle-man costs, we can greatly improve the efficiency of capital utilization, expand margins and accelerate inventory turnover for companies shipping and ordering goods. In addition, we believe that the transparency and security provided by blockchain technologies, combined with the computing power of AI technologies, can reduce existing logistics financing costs, including by improving risk management and decision making, and enable alternative logistics financing solutions.

To support the development of blockchain- and AI-based technologies for the logistics management and financing industries, we entered the commodities trading business, with the primary goal of learning about the needs of buyers and sellers in industries that rely heavily on the shipment of goods to inform our understanding of the features a blockchain platform would need in order to serve this industry vertical. Specifically, we elected to focus on the crude oil and consumer electronics businesses, which are industries that we estimate are sufficiently commoditized and high volume, in order to (i) serve as meaningful controls, (ii) identify inefficiencies in the logistics management and finance industries and (iii) generate data to support the potential future application of AI solutions.

Our crude oil trading business commenced in October 2017, when we formed our Singapore joint venture, Seven Stars Energy Pte. Ltd. (“SSE”), which is 51% owned by us. The other partner in the joint venture is a businessman based in Singapore with extensive experience in the oil trading industry and ownership or control of several large oil tankers. Our consumer electronics trading business commenced on January 2017, and is operated by our subsidiary Amer Global Technology Limited (“Amer”), in which we have a 55% interest. The end customers in our crude oil and consumer electronics trading businesses include about 15 to 20 corporations across the world. Our crude oil trading business does not currently integrate blockchain- or AI-based logistics solutions.

While we have begun phasing out of the crude oil trading business and the electronics trading business, we intend to continue to capitalize on our efforts and learning from these businesses so that we can leverage the applications of our technologies and FinTech Ecosystem across this business and as part of our Industry Ventures strategy.

Consumer Digital Products

Our second group of Industry Ventures focuses on consumer digital products. We believe that existing communities of consumers, merchants and service providers can significantly benefit from platforms that leverage blockchain technologies to aggregate content and services and products, such as blockchain-based digital membership cards, digital wallets, and loyalty programs that offer cash or other token-based rewards to users within these communities.

In September 2018, we purchased a 65.65% equity interest in Grapevine Logic Inc. (“Grapevine”), and an affiliate of Dr. Bruno Wu, our Chairman of the Board has an option to require us to acquire the remaining stake in Grapevine. Grapevine is an end-to-end influencer marketing platform that facilitates collaboration between advertisers and brands with video based social influencers and content creators. Through the Grapevine platform, more than 4,700 companies have been able to hire the services of over 177,000 social influencers, ultimately helping these companies to promote their products and strengthen their brand. We believe that Grapevine will help us develop strength in the consumer digital products industry vertical by providing the platform for connecting brands with content-producing influencers and their large-scale audience of consumer-driven followers to whom digital tokens, loyalty and discount cards, multi-purpose digital wallets, and other services may be marketed via Grapevine on behalf of Ideanomics, brand advertisers and influencers, all according to a follower’s areas of interest.

Also in September 2018, we announced the proposed joint venture with Asia Times Holdings (“AT”), a Hong Kong company which owns the Asia Times newspaper, to be named Asia Times Financial Limited (“ATF”). Effective February 20, 2019, the Company and AT agreed to terminate their subscription agreement so that the Company will retain approximately 4.0% interest in AT, and not be obligated to make any further investment into AT. In addition, the parties have agreed to terminate the Shareholder’s Agreement for the joint venture, Asia Times Financial.

Financial Services

As evidenced by the proliferation of offerings of blockchain-based tokens in recent years, and the rapid growth of an industry to support these offerings, we believe that a core use case for blockchain and AI technology lies in financial services, digital asset securitization, and blockchain-enabled trading platforms. We plan to provide consulting services to companies seeking financing both through the sales of blockchain based instruments, such as securitized assets represented by digital tokens, which we refer to as “digital securitized assets,” as well as through conventional means, such as sales of traditional equity and debt securities. We believe that this dual approach to financial transactions, coupled with a related AI and blockchain enabled financial services platform, will provide us with flexibility to address the needs of issuers and investors. We also aim to use AI-powered analytics from our technology investments for different use cases, such as the trading, pricing, indexing and ratings of digital tokens (including digital securitized assets). Although we do not yet offer products or services in this industry vertical, we believe that ultimately, the Industry Ventures we form, acquire, or invest in this area will become the core of our business.

Digital Asset Securitization

We believe that we can use AI- and blockchain-enabled technology to provide a seamless method and platform for the creation and trading of digital securitized assets. Specifically, we plan to facilitate the securitization of tangible and intangible assets, such as data and IP, into new financial products, to “tokenize” these financial products by digitally recording them on a blockchain, to enable advanced platforms and capabilities using AI and blockchain technology, and to support the distribution and monetization of digital securitized assets. In so doing, we can be a leader in the transition of traditional financial products, such as commodities, currencies, credit, leasing, real estate and other asset classes, into the asset digitalization era.

Creating digital securitized assets requires the conversion of illiquid, tangible and intangible assets into blockchain enabled securities that we anticipate will, subject to future regulatory approval, be easily traded via exchanges, and as such, are more liquid than the underlying asset. We refer to this process as “digital asset securitization.”

As a first step in this process, we are identifying and engaging in discussions, negotiations and, in some cases, joint ventures, with third parties that own the specific tangible and intangible assets to be securitized, who we refer to as “asset originators,” or that have relationships with asset originators. We may also elect to securitize assets owned by our Company. Next, we will work with domestic and international securities market professionals, including licensed broker-dealers, merchant banks, ratings agencies and financial institutions, to structure and document the securitization of the assets, creating an asset backed financial product that can be more easily distributed and traded. This securitization process may include the pooling of assets, whether within the same asset class or across asset classes or asset originator types, or fractionalization of ownership of individual assets.

Once assets have been securitized, the new asset backed financial product will be represented in the form of digital, blockchain based tokens. We refer to this process as “digital tokenization.” Digital tokens are representative units of value, analogous to a stock certificate or a book-entry position, each of which reflects a holder’s ownership of a security, the terms of which are established in the investment documentation. Each of these tokens will be created by a “smart contract,” a self-executing agreement whose lines of code will reflect the economic and governance terms determined in the asset securitization process.

We intend for our digital tokenization process largely to rely upon technologies already in use and accessible in today’s blockchain market, such as Ethereum’s ERC-20 tokens, thus reducing the need, costs and execution risks of new technology development. We also intend to enter into leverage our Fintech Ecosystem to use blockchains that may be optimized for tokenization of assets in specific industry verticals, including, potentially basing these technologies on FI’s Velocity Ledger. We believe there are myriad benefits that can potentially be afforded by tokenizing securities via Velocity Ledger, including new product creation and market exposure, competitive fees, fast deal execution, and access to institutional investors and broker dealers.

Trading and Financial Services Platforms

We believe that regulated alternative trading systems (“ATSs”) and sophisticated risk management software are important for the development of trading markets for blockchain based digital tokens, including the digital securitized assets we plan to originate as part of our financial services business. Accordingly, we are making strategic investments that are intended to promote the development of regulated ATSs that will enhance the blockchain token trading ecosystem and AI-based ratings systems to enhance the market viability of our digital securitized assets.

Between August 2017 and December 2018, we acquired approximately 36.92% of the capital stock of Delaware Board of Trade Holdings, Inc. (“DBOT”), which is a FINRA member firm and has filed an initial operations report on Form ATS to give notice of operations of DBOT ATS, LLC (“DBOT ATS”), and which we believe is well positioned to develop blockchain-enabled transactional platforms. DBOT operates three business lines, (i) DBOT ATS, which is intended to be an ATS for equity securities not listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq, (ii) DBOT Issuer Services LLC, which is focused on setting and maintaining issuer standards, as well as the provision of issuer services to DBOT designated issuers, and (iii) DBOT Technology Services LLC, which is focused on the provision of market data and marketplace connectivity.

DBOT has entered into agreements with FI (which is also a licensor to Ideanomics), pursuant to which FI is developing a blockchain enabled primary issuance and secondary trading platform for DBOT ATS using the Velocity Ledger. Under the agreements, DBOT will maintain licensing rights for the technology.

Our Fintech Revenue Model:

As part of our transitioning to a next-generation fintech company, we began developing our revenue and business model to be closely aligned with the technologies and industries that we support in our FinTech Ecosystem and Industry Ventures in a way that we can capitalize on the market demand for these products and services.

Our FinTech business and revenue model is directly connected with the agreements and partnerships that we engage in. The underlying economics vary on a case by case basis (due to the particular industry that they are a part of, and specific facts and circumstances for each agreement), but generally they have the following characteristics:

Digital Assets, Blockchain and AI:

Asia Operations:

Lease Financing:

U.S. Operations:

Licensing of Technologies / FinTech Village:

Equity Investments:

Additionally, we benefit from the various equity interests that we have in our various subsidiaries, joint ventures, and partnerships across our Fintech Ecosystem and Industry Ventures. In cases where valuable intellectual property is generated by through these strategic investments, the Company will consider strategic licensing agreements and additional business models in exchange for our services to further enhance revenue.

Legacy YOD Segment

Since 2010, we have provided premium content and integrated value-added service solutions for the delivery of VOD and paid video programming to digital cable providers, IPTV providers, OTT streaming providers, mobile manufacturers and operators, as well as direct customers. The core revenues were generated from both minimum guarantee payments and revenue sharing arrangements with distribution partners as well as subscription or transactional fees from subscribers.

In October 2016, we signed an agreement to form a five year partnership with Zhejiang Yanhua Culture Media Co., Ltd., a company organized under the laws of the PRC (“Yanhua”), where Yanhua will act as the exclusive distribution operator (within the territory of PRC) of our licensed library of major studio films (the “Yanhua Partnership”). We entered into the Yanhua Partnership and exclusive distribution agreement in order to offset losses from high upfront minimum guarantee licensing fees to studios. The Yanhua Partnership modified and improved our legacy major studio paid content business model by moving from a framework that included high and fixed costs and upfront minimum guaranteed payments, rising content costs from major Hollywood studios and low margins to a structure that will now include relatively nominal costs to our Company and the opportunity to reach an even wider audience. With the Yanhua Partnership, Yanhua assumed all sales and marketing costs and will pay us a minimum guarantee in exchange for a percentage of the total revenue share.

Pursuant to the Yanhua Partnership, the existing legacy Hollywood studio paid content as well as other IP content specified in the agreement, along with the corresponding authorized rights letter that we are entitled to, were transferred to Yanhua for RMB13,000,000 (approximately $2 million), to be paid in two equal installments in the amount of RMB6,500,000 (approximately $1 million). The first installment was received on December 30, 2016 and was recognized as revenue in 2017 based on the relative fair value of licensed content delivered to Yanhua. The second installment will be paid if the license content fees due to studios for the existing legacy Hollywood paid contents are settled. To date, the legacy Hollywood studio paid content and other IP has not been transferred, as the second installment was not yet made.

We still run our legacy YOD segment with limited resources and plan to continue to run it through the Yanhua Partnership, where Yanhua will act as the exclusive distribution operator (within the PRC) of our licensed library of major studio films. We launched our legacy VOD service through the acquisition of YOD Hong Kong (formerly Sinotop Group Limited) on July 30, 2010, by China CB Cayman. Through a series of contractual arrangements, YOD WFOE, the subsidiary of YOD Hong Kong, controls Sinotop Beijing, a corporation established in the PRC. Sinotop Beijing was the 80% owner of Zhong Hai Media until June 30, 2017, through which we provided: (1) integrated value–added business–to–business (“B2B”) service solutions for the delivery of VOD and enhanced premium content for digital cable; (2) integrated value–added business–to–business–to–customer (“B2B2C”) service solutions for the delivery of VOD and enhanced premium content for IPTV and OTT providers; and (3) a direct to user, or business-to-customer (“B2C”), mobile video service app. We sold Zhong Hai Media on June 30, 2017 to Hanghzou for a nominal amount.

Management Team with Significant FinTech, Blockchain and AI Experience

To support our transition to a next-generation AI and blockchain enabled fintech company, we have strategically secured a management team with diversified expertise in operations, technology, fintech, blockchain, AI, capital markets and the financial services industry, and largely transitioned our operations toward the United States, having 18 U.S. employees as of December 31, 2018 compared to three as of December 31, 2017. As of the date of this filing, key members of our management team include:

Dr. Bruno Wu. Our Chairman of the Board is an experienced investor, technology and media entrepreneur, and philanthropist. Dr. Wu has been actively involved with blockchain enabled and big data technologies since October 2011. After four years of investment and research, in 2015, Dr. Wu and Beijing Sun Seven Stars Culture Development Limited (“SSS”), an affiliate of Dr. Wu and a significant shareholder in our Company, proceeded to execute the strategy of becoming a leader in fintech and asset digitization services by aggregating AI, blockchain and other big data and cloud-based technologies, carefully sourced and selected on a global basis through joint ventures and partnerships. These partnerships focus on customizing and enabling actual business use case applications. Dr. Wu actively participated in the build out of a leading big data hub in Guiyang, China, particularly by endorsing the integration of AI and blockchain. Dr. Wu has committed to transforming our Company into a fintech and asset digitization services flagship, with multiple use case technology engines to be rolled out.

Mr. Alf Poor. Our Chief Executive Officer, and President of the Connecticut Fintech Village, is a former Chief Operating Officer at Global Data Sentinel, a cybersecurity company that specializes in identity management, file access control, protected sharing, reporting and tracking, AI and thread response, and backup and recovery. He is the former President and Chief Operating Officer of Agendize Services Inc., a company with an integrated suite of applications that help businesses generate higher quality leads, improve business efficiency and customer engagement. Mr. Poor is a client-focused and profitability-driven management executive with a track record of success at both rapidly-growing technology companies and large, multi-national, organizations.

Mr. Federico Tovar. Our Chief Financial Officer is a seasoned business professional and subject matter expert in AI, fintech, blockchain, IoT and cybersecurity. He was previously the Chief Financial and Strategy Officer of Global Data Sentinel Inc, a privately held and high growth cybersecurity and AI technology company that supports data security across domains, including network, cloud, mobile and IoT, with AI capabilities and next-generation applications in fintech, blockchain, energy, insurance, healthcare, and media industries, amongst others. Mr. Tovar has developed strategic plans and business models, structured various IP and technology licensing deals, closed on various M&A transactions and debt and equity financing rounds, and formulated corporate growth and financial strategies for technology companies which have resulted in measurable execution strategies.

Ms. Kate Lam is Managing Director, Digital Capital Markets. Ms. Lam has more than twenty years of financial markets experience in marketing multiple asset classes to Propellr, a fintech platform for multi-asset financing. She successfully obtained the SEC broker dealer license for Propellr Securities and integrated regulatory best practices into the platform. As CEO of the broker dealer, she worked closely with engineers and product managers to design specifications for investor vetting, as well as perform due diligences on financing deals. She was also the Head of Institutional Sales and Investor Relations for the company. Prior to Propellr, Ms. Lam held senior management positions at Deutsche Bank, Bear Stearns and Standard Chartered Bank with a client base spanning central banks, global and regional banks, asset managers, global insurance companies and hedge funds.

Dr. George Yuan. Dr. George Yuan is the Chief Technology Officer of BBDCG. Dr. Yuan is a world leading expert on dynamic ontology for credit risk assessment and risk management. He served as the leader for risk management consulting at KPMG (US) and the Director of China / Hong Kong Deloitte Financial Consulting. Dr. Yuan was selected as a National Distinguished Expert in Shanghai’s and Sichuan’s “The Thousand Talents Plan” in 2013 and 2018, and he is the Chief Editor for The Journal of Financial Engineering. Dr. Yuan’s is leading BDCG’s focus on AI driven financial data services as well as transactional platforms for index, futures and derivative trading, for both global commodity and energy clients. Dr. Yuan is the Chief Risk Officer and Chief Engineer of BDCG. Dr. Yuan has held a professorship at the Institute of Risk Management at Tongji University. Dr. Yuan’s study and work has centered around the valuation of financial derivatives and value-at-risk (“VaR”) modeling for market risk, credit risk and operational risk under the framework of the Basel II (Basel III) Accord, financial and credit derivatives pricing, portfolio optimization, risk limit design, commodity forward price curve design, complex position, commodity price risk assessment and asset valuation.

Corporate Structure

The following chart depicts our corporate structure as of December 31, 2018: 

VIE Structure and Arrangements

To comply with PRC laws and regulations that prohibit or restrict foreign ownership of companies that provide value-added telecommunication services, we provide services through Sinotop Beijing and SSF, which hold the licenses and approvals to provide digital distribution and Internet content services in the PRC. We have the ability to control Sinotop Beijing and SSF through a series of contractual agreements, as described below, entered into among YOD WFOE, YOD Hong Kong, Sinotop Beijing, SSF and the respective legal shareholders of Sinotop Beijing and SSF.

Through these contractual arrangements, we have acquired both control over and rights to, 100% of the economic benefit of Sinotop Beijing and SSF. Accordingly, Sinotop Beijing and SSF are each considered a VIE, and are therefore consolidated in our financial statements. Pursuant to the below contractual agreements, YOD WFOE can have the assets transferred freely out of each VIE without any restrictions. Therefore, YOD WFOE considers that there is no asset of the respective VIE that can be used only to settle obligation of such VIE, except for the registered capital of each respective VIE, amounting to RMB10.6 million (approximately $1.6 million) for Sinotop Beijing, and RMB27.6 million (approximately $4.2 million) has been injected as of December 31, 2018. As Sinotop Beijing and SSF are incorporated as limited liability companies under PRC Company Law, creditors of these two entities do not have recourse to the general credit of our other entities.

The following is a summary of the common contractual arrangements that provide us with effective control our VIEs and that enable us to receive substantially all of the economic benefits from their operations:

Equity Pledge Agreement

Pursuant to the Equity Pledge Agreement among YOD WFOE and the respective nominee shareholders, the nominee shareholders pledge all of their capital contribution rights in the VIEs to YOD WFOE as security for the performance of the obligations of the VIEs to make all the required technical service fee payments pursuant to the Technical Services Agreement and for performance of the nominee shareholders’ obligation under the Call Option Agreement. The terms of the Equity Pledge Agreement expire upon satisfaction of all obligations under the Technical Services Agreement and Call Option Agreement.

Call Option Agreement

Pursuant to the Call Option Agreement among YOD WFOE, the VIEs and the respective nominee shareholders, the nominee shareholders grant an exclusive option to YOD WFOE, or its designee, to purchase, at any time and from time to time, to the extent permitted under PRC law, all or any portion of the nominee shareholders’ equity in the VIEs. The exercise price of the option shall be determined by YOD WFOE at its sole discretion, subject to any restrictions imposed by PRC law. The term of the agreement is until all of the equity interest in the VIEs held by the nominee shareholders is transferred to YOD WFOE, or its designee and may not be terminated by any party to the agreement without consent of the other parties.

Power of Attorney

Pursuant to the Power of Attorney agreements among YOD WFOE, each VIE and each of the respective nominee shareholders, each nominee shareholder grants YOD WFOE the irrevocable right, for the maximum period permitted by law, to all of its voting rights as shareholder of the VIE. The nominee shareholders may not transfer any of their equity interest in the VIE to any party other than YOD WFOE. The Power of Attorney agreements may not be terminated except until all of the equity in the VIE has been transferred to YOD WFOE or its designee.

Technical Service Agreement

Pursuant to the Technical Service Agreement, between YOD WFOE and each VIE, YOD WFOE has the exclusive right to provide technical service, marketing and management consulting service, financial support service and human resource support services to VIE, and VIE is required to take all commercially reasonable efforts to permit and facilitate the provision of the services by YOD WFOE. As compensation for providing the services, YOD WFOE is entitled to receive service fees from VIE equivalent to YOD WFOE’s cost plus 20-30% of such costs as calculated on accounting policies generally accepted in the PRC. YOD WFOE and VIE agree to periodically review the service fee and make adjustments as deemed appropriate. The term of the Technical Services Agreement is perpetual, and may only be terminated upon written consent of both parties.

Spousal Consent

Pursuant to the Spousal Consent, undersigned by the respective spouse of the nominee shareholders, the spouses unconditionally and irrevocably agree to the execution of the Equity Pledge Agreement, Call Option Agreement and Power of Attorney agreement. The spouses agree to not make any assertions in connection with the equity interest of VIE and to waive consent on further amendment or termination of the Equity Pledge Agreement, Call Option Agreement and Power of Attorney agreement. The spouses further pledge to execute all necessary documents and take all necessary actions to ensure appropriate performance under these agreements upon YOD WFOE’s request. In the event the spouses obtain any equity interests of VIE which are held by the nominee shareholders, the spouses agreed to be bound by the VIE agreements, including the Technical Services Agreement, and comply with the obligations thereunder, including sign a series of written documents in substantially the same format and content as the VIE agreements.

Letter of Indemnification

Pursuant to the Letter of Indemnification among YOD WFOE and each nominee shareholder, YOD WFOE agrees to indemnify such nominee shareholder against any personal, tax or other liabilities incurred in connection with their role in equity transfer to the greatest extent permitted under PRC law. YOD WFOE further waives and releases the nominee shareholders from any claims arising from, or related to, their role as the legal shareholder of the VIE, provided that their actions as a nominee shareholder are taken in good faith and are not opposed to YOD WFOE’s best interests. The nominee shareholders will not be entitled to dividends or other benefits generated therefrom, or receive any compensation in connection with this arrangement. The Letter of Indemnification will remain valid until either the nominee shareholder or YOD WFOE terminates the agreement by giving the other party hereto sixty (60) days’ prior written notice.

Management Services Agreement

In addition to VIE agreements described above, our subsidiary and the parent company of YOD WFOE, YOU On Demand (Asia) Limited, a company incorporated under the laws of Hong Kong (“YOD Hong Kong”) has entered into a Management Services Agreement with each VIE.

Pursuant to such Management Services Agreement, YOD Hong Kong has the exclusive right to provide to the VIE management, financial and other services related to the operation of the VIE’s business, and the VIE is required to take all commercially reasonable efforts to permit and facilitate the provision of the services by YOD Hong Kong. As compensation for providing the services, YOD Hong Kong is entitled to receive a fee from the VIE, upon demand, equal to 100% of the annual net profits as calculated on accounting policies generally accepted in the PRC of the VIE during the term of the Management Services Agreement. YOD Hong Kong may also request ad hoc quarterly payments of the aggregate fee, which payments will be credited against the VIE’s future payment obligations.

In addition, at the sole discretion of YOD Hong Kong, the VIE is obligated to transfer to YOD Hong Kong, or its designee, any part or all of the business, personnel, assets and operations of the VIE which may be lawfully conducted, employed, owned or operated by YOD Hong Kong, including:

(a)           business opportunities presented to, or available to the VIE may be pursued and contracted for in the name of YOD Hong Kong rather than the VIE, and at its discretion, YOD Hong Kong may employ the resources of the VIE to secure such opportunities;

(b)           any tangible or intangible property of the VIE, any contractual rights, any personnel, and any other items or things of value held by the VIE may be transferred to YOD Hong Kong at book value;

(c)           real property, personal or intangible property, personnel, services, equipment, supplies and any other items useful for the conduct of the business may be obtained by YOD Hong Kong by acquisition, lease, license or otherwise, and made available to the VIE on terms to be determined by agreement between YOD Hong Kong and the VIE;

(d)           contracts entered into in the name of the VIE may be transferred to YOD Hong Kong, or the work under such contracts may be subcontracted, in whole or in part, to YOD Hong Kong, on terms to be determined by agreement between YOD Hong Kong and the VIE; and

(e)           any changes to, or any expansion or contraction of, the business may be carried out in the exercise of the sole discretion of YOD Hong Kong, and in the name of and at the expense of, YOD Hong Kong;

(f)           provided, however, that none of the foregoing may cause or have the effect of terminating (without being substantially replaced under the name of YOD Hong Kong) or adversely affecting any license, permit or regulatory status of the VIE.

The term of each Management Services Agreement is 20 years, and may not be terminated by the VIE, except with the consent of, or a material breach by, YOD Hong Kong.

Loan Agreement

Pursuant to the Loan Agreement among YOD WFOE and the nominee shareholders, YOD WFOE agrees to lend RMB19.8 million and RMB0.2 million, respectively, to the nominee shareholders of SSF for the purpose of establishing SSF and for development of its business. As of December 31, 2018, RMB27.6 million ($4.2 million) and RMB nil have been lent to Lan Yang and Yun Zhu, respectively. Lan Yang has contributed all of the RMB27.6 million ($4.2 million) in the form of capital contribution and accordingly the loan is eliminated with the capital of SSF upon consolidation. The loan can only be repaid by a transfer by the nominee shareholders of their equity interests in SSF to YOD WFOE or YOD WFOE’s designated persons, through (i) YOD WFOE having the right, but not the obligation to at any time purchase, or authorize a designated person to purchase, all or part of the Nominee Shareholders’ equity interests in SSF at such price as YOD WFOE shall determine (the “Transfer Price”), (ii) all monies received by the nominee shareholders through the payment of the Transfer Price being used solely to repay YOD WFOE for the loans, and (iii) if the Transfer Price exceeds the principal amount of the loans, the amount in excess of the principal amount of the loans being deemed as interest payable on the loans, and to be payable to YOD WFOE in cash. Otherwise, the loans shall be deemed to be interest-free. The term of the Loan Agreement is perpetual, and may only be terminated upon the nominee shareholders receiving repayment notice, or upon the occurrence of an event of default under the terms of the agreement.

Our Unconsolidated Equity Investments

We hold a 30% ownership interest in Shandong Media, which is our print based media business, and account for our investment in Shandong Media under the equity method. The business of Shandong Media includes a television programming guide publication, the distribution of periodicals, the publication of advertising, the organization of public relations events, the provision of information related services, copyright transactions, the production of audio and video products, and the provision of audio value added communication services.

We hold a 39% ownership interest in Hua Cheng, and account for our investment in Hua Cheng under the equity method. The business of Hua Cheng mainly includes distribution of content and VOD business on television terminal.

We hold a 50% ownership interest in Wecast Internet Limited, a Hong Kong company (“Wecast Internet”), and account for our investment in Wecast Internet under the equity method. The business of Wecast Internet mainly includes computer network technology development, integrated circuit of software and hardware technology development, technical consultation.

From August 2017 through December 31, 2018, we acquired 36.92% ownership interest in DBOT, and are accounting for our investment in DBOT under the equity method starting from October 2018. DBOT is a FINRA member firm, and filed an initial operations report on Form ATS to give notice of DBOT ATS’s operations. DBOT is powered through blockchain technology licensed from one of our strategic licensing partners.

In 2018, we signed a joint venture agreement to establish BDCG located in the United States for providing blockchain services for financial or energy industries by utilizing AI and big data technology in the United States.  We hold a 60% ownership and Seasail ventures limited (“Seasail”) holds 40% of BDCG.  The new entity is currently in the process of ramping up its operations.

Our investments in Shandong Media, Hua Cheng, Wecast Internet, DBOT and BDCG where we may exercise significant influence, but not control, is classified as a long-term equity investment and accounted for using the equity method. Under the equity method, the investment is initially recorded at cost and adjusted for our share of undistributed earnings or losses of the investee. Investment losses are recognized until the investment is written down to nil, provided that we do not guarantee the investee’s obligations or we are committed to provide additional funding. 

Our Competition

Wecast Services Segment

We will face significant competition with respect to the products and services we plan to offer in the blockchain and AI enabled fintech business we are building, and we currently face significant competition with respect to the businesses we operate that currently generate revenue for our Company. Our long-term strategic goal is to leverage blockchain and AI based fintech solutions to offer products and services that will bring transparency, efficiency and cost savings to various markets, including finance, commodities, energy, consumer products and transportation logistics. We therefore face significant competitive pressure not only with other developers of blockchain and AI technologies in the fintech space, but also in the markets for the products and services we offer or plan to offer, which are very competitive and subject to rapid technological advances, new market entrants, non-traditional competitors, changes in industry standards and changes in customer needs and consumption models.

We believe that our parallel development strategy of building out our Fintech Ecosystem while developing a network of Industry Ventures will enable us to compete in our planned businesses on the basis of our ability to offer a wider range of value-added services than our competitors. We also believe that our unique position as a cross-border company will give us the ability to create partnerships with companies developing new technologies in both the U.S. and Asia.

While we generate revenues from our crude oil and consumer electronics business, we engage in this business largely for research purposes to support our development of fintech solutions for this space, and not primarily with a view to competitive returns.

YOD Segment

The market for video entertainment is subject to continuous change and aggressive competition. Our primary competitors in this space include Internet based content providers and the DVD market, such as iQiyi.com, Youku, Tencent and Sohu. We also face competitors who may attempt to undercut the market by providing pirated (illegal) content. Although we can provide no assurances that other companies will not enter the market of providing such services, we believe that we will have a competitive advantage over any new market entrant because of our exclusive joint venture partnership with CCTV-6’s pay channel, CHC, and first to market advantage.

Seasonality Variations in Business

We expect a disproportionate amount of our revenues generated from Wecast Services quarter over quarter to be subject to seasoned fluctuations at holiday periods and due to introduction of new consumer electronics products. There may also be fluctuations related to weather changes for the crude oil trading business. This pattern may change, however, as a result of new market opportunities or new product introductions.

Regulation

General Regulation of Businesses in the PRC

We are required to obtain government approval from the Ministry of Commerce of the PRC (“MOFCOM”), and other government agencies in the PRC for transactions, such as our acquisition or disposition of business entities in the PRC. Additionally, foreign ownership of business and assets in the PRC is not permitted without specific government approval. For this reason, Sinotop Beijing was acquired through our acquisition of YOD Hong Kong, which controls Sinotop Beijing through a series of contractual agreements with YOD Hong Kong and YOD WFOE. We use voting control agreements among the parties so as to obtain equitable and legal ownership or control of our subsidiaries and VIEs to conduct our legacy YOD business.

Investment activities in the PRC by foreign investors are principally governed by the Guidance Catalogue of Industries for Foreign Investment, or the Catalogue, which was promulgated and is amended from time to time by the MOFCOM and the National Development and Reform Commission. The Catalogue sets forth the industries in which foreign investments are “encouraged”, “restricted”, or “prohibited”. Industries that are not listed in any of the above three categories are permitted areas for foreign investments and are generally open to foreign investment unless specifically restricted by other PRC regulations. Establishment of wholly foreign owned enterprises is generally allowed in encouraged and permitted industries. Foreign investors are not allowed to invest in industries in the prohibited category.

According to the latest version of the Catalogue, which came into effect on July 28, 2017, foreign investments in value-added telecommunications services (except for e-commerce) are “restricted”. Therefore, we provide value-added telecommunications services through our VIE in the PRC.

Other than value-added telecommunications, most of our PRC subsidiaries mainly engage in technical services, consultations and trading activities, which are “encouraged” under the latest version of the Catalogue.

Under PRC law, the establishment of a wholly foreign owned enterprise is subject to the approval of or filing with the MOFCOM or its local counterparts and the wholly foreign owned enterprise must register with the competent industry and commerce bureau. Our significant PRC subsidiaries have duly obtained all material approvals required for their business operations.

Foreign direct investment in telecommunications companies in the PRC is governed by the Regulations for the Administration of Foreign-Invested Telecommunications Enterprises, which was promulgated by the State Council on December 11, 2001 and recently amended on February 6, 2016. The regulations provide that a foreign investor’s beneficial equity ownership in an entity providing value-added telecommunications services in the PRC is not permitted to exceed 50%. In addition, the main foreign investor who invests in a foreign-invested value-added telecommunications enterprise operating the value-added telecommunications business in the PRC must demonstrate a good track record and experience in operating a value-added telecommunications business, provided such investor is a major one among the foreign investors investing in a value-added telecommunications enterprise in the PRC. Moreover, foreign investors that meet these requirements must obtain approvals from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, or the MIIT, and the MOFCOM, or their authorized local counterparts, which retain considerable discretion in granting approvals, for its commencement of value-added telecommunications business in the PRC.

The MIIT’s Notice Regarding Strengthening Administration of Foreign Investment in Operating Value-Added Telecommunication Businesses, or the MIIT Notice, issued on July 13, 2006 prohibits holders of these services licenses from leasing, transferring or selling their licenses in any form, or providing any resources, sites or facilities, to any foreign investors intending to conduct such businesses in the PRC.

The PRC market, in which we operate our legacy YOD business, poses certain macro-economic and regulatory risks and uncertainties. These uncertainties extend to the ability of us to conduct wireless telecommunication services through contractual arrangements in the PRC since the industry remains highly regulated. We conduct those operations in the PRC through a series of contractual arrangements entered among YOD WFOE, Sinotop Beijing as the parent company of Zhong Hai Media, SSF and the respective legal shareholders of Sinotop Beijing and SSF. We believe that these contractual arrangements are in compliance with PRC law and are legally enforceable. If Sinotop Beijing, SSF or their respective legal shareholders fail to perform the obligations under the contractual arrangements or any dispute relating to these contracts remains unresolved, YOD WFOE or YOD HK can enforce its rights under the VIE contracts through PRC law and courts. However, uncertainties in the PRC legal system could limit our ability to enforce these contractual arrangements. In particular, the interpretation and enforcement of these laws, rules and regulations involve uncertainties. If YOD WFOE had direct ownership of Sinotop Beijing and SSF, it would be able to exercise its rights as a shareholder to effect changes in the board of directors of Sinotop Beijing or SSF, which in turn could effect changes at the management level, subject to any applicable fiduciary obligations. However, under the current contractual arrangements, we rely on Sinotop Beijing, SSF and their respective legal shareholders to perform their contractual obligations to exercise effective control. We also give no assurance that PRC government authorities will not take a view in the future that is contrary to our opinion. If our current ownership structure and our contractual arrangements with the VIEs and their equity holders were found to be in violation of any existing or future PRC laws or regulations, our ability to conduct its business could be impacted and we may be required to restructure our ownership structure and operations in the PRC to comply with the changes in the PRC laws which may result in deconsolidation of the VIEs.

In addition, the telecommunications, information and media industries remain highly regulated. Restrictions are currently in place and are unclear with respect to which segments of these industries foreign owned entities, like YOD WFOE, may operate. The PRC government may issue from time to time new laws or new interpretations on existing laws to regulate areas, such as telecommunications, information and media, some of which are not published on a timely basis or may have retroactive effect. For example, there is substantial uncertainty regarding the Draft Foreign Investment Law, including, among others, what the actual content of the law will be as well as the adoption and effective date of the final form of the law. Administrative and court proceedings in the PRC may also be protracted, resulting in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management attention. While such uncertainty exists, we cannot assure that the new laws, when it is adopted and becomes effective, and potential related administrative proceedings will not have a material and adverse effect on our ability to control the affiliated entities through the contractual arrangements. Regulatory risk also encompasses the interpretation by the tax authorities of current tax laws, and our legal structure and scope of operations in the PRC, which could be subject to further restrictions resulting in limitations on our ability to conduct business in the PRC.

Chinese regulations will also significantly impact our Wecast Services segment. For example, in September 2017, reports were published that the PRC may begin prohibiting the practice of using digital assets for capital fundraising. In 2018, reports surfaced that the PRC had banned local digital asset exchanges from operating within the country. Until there is greater regulatory clarity and acceptance of digital token and blockchain-based financial products in the PRC, we may not be able to provide services under our Wecast Services segment in the PRC.

Taxation

On March 16, 2007, the National People’s Congress of the PRC passed the EIT Law, and on November 28, 2007, the State Council of China passed its implementing rules which took effect on January 1, 2008. The EIT Law and its implementing rules impose a unified earned income tax (“EIT”) rate of 25.0% on all domestic-invested enterprises and foreign invested enterprises (“FIEs”) unless they qualify under certain limited exceptions. In addition, under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a resident enterprise and will normally be subject to an EIT of 25% on its global income. The implementing rules define the term “de facto management bodies” as “an establishment that exercises, in substance, overall management and control over the production, business, personnel, accounting, etc., of a Chinese enterprise.” If the PRC tax authorities subsequently determine that we should be classified as a resident enterprise, then our organization’s global income will be subject to PRC income tax of 25%. For detailed discussion of PRC tax issues related to resident enterprise status, see Part I—Item 1A—“Risk Factors—Risks Related to Doing Business in the PRC and to Our Legacy YOD Business —Under the New Enterprise Income Tax Law, we may be classified as a “resident enterprise” of the PRC.” Such classification will likely result in unfavorable tax consequences to us and our non-PRC shareholders.”

Foreign Currency Exchange

Approximately 50% of our gross profit and most expenses are denominated in RMB. Under the PRC foreign currency exchange regulations applicable to us, RMB is convertible for current account items, including the distribution of dividends, interest payments, trade and service-related foreign exchange transactions. Currently, our PRC operating entities may purchase foreign currencies for settlement of current account transactions, including payments of dividends to us, without the approval of the PRC State Administration of Foreign Exchange (“SAFE”), by complying with certain procedural requirements. Conversion of RMB for capital account items, such as direct investment, loan, security investment and repatriation of investment, however, is still subject to the approval of SAFE. In particular, if our PRC operating entities borrow foreign currency through loans from us or other foreign lenders, these loans must be registered with SAFE, and if we finance the subsidiaries by means of additional capital contributions, these capital contributions must be approved by certain government authorities, including the MOFCOM, or their respective local branches. These limitations could affect our PRC operating entities’ ability to obtain foreign exchange through debt or equity financing.

Dividend Distributions

Approximately 50% of our gross profits are earned by our PRC entities. However, PRC regulations restrict the ability of our PRC entities to make dividends and other payments to their offshore parent company. PRC legal restrictions permit payments of dividends by our PRC entities only out of their accumulated after-tax profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Each of our PRC subsidiaries is also required under PRC laws and regulations to allocate at least 10% of our annual after-tax profits determined in accordance with PRC GAAP to a statutory general reserve fund until the amounts in such fund reaches 50% of its registered capital. These reserves are not distributable as cash dividends. Our PRC subsidiaries have the discretion to allocate a portion of their after-tax profits to staff welfare and bonus funds, which may not be distributed to equity owners except in the event of liquidation.

In addition, under the new EIT law, the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation on Negotiated Reduction of Dividends and Interest Rates (Notice 112), which was issued on January 29, 2008, and the Notice of the State Administration of Taxation Regarding Interpretation and Recognition of Beneficial Owners under Tax Treaties (Notice 601), which became effective on October 27, 2009, dividends from our PRC operating subsidiaries paid to us through our entities will be subject to a withholding tax at a rate of 10%. Furthermore, the ultimate tax rate will be determined by treaty between the PRC and the tax residence of the holder of the PRC subsidiary. Dividends declared and paid from before January 1, 2008 on distributable profits are grandfathered under the EIT Law and are not subject to withholding tax.

We intend to reinvest profits, if any, and do not intend on making cash distributions of dividends in the near future.

Regulation Regarding our Fintech Businesses

Blockchain and distributed ledger platforms are recent technological innovations, and the regulatory schemes to which digital assets may be subject have not been fully explored or developed. Regulation of digital assets varies from country to country as well as within countries. In some cases, existing laws have been interpreted to apply to blockchain based technologies and digital assets, and in other cases, jurisdictions have adopted laws, regulations or directives that specifically affect digital assets, and some jurisdictions have not taken any regulatory stance on digital assets and or have explicitly declined to apply regulation. Accordingly, there is no clear regulatory framework applicable to blockchain platforms or digital asset products, and laws that do apply at times may overlap.

As both the regulatory landscape develops and journalistic familiarity with digital assets increase, mainstream media’s understanding of such digital assets and the regulation thereof may improve. An increase in the regulation of digital assets may affect our proposed business by increasing compliance costs or prohibiting certain or all of our proposed activities.

Securities and Commodities Laws

Actions taken by securities regulators in the United States and internationally have confirmed that certain digital assets may be securities under the laws of applicable jurisdictions, as a result of which we will face government regulation and oversight. For example, under U.S. federal law, an instrument is generally considered to be an “investment contract,” and therefore a security, where there is (i) an investment of money; (ii) money is made in a common enterprise; (iii) with an expectation of profits; (iv) to be derived from the efforts of others. We anticipate that all of the securitized digital assets we develop will be securities under U.S. federal law, as well as the securities laws of some overseas jurisdictions, such as Canada, Australia and Japan, which accordingly will trigger registration or qualification requirements with the SEC, or potentially, certain foreign jurisdiction where we may market such securitized digital assets, or require us to rely on any available exemptions.

Platforms for the exchange and trading of digital assets that qualify as securities under applicable laws, such as the four platforms we expect to offer, may also be subject to regulatory requirements and approvals. In order for a securities exchange to allow U.S. investors to participate on its platform, it must register as a broker-dealer with the SEC, become a member of FINRA, file a Form ATS with the SEC and comply with Regulation ATS. Depending on a securities exchange’s activities, it may be required to also register as a broker dealer on the state level. DBOT, one of our joint venture investments, has filed a Form ATS with the SEC. We, or our joint ventures, may also be required to comply with laws applicable to securities exchanges to the extent our exchange platforms are made available in jurisdictions where the securitized digital assets that trade on those platforms are treated as securities.

In addition, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) has defined “virtual currencies” as a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value, but does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction. The CFTC has considered digital assets as commodities or derivatives, depending on the facts of the offering. We do not plan to facilitate borrowing transactions that permit the trading of the securitized digital assets we develop on a “leveraged, margined or financed basis.”

Money Services and Transmitter Laws

FinCEN, a bureau of the U.S. Department of the Treasury responsible for the federal regulation of currency market participants, has issued interpretive guidance relating to the application of the Bank Secrecy Act to distributing, exchanging and transmitting “virtual currencies.” As a result of this guidance, some companies that act as an administrator or exchanger of digital assets may be considered a money service businesses (“MSB”). MSBs are required to register as an MSB under FinCEN’s money transmitter regulations, be subject to reporting requirements and perform recordkeeping functions. As a result, digital asset exchanges that offer services to U.S. residents or otherwise fall under U.S. jurisdiction are required to obtain licenses and comply with FinCEN regulations. FinCEN released additional guidance clarifying that most miners, software developers, hardware manufacturers, escrow service providers and investors in certain digital assets would not be required to register with FinCEN on the basis of such activity alone, but that digital asset exchanges, payment processors and convertible digital asset administrators would likely be required to register with FinCEN. We are currently evaluating whether our planned operations may be require our registration as an MSB.

In addition, various U.S. state regulators, including the California Department of Financial Institutions, the New York State Department of Financial Services, the Virginia Corporation Commission, the Idaho Department of Financial Services, and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, have released interpretations or mandates that digital asset exchanges and similar service providers register on a state-level as money transmitters (“MTs”) or MSBs. Many of the states have their own application and process to apply for an MT license.

Financial Crimes and Sanctions Compliance

The jurisdictions in which we operate and intend to operate generally have adopted laws to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud and other financial crime, as well as to ensure compliance with applicable sanctions regimes. Various aspects of our business require us to develop and implement policies and procedures that confirm the identity of customers, detect suspicious activities and ensure we do not do business with blocked persons. Accordingly, we have already implemented specific anti-money laundering (“AML”) and “know your customer” policies for the SSE oil trading operations and Amer consumer electronics operations through each entity’s bank.

Laws or Regulations Directed at Digital Assets

Certain jurisdictions may require specific licensees for companies operating blockchain and digital asset based businesses. Some jurisdictions, such as the PRC, Ecuador, Russia, South Korea and India, have prohibited or severely restricted the trading of digital assets and/or operation of exchanges that trade in such digital assets, which may prevent us from marketing the securitized digital assets we plan to develop in those countries, or from making the exchanges we are designing available in those countries.

European regulators generally have generally not yet implemented specific laws or regulations directed at digital assets, but reports suggest they may do so in the future. For example, in October 2012, the European Central Bank issued a report on “virtual currency” schemes indicating that digital assets may become the subject of regulatory interest in the European Union, in July 2016, the European Commission released a draft directive that proposed applying counter-terrorism and AML regulations to digital currencies, and in September 2016, the European Banking authority advised the European Commission to institute new regulation specific to digital currencies, with amendments to existing regulation as a stopgap measure. Australian lawmakers have also introduced legislation to regulate digital asset exchanges and increase AML policies. We intend to monitor the extent to which any such regulations are adopted and will apply to our business.

Environmental Disclosures

As part of the acquisition of the Fintech Village property (see Part I—Item 2—“Properties”), we agreed to assume responsibility for completing environmental remediation, previously initiated by the prior owner, relating to the cleanup of asbestos and polychlorinated biphenyls (“PCBs”) from building materials on the property and any contamination of soil and groundwater on the land, an existing condition cited by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection for the State of Connecticut (“DEEP”). We were required, as part of the purchase of the land, to post an $8 million surety bond ($3.6 million of which was cash collateral), the approximate cost of previous remediation costs. The surety bond will serve either serve as collateral to the state if we do not complete the environmental remediation to state and federal requirements or be returned to us in full if remediation efforts are successful and completed.

Our remediation efforts are ongoing and are currently in the initial testing stage. We plan to remove or renovate the contaminated buildings on the property and, through a third party, are currently testing levels of contaminants in the groundwater in some of the wetlands and ponds on the property. DEEP and the Environmental Protection Agency continue to monitor our remediation efforts. Although there can be no assurance, based upon the information available, we do not expect expenses associated with these activities to be material. If we elect to sell, transfer or change the use of the facility, additional environmental testing may be required. We cannot assure that we will not discover further environmental contamination, that any planned timeline for remediation will not be delayed, that we would not be required by DEEP or the EPA to incur significant expenditures for environmental remediation in the future.

Our Employees

As of December 31, 2018, we had a total of 50 full-time employees, including three located in the United States. The following table sets forth the number of our employees by function on December 31, 2018.

Our employees are not represented by a labor organization or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have not experienced any work stoppages.

We are required under PRC law to make contributions to employee benefit plans at specified percentages of employee salary. In addition, we are required by the PRC law to cover employees in the PRC with various types of social insurance. We believe that we are in compliance with the relevant PRC laws.

The business, financial condition and operating results of the Company may be affected by a number of factors, whether currently known or unknown, including but not limited to those described below. Any one or more of such factors could directly or indirectly cause the Company’s actual results of operations and financial condition to vary materially from past or anticipated future results of operations and financial condition. Any of these factors, in whole or in part, could materially and adversely affect the Company’s business, financial condition, results of operations and stock price. The following information should be read in conjunction with Part II—Item 7—“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the consolidated financial statements and related notes in Part II—Item 8—“Financial Statements and Supplementary Data” of this Annual Report.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR BUSINESS AND STRATEGY

Substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern.

This Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 includes disclosures and an opinion from our independent registered public accounting firm stating that our recurring losses and negative cash flows from operations raise substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. Our consolidated financial statements as of December 31, 2018 were prepared under the assumption that we will continue as a going concern and do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. As of December 31, 2018, we had accumulated deficit of $150.0 million, with liabilities of $49.8 million and cash on hand of $3.1 million.

We will need to rely on proceeds from debt and equity issuances to pay for ongoing operating expenses in order to execute its business plan. Management has taken several actions to ensure that the Company will continue as a going concern, including debit financings and reductions in YOD legacy segment related expenses and discretionary expenditures.  

While we believe that our existing resources will be sufficient to fund our planned operations until March 31, 2020, we cannot provide assurances that our estimates are accurate, that we will be successful in transforming our business model or that we will be able to generate sufficient cash from operations or raise additional capital through equity and/or debt financings, collaborative or other funding arrangements with partners, or through other sources of financing on favorable terms or at all. If we are in fact unable to continue as a going concern, our shareholders may lose their entire investment in our Company.

We expect to require additional financing in the future to meet our business requirements. Such capital raising may be costly, difficult or not possible to obtain and, if obtained, could significantly dilute current stockholders’ equity interests

We must continue to rely on proceeds from debt and equity issuances to pay for ongoing operating expenses and repay existing debt in order to execute our business plan. Although we may attempt to raise funds by issuing debt or equity instruments, additional financing may not be available to us on terms acceptable us or at all or such resources may not be received in a timely manner. If we are unable to raise additional capital when required or on acceptable terms, we may be required to scale back or to discontinue certain operations, scale back or discontinue the development of new business lines, reduce headcount, sell assets, file for bankruptcy, reorganize, merge with another entity, or cease operations.

We are in the process of transforming our business model, such that there is only a limited basis to evaluate our business and prospects. This transformation may continue to evolve, and ultimately may not be successful.

We are in the process of transforming our business model to become a next generation AI- and blockchain-enabled fintech company. In connection with this transformation, we are in the process of considerable changes, including initiatives to assemble a new management team, reconfigure the business structure, and expand our mission and business lines. It is uncertain whether these efforts will prove beneficial or whether we will be able to develop the necessary business models, infrastructure and systems to support the business. This includes having or hiring the right talent to execute our business strategy, and building a team with the technological capability and know-how to build the products and provide the services we envision. Market acceptance of new product and service offerings will be dependent in part on our ability to include functionality and usability that address customer requirements, and optimally price our products and services to meet customer demand and cover our costs.

Although we have been operating our legacy YOD business for several years, because our new Wecast Services segment has only been developed since 2017, there is only a limited basis upon which to evaluate our business and prospects. Our future success depends, in part, on our ability to implement our business plans and complete the transformation we envision. An investor in our stock should consider the challenges, expenses, and difficulties we will face as a company seeking to provide new types of fintech solutions in a competitive market. For example, we have not generated and may never generate revenue from any AI- or blockchain-enabled products or services. Any failure to implement our business plans in accordance with our expectations may have a material adverse effect on our financial results.

Further, as digital assets and blockchain technologies become more widely available, we expect the services and products associated with them to evolve. Government regulation may cause us to potentially change our future business in order to comply fully with the federal securities and other laws as well as applicable state securities laws. As a result, to stay current with the industry, our business model may need to continue to evolve as well. From time to time, we may modify aspects four business model relating to our products and services. We cannot offer any assurance that these or any other modifications will be successful or will not have an adverse effect to our business.

Even if we implement our plan in accordance with our expectations, our assumptions regarding costs and growth of revenue may differ substantially from reality. Furthermore, even if the anticipated benefits and savings are realized in part, there may be consequences, internal control issues, or business impacts that were not expected. Additionally, as a result of our restructuring efforts in connection with our business transformation plan, we may experience a loss of continuity, loss of accumulated knowledge or loss of efficiency during transitional periods. Reorganization and restructuring can require a significant amount of management and other employees’ time and focus, which may divert attention from operating activities and growing our business. If we fail to achieve some or all of the expected benefits of these activities, it could have a material adverse effect on our competitive position, business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Our operating results are likely to fluctuate significantly and may differ from market expectations.

Our annual and quarterly operating results have varied significantly in the past, and may vary significantly in the future, due to a number of factors which could have an adverse impact on our business. Our revenue may fluctuate as we expect a disproportionate amount of our revenues generated from our Wecast Services segment quarter over quarter due to the customers’ seasonal demand, as normally holiday demand for consumer electronics would increase our revenue. Furthermore, as the launch dates of our new products may not be the same as what we have planned, we expect the financial performance might fluctuate significantly depending on timing, quantity and outcome of such product launches.

The transformation of our business will put added pressure on our management and operational infrastructure, impeding our ability to meet any potential increased demand for our services and possibly hurting our future operating results.

Our business plan is to significantly grow our operations to meet anticipated growth in demand for the services that we offer, and by the introduction of new goods or services. Growth in our businesses will place a significant strain on our personnel, management, financial systems and other resources. The evolution of our business also presents numerous risks and challenges, including:

To accommodate any such growth and compete effectively, we will need to obtain additional funding to improve information systems, procedures and controls and expand, train, motivate and manage our employees, and such funding may not be available in sufficient quantities, if at all. If we are not able to manage these activities and implement these strategies successfully to expand to meet any increased demand, our operating results could suffer.

The success of our business is dependent on our ability to retain our existing key employees and to add and retain senior officers to our management.

We depend on the services of our key employees. Our success will largely depend on our ability to retain these key employees and to attract and retain qualified senior and middle level managers to our management team. In addition, in connection with our transition to a new AI- & blockchain-enabled fintech business model, we have recruited certain members of management and employees with extensive knowledge of the blockchain market or technology, and the loss of their expertise could diminish our business.

We have recruited executives and management both in the United States and the PRC to assist in our ability to manage the business and to recruit and oversee employees. While we believe we offer compensation packages that are consistent with market practice, we cannot be certain that we will be able to hire and retain sufficient personnel to support our business. In addition, severe capital constraints have limited our ability to attract specialized personnel. Moreover, our budget limitations will restrict our ability to hire qualified personnel. The loss of any of our key employees, or failure to find a suitable successor, would significantly harm our business. Our future success will also depend on our ability to identify, hire, develop and retain skilled key employees. We do not maintain key person life insurance on any of our employees. Future sales or acquisitions by us may also cause uncertainty among our current employees and employees of an acquired entity, which could lead to the departure of key employees. Such departures could have an adverse impact on our business and the anticipated benefits of a sale or acquisition.

Changes in our management team may adversely affect our operations.

Over the last several months, we have experienced turnover or changes in our senior management. On April 6, 2018, our CFO, Mr. Simon Wu announced his resignation as our CFO. On April 11, 2018, our Board of Directors (the “Board”) appointed Mr. Jason Wu to serve as interim CFO. Effective June 1, 2018, the Board appointed Mr. Federico Tovar as our new CFO. On September 10, 2018, the Board appointed Mr. Brett McGonegal as Co-CEO, and on November 14, 2018 appointed him as CEO and Director. On February 20 2019, Mr. Brett McGonegal announced his resignation as our CEO, and the Board of Directors appointed its Chief Operations Officer, Mr. Alfred Poor, as the CEO.  

While we expect to engage in an orderly transition process as we integrate newly appointed officers and managers, we face a variety of risks and uncertainties relating to management transition, including diversion of management attention from business concerns, failure to retain other key personnel or loss of institutional knowledge. These risks and uncertainties could result in operational and administrative inefficiencies and added costs, which could adversely impact our results of operations, stock price and research and development of our products.

Our international operations expose us to a number of risks.

Our international activities are significant to our revenues and profits, and we plan to further expand internationally. In certain international market segments, we have relatively little operating experience and may not benefit from any first-to-market advantages or otherwise succeed. It is costly to establish, develop, and maintain international operations and platforms, and promote our brand internationally.

Our international sales and operations are subject to a number of risks, including:

We may face challenges in expanding our international and cross-border businesses and operations.

As we expand our international and cross-border businesses into an increasing number of international markets, we will face risks associated with expanding into markets in which we have limited or no experience and in which we may be less well-known. We may be unable to attract a sufficient number of customers and other participants, fail to anticipate competitive conditions or face difficulties in operating effectively in these new markets. The expansion of our international and cross-border businesses will also expose us to risks inherent in operating businesses globally, including:

As we expand further into new regions and markets, these risks could intensify, and efforts we make to expand our international and cross-border businesses and operations may not be successful. Failure to expand our international and cross-border businesses and operations could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Transactions conducted through our international and cross-border platforms may be subject to different customs, taxes and rules and regulations, and we may be adversely affected by the complexity of and developments in customs and import/export laws, rules and regulations in the PRC and other jurisdictions. For example, effective as of April 8, 2016, the Notice on Tax Policies of Cross-Border E-Commerce Retail Importation, or the New Cross-Border E-commerce Tax Notice, replaced the previous system for taxing consumer goods imported into the PRC and introduced a 16% value-added tax, or VAT, on most products sold through e-commerce platforms and consumption tax on high-end cosmetics.

We may also have operations in various markets with volatile economic or political environments and may pursue growth opportunities in a number of newly developed and emerging markets. These investments may expose us to heightened risks of economic, geopolitical, or other events, including governmental takeover (i.e., nationalization) of our manufacturing facilities or IP, restrictive exchange or import controls, disruption of operations as a result of systemic political or economic instability, outbreak of war or expansion of hostilities, and acts of terrorism, each of which could have a substantial adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Further, the U.S. government, other governments, and international organizations could impose additional sanctions that could restrict us from doing business directly or indirectly in or with certain countries or parties, which could include affiliates.

As we acquire, dispose of or restructure our businesses, product lines, and technologies, we may encounter unforeseen costs and difficulties that could impair our financial performance

An important element of our management strategy is to review acquisition prospects that would complement our existing products, augment our market coverage and distribution ability, or enhance our capabilities. As a result, we may seek to make acquisitions of companies, products, or technologies, or we may reduce or dispose of certain product lines or technologies that no longer fit our business strategies. For regulatory or other reasons, we may not be successful in our attempts to acquire or dispose of businesses, products, or technologies, resulting in significant financial costs, reduced or lost opportunities, and diversion of management’s attention. Managing an acquired business, disposing of product technologies, or reducing personnel entails numerous operational and financial risks, including, among other things, (i) difficulties in assimilating acquired operations and new personnel or separating existing business or product groups, (ii) diversion of management’s attention away from other business concerns, (iii) amortization of acquired intangible assets, (iv) adverse customer reaction to our decision to cease support for a product, and (v) potential loss of key employees or customers of acquired or disposed operations. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve and manage successfully any such integration of potential acquisitions, disposition of product lines or technologies, or reduction in personnel or that our management, personnel, or systems will be adequate to support continued operations. Any such inabilities or inadequacies could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition, and/or cash flows.

In addition, any acquisition could result in changes, such as potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the incurrence of debt and contingent liabilities, the amortization of related intangible assets, and goodwill impairment charges, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations, cash flows, and/or the price of our common stock.

We derived a substantial portion of our revenue from several major customers. If we lose any of these customers, or if the volume of business with these distribution partners decline, our revenues may be significantly affected.

We have agreements with only one distribution partner to operate all of our legacy YOD business, and in 2018, one customer individually accounted for more than 10% of third party revenue in our Wecast Services segment. Due to our reliance on those customers, any of the following events may cause a material decline in our revenue and have a material adverse effect on our results of operations:

We cannot be certain whether these relationships will continue to develop or if these significant customers will continue to generate significant revenue for us in the future.

Intellectual property litigation could cause us to spend substantial resources and could distract our personnel from their normal responsibilities.

Even if resolved in our favor, litigation or other legal proceedings relating to IP claims may cause us to incur significant expenses, and could distract our technical and management personnel from their normal responsibilities. In addition, there could be public announcements of the results of hearings, motions or other interim proceedings or developments. If securities analysts or investors perceive these results to be negative, it could have a substantial adverse effect on the price of our common stock. Such litigation or proceedings could substantially increase our operating losses and reduce the resources available for development, sales, marketing or distribution activities. We may not have sufficient financial or other resources to adequately conduct such litigation or proceedings. Some of our competitors may be able to sustain the costs of such litigation or proceedings more effectively than we can because of their greater financial resources. Uncertainties resulting from the initiation and continuation of IP litigation or other proceedings could have a material adverse effect on our ability to compete in the marketplace.

If we fail to develop and maintain effective disclosure controls and an effective system of internal control over financial reporting, our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results or prevent fraud may be adversely affected, and investor confidence and market price of our shares may be adversely impacted.

Our reporting obligations as a public company place a significant strain on our management and our operational and financial resources and systems and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. We are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the “Sarbanes-Oxley Act”), which requires us to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal control. Material weaknesses and significant deficiencies may be identified during the audit process or at other times. In 2016, a material weakness was identified in the internal control over financial reporting related to the design, documentation and implementation of effective internal controls for the review of the cash flow forecasts used in the accounting for licensed content recoverability. Specifically, we did not design and maintain effective internal controls related to management’s review of the data inputs and assumptions used in our cash flow forecasts for licensed content recoverability. As of December 31, 2017, management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was ineffective because this material weakness related to the design, documentation and implementation of effective internal controls over the review of the cash flow forecasts used in the accounting for licensed content recoverability still existed at the time effectiveness was re-tested. See Part II—Item 9A—“Controls and Procedures.”

If we fail to remediate this material weakness, or to develop and maintain effective internal control over financial reporting in the future, our management may not be able to conclude that we have effective internal control over financial reporting at a reasonable assurance level. This could in turn result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements. If we fail to timely achieve and maintain the adequacy of our internal control over financial reporting, we may not be able to produce reliable financial reports. Any failure to improve and maintain the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting could lead to future errors in our financial statements that could require a restatement or untimely filings, which could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information, and result in a decline in our stock price.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act also requires that we maintain effective disclosure controls and procedures. As a publicly traded company, we are required to file periodic reports containing our consolidated financial statements with the SEC within a specified time following the completion of quarterly and annual periods. Maintaining effective disclosure controls and procedures is necessary to identify information we must disclose in our periodic reports. Our disclosure controls and procedures have been ineffective in the past, and to the extent that our disclosure controls and procedures are found to be ineffective in the future, such finding could result in the loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our disclosures, harm our business, and negatively impact the trading price of our common stock.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR WECAST SERVICES SEGMENT

We experience significant competitive pressure in the Wecast Services segment, which may negatively impact our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We will face significant competition with respect to the products and services we plan to offer in the blockchain- and AI-enabled fintech business we are building, and we currently face significant competition with respect to the businesses we operate that generate revenue for our Company.

Our long term strategic goal is to leverage blockchain- and AI-based fintech solutions to offer products and services that will bring transparency, efficiency and cost savings to various markets, including logistics management and finance, consumer products, media, and financial services. We therefore face significant competitive pressure not only with other developers of blockchain and AI technologies in the fintech space, but also in the markets for the products and services we offer or plan to offer, which are very competitive and subject to rapid technological advances, new market entrants, non-traditional competitors, changes in industry standards and changes in customer needs and consumption models.

The blockchain industry is densely populated by companies touting blockchain capabilities, including Smart Valor, Polymath, tZero and Consensys, among others. Our competitors, both in the fintech space and in the markets we plan to service, may introduce new platforms and solutions that are superior to ours, or may offer additional, vertically integrated products and services that we do not yet plan to provide. Certain competitors may have entered these spaces much earlier than us, may be better capitalized, may have more industry connections, and may be able to adapt more quickly to new technologies or may be able to devote greater resources to the development, marketing and sale of their products than we can. In addition, we are competing not only with respect to potential business, but with respect to the acquisition of novel and effective technologies, receipt of required regulatory approvals and retention of human capital and talent.

In addition, the fintech market in general is seeing myriad new capabilities and solutions introduced by large established companies, such as IBM, Google and Amazon, as well as smaller emerging companies. These technologies may rely on blockchain technology or AI, as well as other innovative technologies such as machine learning or big data. As we apply our blockchain-and AI-based fintech solutions to the finance industry, we will compete with private and public financial institutions, investment banks, broker-dealers and financial consulting firms, among other institutions, that may have their own proprietary solutions (including trading platforms, web based and mobile algorithm trading platforms, social trading platforms, high-frequency trading platforms, back office solutions, risk management tools, and other software), and that may offer regulated services that we do not at this time plan to offer (including underwriting services, advisory services, and investment management services). Other potential competitors include national securities exchanges that may be developing blockchain-based solutions and other regulated securities exchange industry participants, including ATSs, market makers and other execution venues.

In addition, the logistics management and financing industries have been increasingly competitive. Through our joint ventures, we offer services covering a range of supply chain operations, including in the crude oil trading and consumer electronics industries. On the logistics management side, we also face competition from manufacturing services, third party logistics providers, and supply chain management companies. On the logistics financing side, we believe our primary competitors in this space will be supply chain finance solutions providers in the B2B Supply Chain marketplace, such as Longfin Corp. as well as those in the commodities financing and trading space, including companies such as the conglomerate ABCD (comprised of Archer Daniels Midland Company, Bunge Ltd., Cargill Inc., and Louis Dreyfus Company) and Xpansiv.

Our failure to maintain and enhance our competitive position could adversely affect our business and prospects. Furthermore, our efforts to compete in the marketplace could cause deterioration of gross profit margins and, thus, overall profitability.

There can be no assurance that we will ever develop, issue or support the trading of securitized digital assets, or that we or our partners will build blockchain-based trading and logistics management platforms, or that any such products will be well received.

We intend to securitize assets that may be owned by third parties or owned by our Company, to encode such securitized assets as digital tokens using blockchain technology, and to support the issuance and trading of such securitized digital assets. As part of our larger blockchain strategy, we also intend to enter into joint ventures, strategic investments and partnerships to explore the application of blockchain technologies to logistics management. There can be no assurance that we will ever develop, issue or support the trading of any securitized digital assets, whatsoever, or that we will ever develop a blockchain or AI enabled logistics management platform. Should we fail to do so, our financial position may be adversely affected.

Even if we do succeed in developing digital securitized assets, there can be no assurance that investors will be interested in purchasing such digital securitized assets, or that a robust ecosystem for their trading on our platforms will develop. For example, established financial institutions may refuse to process the digital assets for these transactions, process wire transfers, or maintain accounts for entities transacting in our digital assets. Conversely, a significant portion of demand for any digital securitized assets we develop may be generated by speculators and investors seeking to profit from the short- or long-term holding of our digital assets. Price volatility undermines the exchange of these digital assets and the liquidity of the digital assets we original may always be low, further fueling price volatility. Increased volatility may lead to a reduction in the value of the digital securitized assets we develop, which could adversely impact the value of any digital securitized assets we originate based on our own assets, and which could reduce demands for our digital financial services by reducing interest in using digital assets as a mean of creating liquidity from others’ owned assets.

In addition, the blockchain-enabled platforms and software upon which our products and services will be based, are in their early stages. Despite the efforts of our strategic partners and joint ventures to develop and complete the launch of, and subsequently to maintain, blockchain platforms for digital token trading and logistics management, it is possible that they will experience malfunctions or otherwise fail to be adequately secured and maintained. We may not have or may not be able to obtain the technical skills, expertise, or regulatory approvals needed to successfully develop blockchain platforms and products, including digital assets, and progress them to a successful launch. In addition, there are significant legal and regulatory considerations that will need to be addressed in order to develop and maintain a blockchain, and addressing such considerations will require significant time and resources. There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop the blockchain platform in such a way that achieves all of the features we anticipate that it will provide, or that the features provided will be sufficient to attract a significant number of users such that the blockchain platform will be widely adopted.

Blockchain technology and tokenized assets are subject to a number of inherent risks that may impact our ability to provide the services we are developing and adversely affect an investment in us.

Blockchain technology and tokenized assets are subject to a number of inherent risks, including reliability risks, security risks, and risks associated with human error, that may impact our ability to provide the services we are developing. For example, a blockchain platform’s functionality depends on the Internet, and a significant disruption in Internet connectivity could disrupt a platform’s operations until the disruption is resolved; such disruption may have an adverse effect on the value of the digital assets traded on a platform. In addition, a hacking or service attack on a platform may cause temporary delays in block creation on the blockchain and in the transfer of digital assets recorded on the chain. Any disruptions, attacks or other security breaches, or the perception that our blockchain technology is unreliable for any reason, may have a material adverse effect on the value of the digital assets, investment in the digital assets and the operations and success of our business operations and financial results.

In addition, tokenized digital assets based on blockchain technology can only be transferred with the private key associated with a platform’s address in which the digital assets are held. We intend to safeguard and securely store the private keys associated with a platform’s addresses by engaging a custodian. To the extent a private key is lost, destroyed, or otherwise compromised and no backup of the private key is accessible, the custodian will be unable to transfer the digital assets held in a platform’s addresses associated with that private key. Consequently, the digital assets associated with such address will effectively be lost, which would adversely affect an investment in digital assets.

We and our digital asset customers may be subject to the risks encountered by the digital asset exchanges we partner with, including a malicious hacking, sale of a digital asset exchange, loss of the digital assets by the exchange, and other risks. Many digital asset exchanges do not provide insurance and may lack the resources to protect against hacking and theft. If a material amount of our digital assets or the digital assets of our customers are held by exchanges, we and our customers may be materially and adversely affected if an exchange suffers a cyberattack or incurs financial problems

Further, the recording of digital asset transactions are not, from an administrative perspective, reversible without the consent and active participation of the recipient of the transaction or, in theory, control or consent of a majority of the processing power on a certain blockchain platform. Once a transaction has been verified and recorded in a block that is added to the blockchain, an incorrect transfer of digital assets or a theft of such digital assets generally will not be reversible. We, our customers and our partners may not be capable of seeking compensation for any such transfer or theft. It is possible that, through computer or human error, or through theft or criminal action, digital assets could be transferred in incorrect amounts or to unauthorized third parties. To the extent that we, our customers or our partners are unable to seek a corrective transaction with such third party or are incapable of identifying the third party that has received the digital assets through error or theft, we, our customers or our partners will be unable to revert or otherwise recover incorrectly transferred digital assets. To the extent that we, our customers and our partners are unable to seek redress for such error or theft, such loss could adversely affect our reputation and our business.

The growth of the blockchain industry in general, as well as the blockchain networks, is subject to a high degree of uncertainty.

The factors affecting the further development of the digital asset industries, as well as blockchain networks, include uncertainty regarding:

The digital assets industries as a whole have been characterized by rapid changes and innovations and are continually evolving. Although blockchain networks and blockchain assets have experienced significant growth in recent years, the slowing or stopping of the development, general acceptance and adoption and usage of these networks and assets may materially adversely affect our business plans and results of operations.

We currently have limited intellectual property rights related to our new Wecast Services segment, and primarily rely on third parties through joint ventures to conduct research and development activities and protect proprietary information.

Although we believe our success will depend in part on our ability to acquire, invest in or develop proprietary technology to effectively compete with our competitors, we currently have, and for the foreseeable future will have, limited direct IP rights related to our new Wecast Services segment. The IP relevant to the products and services we plan to provide is held primarily by joint ventures and our strategic partners. Accordingly, we will rely on these third parties for research and development activities, which will present certain risks. For example, we will have limited control over the research and development activities of the business of our joint ventures, and may require licenses from these third parties if we wish to develop products directly. If our joint venture businesses are unable to effectively maintain a competitive edge relative to the market with their technologies and IP, it may adversely affect our business and financial position.

Our reliance on third parties also presents risks related to ownership, use and protection of proprietary information. We are required to rely on the terms of the joint venture and partnership agreements to protect our interests, as well as our joint ventures’ and partners’ trade secret protections, non-disclosure agreements, and invention assignment agreements to protect confidential and proprietary information. If the IP and other confidential information of our joint ventures and strategic partners are not adequately protected, competitors may be able to use their proprietary technologies and information, thereby eroding any competitive advantages that IP provides to us.

Domestic and international regulatory regimes governing blockchain technologies, digital assets, distribution and utilization of digital assets is uncertain, and new regulations or policies may materially adversely affect the development and the value of certain digital assets.

Blockchain and distributed ledger platforms are recent technological innovations, and the regulatory schemes to which digital assets may be subject have not been fully explored or developed. Regulation of digital assets varies from country to country as well as within countries. In some cases, existing laws have been interpreted to apply to blockchain-based technologies and digital assets, and in other cases, jurisdictions have adopted laws, regulations or directives that specifically affect digital assets, and some jurisdictions have not taken any regulatory stance on digital assets and or have explicitly declined to apply regulation. Accordingly, there is no clear regulatory framework applicable to blockchain platforms or digital asset products, and laws that do apply at times may overlap or change. Regulation in these areas is likely to rapidly evolve as government agencies take regulatory action to monitor companies and their activities with respect to these areas.

Various legislative and executive bodies in the United States and in other countries may in the future adopt laws, regulations, or guidance, or take other actions, which may severely impact the operability of blockchain platforms and the permissibility of digital assets generally, the technology behind the assets, or the means of transacting or in transferring such assets. Failure by us to comply with any laws, rules and regulations, some of which may not yet exist or are subject to interpretation and may be subject to change, could result in a variety of adverse consequences, including civil penalties and fines.

Digital assets are novel and the application of U.S. federal and state securities laws is unclear in many respects. Digital assets are not traditional investment securities and issues that might be resolved with traditional securities may not be resolved with digital assets if the offer or sale of such digital assets is not made in full compliance with applicable registration exemptions or the federal securities laws, the token issuer may be in violation of such laws. It is possible that regulators may interpret laws in a manner that adversely affects a digital asset’s value.

Blockchain-enabled networks and distributed ledger technologies also face an uncertain regulatory landscape in many foreign jurisdictions, including the PRC. Various foreign jurisdictions may, in the near future, adopt laws, regulations or directives that may conflict with those of the United States or may directly and negatively impact our business. The effect of any future regulatory change is impossible to predict, but such change could be substantial and materially adverse to our business.

The further development and acceptance of blockchain platforms, which represent a new and rapidly changing industry, are subject to a variety of factors that are difficult to evaluate. The slowing or stopping of the development or acceptance of blockchain platforms and blockchain assets would have a material adverse effect on our business plans and could have a material adverse effect on us.

Regulatory authorities may never permit a trading system or ATS on which digital assets could trade to become operational.

In order for a securities exchange to allow U.S. investors to participate on its platform, it must register as a broker-dealer with the SEC, become a member of FINRA, file a Form ATS with the SEC and comply with Regulation ATS. DBOT, one of our joint venture investments, has filed an initial operations report on Form ATS to give notice of operations of DBOT ATS. Our investment in DBOT’s ATS is not approved by the SEC or FINRA. If FINRA, the SEC or any other regulatory authority objected to such system, such regulatory authorities could prevent the system from ever becoming operational.

If the digital assets we develop are considered to be derivatives or commodities, we may be subject to the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act and the CFTC regulations.

The CFTC has defined “virtual currencies” as a digital representation of value that functions as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value, but does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction. The CFTC has considered digital assets as commodities or derivatives, depending on the facts of the offering. If we facilitate borrowing transactions that permit the trading of the securitized digital assets we develop on a “leveraged, margined or financed basis,” we must comply with the provisions of the Commodities Exchange Act and CFTC regulations. Any regulatory issues encountered with respect to compliance with these regulations and laws would have a material adverse impact on our financial position.

In addition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the CFTC and the Federal Trade Commission hold statutory authority to monitor certain segments of the physical energy commodities markets. The trading of digital assets linked to such energy commodities may be subject to such regulations. To the extent that any digital asset is deemed to fall within the definition of a commodity future, such as those represented by oil or energy assets, pursuant to subsequent rulemaking by the CFTC, we and/or the issuer of such digital asset may be required to register and comply with additional regulation under the CEA. Moreover, we or the issuer may be required to register as a commodity pool operator and register the platform, or such other entity created to hold the digital assets, as a commodity pool with the CFTC through the National Futures Association. Such additional registrations may result in extraordinary expenses to us, and adversely impact the value of our common stock.

If regulatory changes or interpretations of our activities require the registration as a MSB under the regulations promulgated by FinCEN under the authority of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, or licensing as a MT (or equivalent designation) under state law in any state in which we operate, compliance with these requirements would result in extraordinary expenses to us or the termination of our Company.

To the extent that our activities cause our Company to be deemed a MSB under the regulations promulgated by FinCEN under the authority of the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act, we may be required to comply with FinCEN regulations, including those that would mandate us to implement AML programs, make certain reports to FinCEN and maintain certain records.

To the extent that our activities cause our Company to be deemed a MT (or equivalent designation) under state law in any state in which we operates, we may be required to seek a license or otherwise register with a state regulator and comply with state regulations that may including the implementation of AML programs, maintenance of certain records and other operational requirements.

Such additional federal or state regulatory obligations may cause us to incur extraordinary expenses, possibly affecting an investment in our common stock in a material and adverse manner. Furthermore, our Company and our service providers may not be capable of complying with certain federal or state regulatory obligations applicable to MSBs and MTs. Such noncompliance or extraordinary expense to comply with regulations may have an adverse effect on the value of our common stock and affect the financial position of the business.

We will face additional risks associated with the businesses of the Industry Ventures we own or operate.

While we believe that our principal growth potential lies in our ability to apply blockchain- and AI-based technologies to bring transparency, efficiency and cost savings to various markets, including logistics management and finance, consumer products, and financial services, we also intend to own and operate various businesses, which we refer to as our Industry Ventures, to synergistically benefit from and enhance the performance of the technologies in our Fintech Ecosystem. Accordingly, we will be subject to various risks associated with the industries in which those Industry Ventures operate. For example, for as the commodities trading component of the logistics management and financing businesses we acquired in 2017 provided 95.6% and 100.0% of our revenue for the year ended December 31, 2017 and 2018, respectively, our ability to report revenues in the near term, as well as potential liabilities to our Company overall, will be tied to risks associated with buying, selling and shipping crude oil, many of which may be outside of our control, such as volatility in shipping rates, the market cost for crude oil, compliance with safety, environmental and other governmental requirements and related costs, and import and export control risks. 

RISKS RELATED TO DOING BUSINESS IN THE PRC AND TO OUR LEGACY YOD BUSINESS

U.S. financial regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including without limitation the SEC, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. national securities exchanges, have limited ability, and in fact may have no ability, to conduct investigations within the PRC concerning our Company, our PRC-based officers, directors, market research services or other professional services or experts.

A substantial part of our assets and our current operations are conducted in the PRC, and some of our officers, directors and other professional service providers are nationals and residents of the PRC. U.S. financial regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including without limitation the SEC, U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. national securities exchanges, have limited ability, and in fact may have no ability, to conduct investigations within the PRC concerning our Company, and the PRC may have limited or no agreements in place to facilitate cooperation with the SEC’s Division of Enforcement for investigations within its jurisdiction.

Adverse changes in political, economic and other policies of the Chinese government could have a material adverse effect on the overall economic growth of the PRC, which could materially and adversely affect the growth of our business and our competitive position.

Our business operations are conducted in the PRC. Accordingly, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects are affected significantly by economic, political and legal developments in the PRC. The Chinese economy differs from the economies of most developed countries in many respects, including:

While the Chinese economy has experienced significant growth in the past 30 years, growth has been uneven, both geographically and across various sectors of the economy. The Chinese economy has also experienced certain adverse effects due to the global financial crisis. In addition, the growth rate of the PRC’s gross domestic product has slowed in recent years to 6.6% in 2018, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of China. The Chinese government has implemented various measures to encourage economic growth and guide the allocation of resources. Some of these measures benefit the overall Chinese economy, but may also have a negative effect on us. For example, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by government control over capital investments, foreign currency exchange restrictions or changes in tax regulations that are applicable to us.

The Chinese economy has been transitioning from a planned economy to a more market-oriented economy. Although in recent years the Chinese government has implemented measures emphasizing the utilization of market forces for economic reform, the reduction of state ownership of productive assets and the establishment of sound corporate governance in business enterprises, a substantial portion of the productive assets in the PRC is still owned by the Chinese government. The continued control of these assets and other aspects of the national economy by the Chinese government could materially and adversely affect our business. The Chinese government also exercises significant control over Chinese economic growth through the allocation of resources, controlling payment of foreign currency-denominated obligations, setting monetary policy and providing preferential treatment to particular industries or companies.

Any adverse change in the economic conditions or government policies in the PRC could have a material adverse effect on overall economic growth, which in turn could lead to a reduction in demand for our products and consequently have a material adverse effect on our businesses.

Uncertainties with respect to the PRC legal system could limit the legal protections available to you and to us, which could cause material adverse effects to our business operations.

We conduct part of our business through our subsidiaries and VIEs in the PRC. Our subsidiaries and VIEs are generally subject to laws and regulations applicable to foreign investments in the PRC and, in particular, laws applicable to FIEs. The PRC legal system is based on written statutes, and prior court decisions may be cited for reference but have limited precedential value. Since 1979, a series of new PRC laws and regulations have significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investments in the PRC. For example, on January 19, 2015, MOFCOM published a draft of the PRC law on Foreign Investment (Draft for Comment), of the Draft Foreign Investment Law, which was open for public comments until February 17, 2015. At the same time, MOFCOM published an accompanying explanatory note of the Draft Foreign Investment Law, or the Explanatory Note, which contains important information about the Draft Foreign Investment Law, including its drafting philosophy and principles, main content, plans to transition to the new legal regime and treatment of business in the PRC controlled by FIEs, primarily through contractual arrangements such as VIE arrangements. The Draft Foreign Investment Law is intended to replace the current foreign investment legal regime consisting of three laws: the Sino-Foreign Equity Joint Venture Enterprise Law, the Sino-Foreign Cooperative Joint Venture Enterprise Law and the Wholly Foreign-Invested Enterprise Law, as well as detailed implementing rules. The Draft Foreign Investment Law proposes significant changes to the PRC foreign investment legal regime and may have a material impact on Chinese companies listed or to be listed overseas. The proposed Draft Foreign Investment Law is to regulate FIEs the same way as PRC domestic entities, except for those FIEs that operate in industries deemed to be either “restricted” or “prohibited” in a “Negative List.” As the Negative List has yet to be published, it is unclear whether it will differ from the current list of industries subject to restrictions or prohibitions on foreign investment. The Draft Foreign Investment Law also provides that only FIEs operating in industries on the Negative List will require entry clearance and other approvals that are not required of PRC domestic entities. As a result of the entry clearance and approvals, certain FIEs operating in industries on the Negative List may not be able to continue to conduct their operations through contractual arrangements. Moreover, it is uncertain whether business industries in which our VIEs operate will be subject to the foreign investment restrictions or prohibitions set forth in the Negative List to be issued.

The Draft Foreign Investment Law has not taken a position on what actions will be taken with respect to the existing VIE structures, while it is soliciting comments from the public on this point by illustrating several possible options. Under these varied options, a company that has a VIE structure and conducts the business on the Negative List at the time of enactment of the new Foreign Investment Law has either the option or obligation to disclose its corporate structure to the authorities, while the authorities may either permit the company to continue to maintain the VIE structure (if the company is deemed ultimately controlled by PRC nationals), or require the company to dispose of its businesses and/or VIE structure based on circumstantial considerations. The Draft Foreign Investment Law also provides that only FIEs operating in industries on the Negative List will require entry clearance and other approvals that are not required of PRC domestic entities. As a result of such entry clearance and approvals or certain restructuring of our corporate structure and operations, to be completed by companies with existing VIE structure like us, we face substantial uncertainties as to whether these actions can be timely completed, or at all, and our business and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

Although the overall effect of legislation over the past three decades has significantly enhanced the protections afforded to various forms of foreign investment in the PRC, the PRC has not developed a fully integrated legal system. Recently enacted laws, rules and regulations may not sufficiently cover all aspects of economic activities in the PRC or may be subject to significant degree of interpretation by PRC regulatory agencies and courts. Since the PRC legal system continues to evolve rapidly, the interpretations of many laws, regulations, and rules are not always uniform, and enforcement of these laws, regulations, and rules involve uncertainties, which may limit legal protections available to you and to us. In addition, the PRC legal system is based in part on government policies and internal rules, some of which are not published on a timely basis or at all, and which may have a retroactive effect. As a result, we may not be aware of our violation of these policies and rules until after the occurrence of the violation.

In addition, any litigation in the PRC may be protracted and result in substantial costs and diversion of resources and management’s attention. In addition, some of our executive officers and directors are residents of the PRC and not of the United States, and substantially all the assets of these persons are located outside the United States. As a result, it could be difficult for investors to affect service of process in the United States or to enforce a judgment obtained in the United States against our Chinese operations and entities.

In order to comply with PRC regulatory requirements, we operate our legacy YOD businesses through companies with which we have contractual relationships. By virtue of these contractual relationships, we control the economic interests and have the power to direct the activities of these entities, and are therefore determined to be the primary beneficiary of these entities, but we do not have any equity ownership interest in these entities. If the PRC government determines that our contractual agreements with these entities are not in compliance with applicable regulations, our business in the PRC could be materially adversely affected.

We do not have direct or indirect equity ownership of our VIEs, which collectively operate all of our legacy YOD businesses in the PRC, but instead have entered into contractual arrangements with our VIEs and each of its individual legal shareholder(s) pursuant to which we received an economic interest in, and have the power to direct the activities of the VIEs, in a manner substantially similar to a controlling equity interest. Although we believe that our business operations are in compliance with the current laws in the PRC, we cannot be sure that the PRC government would view our operating arrangements to be in compliance with PRC regulations that may be adopted in the future. If we are determined not to be in compliance, the PRC government could levy fines, revoke our business and operating licenses, require us to restrict or discontinue our operations, restrict our right to collect revenues, require us to restructure our business, corporate structure or operations, impose additional conditions or requirements with which we may not be able to comply, impose restrictions on our business operations or on our customers, or take other regulatory or enforcement actions against us that could be harmful to our business. As a result, our legacy YOD business in the PRC could be materially adversely affected.

We rely on contractual arrangements with our VIEs for our operations, which may not be as effective for providing control over these entities as direct ownership.

Our legacy YOD operations and financial results are dependent on our VIEs in which we have no equity ownership interest and must rely on contractual arrangements to control and operate the businesses of our VIEs. These contractual arrangements may not be as effective for providing control over the VIEs as direct ownership. For example, the VIEs may be unwilling or unable to perform its contractual obligations under our commercial agreements. Consequently, we may not be able to conduct our operations in the manner currently planned. In addition, the VIEs may seek to renew their agreements on terms that are disadvantageous to us. Although we have entered into a series of agreements that provide us with the ability to control the VIEs, we may not succeed in enforcing our rights under them insofar as our contractual rights and legal remedies under PRC law are inadequate. In addition, if we are unable to renew these agreements on favorable terms when these agreements expire or to enter into similar agreements with other parties, our legacy YOD business may not be able to operate or expand, and our operating expenses may significantly increase.

Our arrangements with our VIEs and its respective shareholders may be subject to a transfer pricing adjustment by the PRC tax authorities which could have an adverse effect on our income and expenses.

We could face material and adverse tax consequences if the PRC tax authorities determine that our contracts with our VIEs and their respective shareholders were not entered into based on arm’s length negotiations. Although our contractual arrangements are similar to those of other companies conducting similar operations in the PRC, if the PRC tax authorities determine that these contracts were not entered into on an arm’s length basis, they may adjust our income and expenses for PRC tax purposes in the form of a transfer pricing adjustment. Such an adjustment may require that we pay additional PRC taxes plus applicable penalties and interest, if any.

We depend upon contractual arrangements with our VIEs for the success of our legacy YOD business and these arrangements may not be as effective in providing operational control as direct ownership of these businesses and may be difficult to enforce.

Our operations are partially conducted in the PRC, where the PRC government restricts or prohibits foreign-owned enterprises from owning certain other operations in the PRC. Accordingly, we depend on our VIEs, in which we have no direct ownership interest, to provide those services through contractual agreements among the parties and to hold some of our assets. These arrangements may not be as effective in providing control over our operations through direct ownership of these businesses. Due to our VIE structure, we have to rely on contractual rights to effect control and management of our VIEs, which exposes us to the risk of potential breach of contract by the VIEs or their shareholders. A failure by our VIEs or their shareholders to perform their obligations under our contractual arrangements with them could have an adverse effect on our business and financial condition. Furthermore, if the shareholders of our VIEs were involved in proceedings that had an adverse impact on their shareholder interests in such VIEs or on our ability to enforce relevant contracts related to the VIE structure, our legacy YOD business would be adversely affected.

As all of these contractual arrangements are governed by PRC law and provide for the resolution of disputes through either arbitration or litigation in the PRC, they would be interpreted in accordance with PRC law and any disputes would be resolved in accordance with PRC legal procedures. We would have to rely for enforcement on legal remedies under PRC law, including specific performance, injunctive relief or damages, which might not be effective. As these PRC governmental authorities have wide discretion in granting such approvals, we could fail to obtain such approval. In addition, our VIE contracts might not be enforceable in the PRC if PRC governmental authorities, courts or arbitral tribunals took the view that such contracts contravened PRC law or were otherwise not enforceable for public policy reasons. In the event we were unable to enforce these contractual arrangements, we would not be able to exert effective control over our VIEs, and our ability to conduct our legacy YOD business, and our financial condition and results of operations, would be severely adversely affected.

You may have difficulty enforcing judgments against us.

Most of our assets are located outside of the United States and a substantial part of our current operations are conducted in the PRC. In addition, some of our directors and officers are nationals and residents of countries other than the United States. A substantial portion of the assets of these persons is located outside the United States. As a result, it may be difficult for you to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons. It may also be difficult for you to enforce in U.S. courts judgments on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal securities laws against us and our officers and directors, that are not residents in the United States and the substantial majority of whose assets are located outside of the United States. In addition, there is uncertainty as to whether the courts of the PRC would recognize or enforce judgments of U.S. courts. Recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments are provided for under the PRC Civil Procedures Law. Courts in the PRC may recognize and enforce foreign judgments in accordance with the requirements of the PRC Civil Procedures Law based on treaties between the PRC and the country where the judgment is made or on reciprocity between jurisdictions. The PRC does not have any treaties or other arrangements that provide for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments with the United States. In addition, according to the PRC Civil Procedures Law, courts in the PRC will not enforce a foreign judgment against us or our directors and officers if they decide that the judgment violates basic principles of PRC law or national sovereignty, security, or the public interest. So it is uncertain whether a PRC court would enforce a judgment rendered against us by a court in the United States.

The PRC government exerts substantial influence over the manner in which we must conduct our business activities.

The PRC government has exercised and continues to exercise substantial control over virtually every sector of the Chinese economy through regulation and state ownership. Our ability to operate in the PRC may be harmed by changes in its laws and regulations, including those relating to taxation, import and export tariffs, environmental regulations, land use rights, property, and other matters. We believe that our operations in the PRC are in material compliance with all applicable legal and regulatory requirements. However, the central or local governments of the jurisdictions in which we operate may impose new, stricter regulations or interpretations of existing regulations that would require additional expenditures and efforts on our part to ensure our compliance with such regulations or interpretations.

Accordingly, government actions in the future, including any decision not to continue to support recent economic reforms and to return to a more centrally planned economy or regional or local variations in the implementation of economic policies, could have a significant effect on economic conditions in the PRC or particular regions thereof and could require us to divest ourselves of any interest we then hold in Chinese properties or joint ventures.

Our results could be adversely affected by the trade tensions between the United States and the PRC.

With the increasing interconnectedness of global economic and financial systems and our business related to the PRC, trade tensions between the United States and the PRC can have an immediate and material adverse impact on our business. Changes to trade policies, treaties and tariffs in the jurisdictions in which we operate, or the perception that these changes could occur, could adversely affect our international and cross-border operations, our financial condition and results of operations. For example, the U.S. administration under President Donald Trump has advocated greater restrictions on trade generally and significant increases on tariffs on goods imported into the United States, particularly from the PRC. Such trade restrictions or tariffs could cause U.S. companies to respond by minimizing their use of Chinese suppliers, thereby moving the supply chain away from China and limiting our competitive advantage in developing our logistics management and financing business. Further, the U.S. or the PRC could impose additional sanctions that could restrict us from doing business directly or indirectly in either country. Such actions could have material adverse impact on our profitability and operations.

The enforcement of the PRC labor contract law may materially increase our costs and decrease our net income.

The PRC adopted a new Labor Contract Law, effective on January 1, 2008, issued its implementation rules and regulations, effective on September 18, 2008, and amended the Labor Contract Law, effective on July 1, 2013. The Labor Contract Law and related rules and regulations impose more stringent requirements on employers with regard to, among other things, minimum wages, severance payment and non-fixed-term employment contracts, time limits for probation periods, as well as the duration and the times that an employee can be placed on a fixed-term employment contract. Due to the limited period of effectiveness of the Labor Contract Law, its implementation rules and regulations and its amendment, and the lack of clarity with respect to its implementation and the potential penalties and fines, it is uncertain how it will impact our current employment policies and practices. In particular, compliance with the Labor Contract Law and its implementation rules and regulations may increase our operating expenses. In the event that we decide to terminate some of our employees or otherwise change our employment or labor practices, the Labor Contract Law and its implementation rules and regulations may also limit our ability to effect those changes in a manner that we believe to be cost-effective or desirable, and could result in a material decrease in our profitability.

Future inflation in the PRC may inhibit our ability to conduct business in the PRC.

In recent years, the Chinese economy has experienced periods of rapid expansion, significant stock market volatility and highly fluctuating rates of inflation. These factors have led to the adoption by the Chinese government, from time to time, of various corrective measures designed to restrict the availability of credit or regulate growth and contain inflation. In 2010 and 2011, for example, the Chinese economy experienced high inflation and to curb the accelerating inflation, the People’s Bank of China (“PBOC”), the PRC central bank, raised benchmark interest rates three times in 2011. High inflation may in the future cause the Chinese government to impose controls on credit and/or prices, or to take other action, which could inhibit economic activity in the PRC, and thereby harm the market for our products and services and our company.

Restrictions on currency exchange may limit our ability to receive and use our sales effectively.

At present, a substantial part of our sales will be settled in RMB, and any future restrictions on currency exchanges may limit our ability to use revenue generated in RMB to fund any future business activities outside the PRC or to make dividend or other payments in U.S. dollars. Although the Chinese government introduced regulations in 1996 to allow greater convertibility of the RMB for current account transactions, significant restrictions still remain, including primarily the restriction that FIEs may only buy, sell or remit foreign currencies after providing valid commercial documents, at those banks in the PRC authorized to conduct foreign exchange business. In addition, foreign exchange transactions under the capital account remain subject to limitations and require approvals from, or registration with, SAFE and other relevant PRC governmental authorities and companies are required to open and maintain separate foreign exchange accounts for capital account items. This could affect our ability to obtain foreign currency through debt or equity financing for our subsidiaries and the VIEs. Recent volatility in the RMB foreign exchange rate as well as capital flight out of the PRC may lead to further foreign exchange restrictions and policies or practices which adversely affect our operations and ability to convert RMB. We cannot be certain that the Chinese regulatory authorities will not impose more stringent restrictions on the convertibility of the RMB.

Restrictions under PRC law on our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make dividends and other distributions could materially and adversely affect our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could benefit our business, pay dividends to you, and otherwise fund and conduct our business.

At present, part of our sales are earned by our PRC operating entities. However, PRC regulations restrict the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to make dividends and other payments to their offshore parent companies. PRC legal restrictions permit payments of dividends by our PRC subsidiaries only out of their accumulated after-tax profits, if any, determined in accordance with PRC accounting standards and regulations. Our PRC subsidiaries are also required under PRC laws and regulations to allocate at least 10% of their annual after-tax profits determined in accordance with PRC GAAP to a statutory general reserve fund until the amounts in said fund reaches 50% of their registered capital. Allocations to these statutory reserve funds can only be used for specific purposes and are not transferable to us in the form of loans, advances, or cash dividends. Any limitations on the ability of our PRC subsidiaries to transfer funds to us could materially and adversely limit our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could be beneficial to our business, pay dividends and otherwise fund and conduct our business.

Failure to comply with PRC regulations relating to the establishment of offshore special purpose companies by PRC residents may subject our PRC resident shareholders to personal liability, limit our ability to acquire PRC companies or to inject capital into our PRC subsidiaries, limit our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to distribute profits to us or otherwise materially adversely affect us.

SAFE has promulgated several regulations, including the Notice Concerning Foreign Exchange Controls on Domestic Residents’ Financing and Roundtrip Investment Through Offshore Special Purpose Vehicles (“Circular 75”), effective on November 1, 2005, and the Circular on Issues Concerning Foreign Exchange Administration Over the Overseas Investment and Financing and Roundtrip Investment by Domestic Residents Via Special Purpose Vehicles (“Circular 37”), effective on July 4, 2015, which replaced Circular 75. Under Circular 37, PRC residents must register with local branches of SAFE in connection with their direct establishment or indirect control of an offshore entity for the purpose of holding domestic or offshore assets or interests, referred to as a “special purpose vehicle” in Circular 37. In addition, amendments to the registration must be made in the event of any material change, such as an increase or decrease in share capital contributed by the individual PRC resident shareholder, share transfer or exchange, merger, division or other material event. Failure to comply with the specified registration procedures may result in restrictions being imposed on the foreign exchange activities of the relevant PRC entity, including the payment of dividends and other distributions to its offshore parent, as well as restrictions on capital inflows from the offshore entity to the PRC entity. Further, failure to comply with the SAFE registration requirements may result in penalties under PRC law for evasion of foreign exchange regulations.

We have asked our shareholders who are PRC residents as defined in Circular 37 and related rules to register with the relevant branch of SAFE, as currently required, in connection with their equity interests in us and our acquisitions of equity interests in our PRC subsidiaries. However, we cannot provide any assurances that they can obtain the above SAFE registrations required by Circular 37 and related rules. Moreover, because Circular 37 is newly issued, there is uncertainty over how Circular 37 and related rules will be interpreted and implemented and how or whether SAFE will apply it to us, and we cannot predict how it will affect our business operations or future strategies. For example, our present and prospective PRC subsidiaries’ ability to conduct foreign exchange activities, such as the remittance of dividends and foreign currency-denominated borrowings, may be subject to compliance with Circular 37 and related rules by our PRC resident beneficial holders. In addition, such PRC residents may not always be able to complete the necessary registration procedures required by Circular 37 and related rules. We have little control over either our present or prospective direct or indirect shareholders or the outcome of such registration procedures.

We may be unable to complete a business combination transaction efficiently or on favorable terms due to complicated merger and acquisition regulations which became effective on September 8, 2006.

On August 8, 2006, six PRC regulatory agencies, including the China Securities Regulatory Commission (the “CSRC”), promulgated the Regulation on Mergers and Acquisitions of Domestic Companies by Foreign Investors, which became effective on September 8, 2006 and was amended in June 2009. This regulation, among other things, governs the approval process by which a PRC company may participate in an acquisition of assets or equity interests. Depending on the structure of the transaction, the regulation will require the PRC parties to make a series of applications and supplemental applications to the government agencies. In some instances, the application process may require the presentation of economic data concerning a transaction, including appraisals of the target business and evaluations of the acquirer, which are designed to allow the government to assess the transaction. Government approvals will have expiration dates by which a transaction must be completed and reported to the government agencies. Compliance with the regulation is likely to be more time consuming and expensive than in the past and the government can now exert more control over the combination of two businesses. Accordingly, due to the regulation, our ability to engage in business combination transactions has become significantly more complicated, time consuming and expensive, and we may not be able to negotiate a transaction that is acceptable to our shareholders or sufficiently protect their interests in a transaction.

The regulation allows PRC government agencies to assess the economic terms of a business combination transaction. Parties to a business combination transaction may have to submit to MOFCOM and other relevant government agencies an appraisal report, an evaluation report and the acquisition agreement, all of which form part of the application for approval, depending on the structure of the transaction. The regulation also prohibits a transaction at an acquisition price obviously lower than the appraised value of the PRC business or assets, and in certain transaction structures, may require that consideration be paid within defined periods, generally not in excess of a year. The regulation also limits our ability to negotiate various terms of the acquisition, including aspects of the initial consideration, contingent consideration, holdback provisions, indemnification provisions and provisions relating to the assumption and allocation of assets and liabilities. Transaction structures involving trusts, nominees and similar entities are prohibited. Therefore, such regulation may impede our ability to negotiate and complete a business combination transaction on financial terms that satisfy our investors and protect our shareholders’ economic interests.

Our existing contractual arrangements with Sinotop Beijing, SSF and their respective shareholders may be subject to national security review by MOFCOM, and the failure to receive the national security review could have a material adverse effect on our legacy YOD business and operating results.

In August 2011, MOFCOM promulgated the Rules of Ministry of Commerce on Implementation of Security Review System of Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors (the “Security Review Rules”) to implement the Notice of the General Office of the State Council on Establishing the Security Review System for Merger and Acquisition of Domestic Enterprises by Foreign Investors promulgated on February 3, 2011 (“Circular 6”). The Security Review Rules became effective on September 1, 2011. Under the Security Review Rules, a national security review is required for certain mergers and acquisitions by foreign investors raising concerns regarding national defense and security. Foreign investors are prohibited from circumventing the national security review requirements by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions. The application and interpretation of the Security Review Rules remain unclear. Based on our understanding of the Security Review Rules, we do not need to submit our existing contractual arrangements with Sinotop Beijing, SSF and their respective shareholders to the MOFCOM for national security review because, among other reasons, (i) we gained de facto control over Sinotop Beijing in 2010 prior to the effectiveness of Circular 6 and the Security Review Rules; and (ii) there are currently no explicit provisions or official interpretations indicating that our current businesses fall within the scope of national security review. Although we have no plan to submit our existing contractual arrangements with Sinotop Beijing and its shareholders to MOFCOM for national security review, the relevant PRC government agencies, such as MOFCOM, may reach a different conclusion. If MOFCOM or another PRC regulatory agency subsequently determines that we need to submit our existing contractual arrangements with Sinotop Beijing, SSF and their respective shareholders for national security review by interpretation, clarification or amendment of the Security Review Rules or by any new rules, regulations or directives promulgated, we may face sanctions by MOFCOM or another PRC regulatory agency. These sanctions may include revoking the business or operating licenses of our PRC entities, discontinuing or restricting our operations in the PRC, confiscating our income or the income of Sinotop Beijing and SSF, and taking other regulatory or enforcement actions, such as levying fines, that could be harmful to our business. Any of these sanctions could cause significant disruption to our legacy YOD business operations.

The Security Review Rules may make it more difficult for us to make future acquisitions or dispositions of our business operations or assets in the PRC.

The Security Review Rules, effective as of September 1, 2011, provide that when deciding whether a specific merger or acquisition of a domestic enterprise by foreign investors is subject to the national security review by MOFCOM, the principle of substance-over-form should be applied. Foreign investors are prohibited from circumventing the national security review requirement by structuring transactions through proxies, trusts, indirect investments, leases, loans, control through contractual arrangements or offshore transactions. If the business of any target company that we plan to acquire falls within the scope of national security review, we may not be able to successfully acquire such company by equity or asset acquisition, capital increase or even through any contractual arrangement.

Under the Enterprise Income Tax Law, we may be classified as a “resident enterprise” of China. Such classification will likely result in dividends payable to our foreign investor and gains on sale of our common stock by our foreign investors may become subject to PRC taxation.

On March 16, 2007, the National People’s Congress of China passed a new Enterprise Income Tax law (the “EIT Law”), and on November 28, 2007, the State Council of China passed its implementing rules, which took effect on January 1, 2008. Under the EIT Law, an enterprise established outside of the PRC with “de facto management bodies” within the PRC is considered a “resident enterprise,” meaning that it can be treated in a manner similar to a Chinese enterprise for enterprise income tax purposes. The implementing rules of the EIT Law define de facto management as “substantial and overall management and control over the production and operations, personnel, accounting, and properties” of the enterprise.

On April 22, 2009, the State Administration of Taxation issued the Notice Concerning Relevant Issues Regarding Cognizance of Chinese Investment Controlled Enterprises Incorporated Offshore as Resident Enterprises pursuant to Criteria of de facto Management Bodies (the “Notice”), further interpreting the application of the EIT Law and its implementation non-Chinese enterprise or group controlled offshore entities. Pursuant to the Notice, an enterprise incorporated in an offshore jurisdiction and controlled by a Chinese enterprise or group will be classified as a “non-domestically incorporated resident enterprise” if (i) its senior management in charge of daily operations reside or perform their duties mainly in the PRC; (ii) its financial or personnel decisions are made or approved by bodies or persons in the PRC; (iii) its substantial assets and properties, accounting books, corporate chops, board and shareholder minutes are kept in the PRC; and (iv) at least half of its directors with voting rights or senior management often reside in the PRC. A resident enterprise would be subject to an enterprise income tax rate of 25% on its worldwide income and must pay a withholding tax at a rate of 10% when paying dividends to its non-PRC shareholders that do not have an establishment or place of business in the PRC or which have such establishment or place of business but the dividends are not effectively connected with such establishment or place of business, to the extent such dividends are derived from sources within the PRC. Similarly, any gains realized on the transfer of our shares by such investors is also subject to PRC tax at a current rate of 10%, subject to any reduction or exemption set forth in relevant tax treaties, if such gain is regarded as income derived from sources within the PRC. However, it remains unclear as to whether the Notice is applicable to an offshore enterprise incorporated by a Chinese natural person. Detailed measures on the imposition of tax from non-domestically incorporated resident enterprises are not readily available. Therefore, it is unclear how tax authorities will determine tax residency based on the facts of each case.

We may be deemed to be a resident enterprise by Chinese tax authorities. If the PRC tax authorities determine that we are a “resident enterprise” for PRC enterprise income tax purposes, a number of unfavorable PRC tax consequences could follow. First, we may be subject to the enterprise income tax at a rate of 25% on our worldwide taxable income as well as PRC enterprise income tax reporting obligations. In our case, this would mean that income such as interest on financing proceeds and non-PRC source income would be subject to PRC enterprise income tax at a rate of 25%. Second, although under the EIT Law and its implementing rules dividends paid to us from our PRC subsidiaries would qualify as “tax-exempt income,” we cannot guarantee that such dividends will not be subject to a 10% withholding tax, as the PRC foreign exchange control authorities, which enforce the withholding tax, have not yet issued guidance with respect to the processing of outbound remittances to entities that are treated as resident enterprises for PRC enterprise income tax purposes. Finally, it is possible that future guidance issued with respect to the new “resident enterprise” classification could result in a situation in which a 10% withholding tax is imposed on dividends we pay to our non-PRC shareholders and with respect to gains derived by our non-PRC shareholders from transferring our shares.

If we were treated as a “resident enterprise” by PRC tax authorities, we would be subject to taxation in both the United States and the PRC, and our PRC tax may not be creditable against our U.S. tax.

Heightened scrutiny of acquisition transactions by PRC tax authorities may have a negative impact on our business operations or the value of your investment in us.

Pursuant to the Notice on Strengthening Administration of Enterprise Income Tax for Share Transfers by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises (“SAT Circular 698”), effective on January 1, 2008, and the Announcement on Several Issues Related to Enterprise Income Tax for Indirect Asset Transfer by Non-PRC Resident Enterprises (“SAT Announcement 7”), effective on February 3, 2015, issued by the SAT, if a non-resident enterprise transfers the equity interests of or similar rights or interests in overseas companies which directly or indirectly own PRC taxable assets through an arrangement without a reasonable commercial purpose resulting in the avoidance of PRC corporate income taxes, such a transaction may be re-characterized and treated as a direct transfer of PRC taxable assets subject to PRC corporate income tax. SAT Announcement 7 specifies certain factors that should be considered in determining whether an indirect transfer has a reasonable commercial purpose. However, as SAT Announcement 7 is newly issued, there is uncertainty as to its application and the interpretation of the term “reasonable commercial purpose.” In addition, under SAT Announcement 7, the entity which has the obligation to pay the consideration for the transfer to the transferring shareholders has the obligation to withhold any PRC corporate income tax that is due. If the transferring shareholders do not pay corporate income tax that is due for a transfer and the entity which has the obligation to pay the consideration does not withhold the tax due, the PRC tax authorities may impose a penalty on the entity that so fails to withhold, which may be relieved or exempted from the withholding obligation and any resulting penalty under certain circumstances if it reports such transfer to the PRC tax authorities.

As SAT Circular 698 and SAT Announcement 7 are relatively new and there is uncertainty over their application, we and our non-PRC resident investors may be subject to being taxed under Circular 698 and SAT Announcement 7 and may be required to expend valuable resources to comply with Circular 698 and SAT Announcement 7 or to establish that we or our non-PRC resident investors should not be taxed under Circular 698 and SAT Announcement 7, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to fines and legal sanctions if we or our employees who are PRC citizens fail to comply with PRC regulations relating to employee share options.

Under the Administration Measures on Individual Foreign Exchange Control issued by the PBOC and the related Implementation Rules issued by the SAFE, all foreign exchange transactions involving an employee share incentive plan, share option plan or similar plan participated in by PRC citizens may be conducted only with the approval of the SAFE. Under the Notice of Issues Related to the Foreign Exchange Administration for Domestic Individuals Participating in Stock Incentive Plan of Overseas Listed Company (“Offshore Share Incentives Rule”), issued by the SAFE on February 15, 2012, PRC citizens who are granted share options, restricted share units or restricted shares by an overseas publicly listed company are required to register with the SAFE or its authorized branch and comply with a series of other requirements. The Offshore Share Incentives Rule also provides procedures for registration of incentive plans, the opening and use of special accounts for the purpose of participation in incentive plans, and the remittance of funds for exercising options and gains realized from such exercises and sales of such options or the underlying shares, both outside and inside the PRC. We, and any of our PRC employees or members of our Board who have been granted share options, restricted share units or restricted shares, are subject to the Administration Measures on Individual Foreign Exchange Control, the related Implementation Rules, and the Offshore Share Incentives Rule. If we, or any of our PRC employees or members of our Board who receive or hold options, restricted share units or restricted shares in us or any of our subsidiaries, fail to comply with these registration and other procedural requirements, we may be subject to fines and other legal or administrative sanctions.

We may be exposed to liabilities under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and Chinese anti-corruption laws, and any determination that we violated these laws could have a material adverse effect on our business.

We are subject to the Foreign Corrupt Practice Act (“FCPA”) and other laws that prohibit improper payments or offers of payments to foreign governments and their officials and political parties by U.S. persons and issuers as defined by the statute, for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. We have operations and agreements with third parties, and make most of our sales in the PRC. The PRC also strictly prohibits bribery of government officials. Our activities in the PRC create the risk of unauthorized payments or offers of payments by the employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors of our Company, which may not always be subject to our control. It is our policy to implement safeguards to discourage these practices by our employees. However, our existing safeguards and any future improvements may prove to be less than effective, and the employees, consultants, sales agents, or distributors of our company may engage in conduct for which we might be held responsible. Violations of the FCPA or Chinese anti-corruption laws may result in severe criminal or civil sanctions, and we may be subject to other liabilities, which could negatively affect our business, operating results and financial condition. In addition, the U.S. government may seek to hold our Company liable for successor liability FCPA violations committed by companies in which we invest or that we acquire.

Our operations in foreign countries are subject to risks that could adversely impact our financial results, such as economic or political volatility, foreign legal and regulatory requirements, international trade factors (export controls, trade sanctions, duties, tariff barriers and other restrictions), protection of our proprietary technology in certain countries, potentially burdensome taxes, crime, employee turnover, staffing, managing personnel in diverse culture, labor instability, transportation delays, and foreign currency fluctuations.

If we become directly subject to the recent scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity involving U.S.-listed Chinese companies, we may have to expend significant resources to investigate and resolve the matter which could harm our business operations, stock price and reputation and could result in a loss of your investment in our stock, especially if such matter cannot be addressed and resolved favorably.

Over the past several years, U.S. public companies that have substantially all of their operations in the PRC, particularly companies like ours which have completed so-called reverse merger transactions, have been the subject of intense scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity by investors, financial commentators and regulatory agencies, such as the SEC. Much of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity is in connection with financial and accounting irregularities and mistakes, a lack of effective internal controls over financial accounting, inadequate corporate governance policies or a lack of adherence thereto and, in many cases, allegations of fraud. As a result of the scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity, the publicly traded stock of many U.S. listed Chinese companies has sharply decreased in value and, in some cases, has become virtually worthless. Many of these companies are now subject to shareholder lawsuits and SEC enforcement actions and are conducting internal and external investigations into the allegations. It is not clear what affect this sector-wide scrutiny, criticism and negative publicity will have on our Company, our business and our stock price. If we become the subject of any unfavorable allegations, whether such allegations are proven to be true or not, we will have to expend significant resources to investigate such allegations and/or defend our Company. This situation will be costly and time consuming and distract our management from growing our Company.

The disclosures in our reports and other filings with the SEC and our other public announcements are not subject to the scrutiny of any regulatory bodies in the PRC. Accordingly, our public disclosure should be reviewed in light of the fact that no governmental agency that is located in the PRC, where part of our operations and business are located, has conducted any due diligence on our operations or reviewed or cleared any of our disclosure.

We are regulated by the SEC and our reports and other filings with the SEC are subject to SEC review in accordance with the rules and regulations promulgated by the SEC under the Securities Act and the Exchange Act. Unlike public reporting companies whose operations are located primarily in the United States, however, substantially all of our operations are located in the PRC, Hong Kong and Singapore. Since substantially all of our operations and business takes place outside of United States, it may be more difficult for the staff of the SEC to overcome the geographic and cultural obstacles that are present when reviewing our disclosure. These same obstacles are not present for similar companies whose operations or business take place entirely or primarily in the United States. Furthermore, our SEC reports and other disclosure and public announcements are not subject to the review or scrutiny of any PRC regulatory authority. For example, the disclosure in our SEC reports and other filings are not subject to the review of the CSRC. Accordingly, you should review our SEC reports, filings and our other public announcements with the understanding that no local regulator has done any due diligence on our Company and with the understanding that none of our SEC reports, other filings or any of our other public announcements has been reviewed or otherwise been scrutinized by any local regulator.

RISKS RELATED TO OUR STOCK

The market price of our common stock is volatile, leading to the possibility of its value being depressed at a time when you may want to sell your holdings.

The market price of our common stock is volatile, and this volatility may continue. Numerous factors, many of which are beyond our control or are not discernible or determinable by our Company, may cause the market price of our common stock to fluctuate significantly. In addition to market and industry factors, the price and trading volume for our common stock may be highly volatile for specific business reasons. Factors such as variations in our revenues, earnings and cash flow, announcements of new investments, cooperation arrangements or acquisitions, and fluctuations in market prices for our products could cause the market price for our shares to change substantially.

Securities class action litigation is often instituted against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs to us and divert our management’s attention and resources.

Moreover, the trading market for our common stock will be influenced by research or reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us or our business. If one or more analysts who cover us downgrade our common stock, the market price for our common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which, in turn, could cause the market price for our common stock or trading volume to decline.

The market price of our common stock could be also subject to volatility if the value of our business and common stock is viewed as being linked to the price and value of digital assets. A decrease in the price of a single digital asset may cause volatility in the entire digital asset and security token industry. For example, a security breach that affects purchaser or user confidence in Bitcoin or Ether may affect the industry as a whole. If investors view our business and the value of our common stock as dependent upon or linked to the value or growth of digital assets, whether or not tokenized on our blockchain platforms, the price of such digital assets may influence significantly the market price of shares of our common stock.

Furthermore, securities markets may from time to time experience significant price and volume fluctuations for reasons unrelated to operating performance of particular companies. These market fluctuations may adversely affect the price of our common stock and other interests in our Company at a time when you want to sell your interest in us.

Although publicly traded, the trading market in our common stock has been substantially less liquid than the average trading market for a stock quoted on the Nasdaq Stock Market and this low trading volume may adversely affect the price of our common stock.

Our common stock trades on the Nasdaq Capital Market. The trading volume of our common stock has been comparatively low compared to other companies listed on Nasdaq. Limited trading volume will subject our shares of common stock to greater price volatility and may make it difficult for you to sell your shares of common stock at a price that is attractive to you.

Provisions in our articles of incorporation and bylaws or Nevada law might discourage, delay or prevent a change of control of us or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.

Our articles of incorporation authorize our Board to issue up to 50,000,000 shares of preferred stock. The preferred stock may be issued in one or more series, the terms of which may be determined at the time of issuance by the Board without further action by the shareholders. These terms may include preferences as to dividends and liquidation, conversion rights, redemption rights and sinking fund provisions. The issuance of any preferred stock could diminish the rights of holders of our common stock, and therefore could reduce the value of such common stock. In addition, specific rights granted to future holders of preferred stock could be used to restrict our ability to merge with, or sell assets to, a third party. The ability of our Board to issue preferred stock could make it more difficult, delay, discourage, prevent or make it costlier to acquire or effect a change-in-control, which in turn could prevent our shareholders from recognizing a gain in the event that a favorable offer is extended and could materially and negatively affect the market price of our common stock.

In addition, Section 78.438 of the Nevada Revised Statutes prohibits a publicly-held Nevada corporation from engaging in a business combination with an interested stockholder (generally defined as a person which together with its affiliates owns, or within the last three years has owned, 10% of our voting stock, for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder) unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. The existence of the foregoing provisions and other potential anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our Company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.

Certain of our shareholders hold a significant percentage of our outstanding voting securities.

As of March 25, 2019, Our Chairman, Dr. Wu, is the beneficial owners of approximately 27.7% of our outstanding voting securities (through their ownership of the Common Stock and 100% our Series A Preferred Stock, which entitle the holder to cast ten votes for every share of common stock that is issuable upon conversion of a share of Series A Preferred Stock (each share of Series A Preferred Stock is convertible into 0.1333333 shares of common stock), or a total of 9,333,330 votes). Star Thrive Group Limited is the beneficial owner of approximately 19.4% of our outstanding voting securities. Mr. Shane McMahon, our Vice Chairman, is the beneficial owner of approximately 5.2% of our outstanding voting securities. As a result, each possesses significant influence over the election of our directors and the authorization of any proposed significant corporate transactions. Their respective ownership and control may also have the effect of delaying or preventing a future change in control, impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination or discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer.

We do not intend to pay dividends for the foreseeable future.

For the foreseeable future, we intend to retain any earnings to finance the development and expansion of our business, and we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock or Series A preferred stock. Accordingly, investors must be prepared to rely on sales of their common stock after price appreciation to earn an investment return, which may never occur. Investors seeking cash dividends should not purchase our common stock. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our Board and will depend on our results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our Board deems relevant. In addition, our ability to declare and pay dividends is dependent on our ability to declare dividends and profits in our PRC subsidiaries. PRC rules greatly restrict and limit the ability of our subsidiaries to declare dividends to us which, in addition to restricting our cash flow, limits our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders. See “—Risks Related to Doing Business in the PRC and to Our Legacy YOD Segment—Restrictions under PRC law on our PRC subsidiaries’ ability to make dividends and other distributions could materially and adversely affect our ability to grow, make investments or acquisitions that could benefit our business, pay dividends to you, and otherwise fund and conduct our business.”

Even if we are able to pay dividends on our common stock or Series A preferred stock, our Board may choose not to declare dividends on our capital stock. In addition, financing agreements that we may enter into in the future may limit our ability to pay cash dividends. Fluctuations in exchange rates could adversely affect our business and the value of our securities.

The value of our common stock will be indirectly affected by the foreign exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and RMB and between those currencies and other currencies in which our sales may be denominated. Appreciation or depreciation in the value of the RMB relative to the U.S. dollar would affect our financial results reported in U.S. dollar terms without giving effect to any underlying change in our business or results of operations. Fluctuations in the exchange rate will also affect the relative value of any dividend we issue that will be exchanged into U.S. dollars, as well as earnings from, and the value of, any U.S. dollar-denominated investments we make in the future.

Since July 2005, the RMB has no longer been pegged to the U.S. dollar. Although the PBOC regularly intervenes in the foreign exchange market to prevent significant short-term fluctuations in the exchange rate, the RMB may appreciate or depreciate significantly in value against the U.S. dollar in the medium to long term. Moreover, it is possible that in the future PRC authorities may lift restrictions on fluctuations in the RMB exchange rate and lessen intervention in the foreign exchange market.

Very limited hedging transactions are available in the PRC to reduce our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations. To date, we have not entered into any hedging transactions. While we may enter into hedging transactions in the future, the availability and effectiveness of these transactions may be limited, and we may not be able to successfully hedge our exposure at all. In addition, our foreign currency exchange losses may be magnified by PRC exchange control regulations that restrict our ability to convert RMB into foreign currencies.

This Item 1B is not required for non-accelerated filers.

In 2018, we relocated our principal executive office from Beijing, China to New York, New York. We lease our principal executive office, which is located at 55 Broadway, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10006. We lease an approximately 6,085 square foot office space in Beijing, China, which is used by both our Wecast Services segment and legacy YOD segment for our PRC-based operations. In October 2018, we completed the $5.2 million acquisition of a 58-acre property located at 1700 & 1800 Asylum Avenue in West Hartford, Connecticut, which was formerly part of the University of Connecticut campus and will be the site of our new “Fintech Village.” The current costs of maintaining the Fintech Village property are $30,000 per month and are expected to increase significantly depending on the valuation of the property for purposes of real estate taxes, expected to commence in July 2019. The value of the real estate taxes may have a material impact on the cost of our operations.

We believe that all our properties have been adequately maintained, are generally in good condition, and are suitable and adequate for our business.

From time to time, we may become involved in various lawsuits and legal proceedings which arise in the ordinary course of business. However, litigation is subject to inherent uncertainties, and an adverse result in these or other matters may arise from time to time that may harm our business. We are currently not aware of any such legal proceedings or claims that we believe will have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition or operating results.

Not applicable.

Market Price Information

Our common stock is quoted on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “IDEX.” Trading of our common stock is sometimes limited and sporadic. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low closing bid prices of our common stock.

Approximate Number of Holders of Our Common Stock

As of March 26, 2019, there were approximately 345 holders of record of our common stock. This number excludes the shares of our common stock beneficially owned by shareholders holding stock in securities trading accounts through DTC, or under nominee security position listings.

Dividend Policy

We have never declared or paid a cash dividend. Any future decisions regarding dividends will be made by our Board. We currently intend to retain and use any future earnings for the development and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. Our Board has complete discretion on whether to pay dividends, subject to the approval of our shareholders. Even if our Board decides to pay dividends, the form, frequency and amount will depend upon our future operations and earnings, capital requirements and surplus, general financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that the Board may deem relevant. In addition, our ability to declare and pay dividends is dependent on our ability to declare dividends and profits in our PRC subsidiaries. PRC rules greatly restrict and limit the ability of our subsidiaries to declare dividends to us which, in addition to restricting our cash flow, limits our ability to pay dividends to our shareholders.

Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans

See Part III—Item 12—Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Shareholder Matters—“Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans”.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

We did not sell any equity securities during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 that were not previously disclosed in a quarterly report on Form 10-Q or a current report on Form 8-K that was filed during the 2018 fiscal year.

Purchases of Equity Securities

No repurchases of our common stock were made in 2018.

Not Applicable.

PART II

The following management’s discussion and analysis is presented in five sections as below and should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the notes thereto and the other financial information appearing elsewhere in this report on Form 10-K. In addition to historical information, the following discussion contains certain forward-looking information. See “Special Note Regarding Forward Looking Statements” above for certain information concerning those forward-looking statements.

OVERVIEW

Ideanomics is a holding company comprised of Legacy YOD business with primary operations in the PRC and Wecast Service business as a global financial technology (“Fintech”) advisory and Platform-as-a-Service company with the intent of offering customized services based on best-in-class blockchain, AI and other technologies to mature and emerging businesses across various industries. To do so, we are building a technology ecosystem through license agreements, joint ventures and strategic acquisitions, which we refer to as our Fintech Ecosystem. In parallel, through strategic acquisitions, equity investments and joint ventures, we are building a network of businesses, which operate across industry verticals and which we refer to as our Industry Ventures, that we believe have significant potential to recognize benefits from blockchain and AI technologies that may, for example, enhance operations, address cost inefficiencies, improve documentation and standardization, unlock asset value and improve customer engagement. Our core business strategy is to promote the use, development and advancement of blockchain- and AI-based technologies, and our positioning in the fintech industry overall, through the creation and promotion of synergies between the businesses in our expanding Fintech Ecosystem and Industry Ventures network.

The year 2018 is a transformational year for the Company from the Legacy YOD business to our new fintech services business, as well as Fintech Village and the human capital and infrastructure needed to build out the U.S. operations. As part of our transition strategy, we are identifying promising technologies and use cases for operations as a next-generation fintech company. Currently, aside from our legacy YOD segment, only the commodities trading component of the logistics management and financing businesses that we acquired in 2017 is operational and revenue generating. While we have begun phasing out of the crude oil trading business and the electronics trading business, as further described below, we intend to continue to capitalize on our efforts and learnings from these businesses so that we can leverage the applications of our technologies and FinTech Ecosystem across this business and as part of our Industry Ventures strategy.

Principal Factors Affecting Our Financial Performance

Our business is expected to be impacted by both macroeconomic and Ideanomics-specific factors. The following factors have been part of the transformation of the Company which affected the results of our operations in 2018:

Our business strategy and the primary goal for entering certain industries, such as logistics management for crude oil trading and electronics, was to learn about the needs of buyers and sellers in industries and to promote the use, development and advancement of blockchain- and AI-based technologies.

In parallel, and for strategic reasons, during the course of the fourth quarter of 2018 we also chose to focus our resources and efforts on other non-crude oil trading and non-logistics management revenue generating opportunities that we identified in the market. These new market opportunities also involve the use of our technologies in our FinTech Ecosystem and their application across Industry Ventures. We intend to continue to capitalize on our efforts and learnings from the crude oil trading business and overall logistics management business, but it is not intended to be our core business. Therefore, for comparability purposes, the financial results may not be comparable as we phase out of the logistics management business going forward.

Information about segments

Wecast Services Segment Within the Wecast Services segment, we are engaged in the trading of (1) consumer electronics starting from January 2017, which is operated out of Hong Kong through our subsidiary, Amer; and (2) crude oil trading business commenced in October 2017 when we formed our Singapore joint venture, SSE. Our end customers in our crude oil and consumer electronics trading businesses include about 15 to 20 corporations across the world. We have engaged in the crude oil trading (i.e. the sale of crude oil) and consumer electronics businesses with the primary goal of learning about the needs of buyers and sellers in industries that rely heavily on the shipment of goods in order to (i) inform our understanding of the features a blockchain platform would need to serve the logistics management and finance market, (ii) identify inefficiencies in this market and (iii) generate data to support the potential future application of AI solutions.

Legacy YOD Segment

The core revenues from our legacy YOD segment have been generated both from minimum guarantee payments and revenue sharing arrangements with distribution partners as well as subscription or transactional fees from subscribers. We have run our legacy YOD segment with limited resources. Since October 2016, our legacy YOD segment has operated through a five-year partnership with Yanhua, where Yanhua acts as the exclusive distribution operator (within the PRC) of our licensed library of major studio films (the “Yanhua Partnership”). We entered into the Yanhua Partnership in order to offset losses from high upfront minimum guarantee licensing fees to studios. The Yanhua Partnership modified and improved our legacy major studio paid content business model by moving from a framework that included high and fixed costs and upfront minimum guaranteed payments, rising content costs from major Hollywood studios and low margins to a structure that will now include relatively nominal costs to our Company and the opportunity to reach an even wider audience. With the Yanhua Partnership, Yanhua assumed all sales and marketing costs and will pay us a minimum guarantee in exchange for a percentage of the total revenue share.

Pursuant to the Yanhua agreement, the existing legacy Hollywood studio paid content as well as other IP content specified in the agreement, along with the corresponding authorized rights letter that we are entitled to, will be transferred to Yanhua for RMB13,000,000 (approximately $2 million), to be paid in two equal installments in the amount of RMB6,500,000 (approximately $1 million). The first installment was received on December 30, 2016 and was recognized as revenue in 2017 based on the relative fair value of licensed content delivered to Yanhua. The second installment will be paid if the license content fees due to studios for the existing legacy Hollywood paid contents are settled. To date, the legacy Hollywood studio paid content and other IP has not been transferred, as the second installment was not yet made.

Our Unconsolidated Equity Investments

For the investments where we may exercise significant influence, but not control, are classified as long-term equity investments and accounted for using the equity method. Under the equity method, the investment is initially recorded at cost and adjusted for our share of undistributed earnings or losses of the investee. Investment losses are recognized until the investment is written down to nil, provided that we do not guarantee the investee’s obligations or we are committed to provide additional funding. Please refer to Note 10 of the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Part IV, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K for further information.

Taxation

United States

Ideanomics, Inc., M.Y. Products, LLC, Grapevine Logic, Inc. and Red Rock Global Capital Ltd. are United States companies subject to the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. No provision for income taxes has been provided as neither of the companies had taxable profit since inception.

The Tax Cut and Jobs Act (TCJA) of 2017 includes provision for Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income (GILTI) under which taxes on foreign income are imposed on the excess of a deemed return on tangible assets of certain foreign subsidiaries. TCJA also enacted the Base Erosion and Anti-Abuse Tax (BEAT) under which taxes are imposed on certain base eroding payments to related foreign companies, subject to certain requirements.

There are substantial uncertainties in the interpretation of BEAT and GILTI and while certain formal guidance has been issued by the U.S. tax authorities, there are still aspects of the TCJA that remain unclear and additional clarification is expected in 2019. Future guidance may result in changes to the interpretations and assumptions the company made and actions it may have to take, which may impact amounts recorded with respect to international provisions of the TCJA.

Based on current year financial results, the company has determined that there is no GILTI nor BEAT tax liability.

In addition, the TCJA now entitles US companies that owns 10% or more of a foreign corporation a 100% dividends-received deduction for the foreign-source portion of dividends paid by such foreign corporation. Also, net operating losses (NOLs) arising after December 31, 2017 are deductible only to the extent of 80% of the taxpayer’s taxable income, and may be carried forward indefinitely but generally not allowed to be carried back.

Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands

Under current laws of the Cayman Islands and the British Virgin Islands, the company is not subject to tax on its income or capital gains. In addition, dividend payments are not subject to withholding tax in the Cayman Islands or British Virgin Islands.

Hong Kong

The company’s subsidiaries incorporated in Hong Kong are subject to Profits Tax of 16.5%. No provision for Hong Kong Profits Tax has been made as NOL carryovers offset current taxable income.

The People’s Republic of China

Under the PRC’s Enterprise Income Tax Law, the company’s Chinese subsidiaries and VIEs are subject to an EIT of 25.0%.

The company’s future effective income tax rate depends on various factors, such as tax legislation, geographic composition of its pre-tax income and non-tax deductible expenses incurred. The company’s management regularly monitors these legislative developments to determine if there are changes in the statutory income tax rate.

RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Comparison of Years Ended December 31, 2018 and 2017

Revenues

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $377.7 million as compared to $144.4 million for the same period in 2017, an increase of approximately $233.3 million, or 162%. The increase was mainly due to our Wecast business of crude oil trading initiated in October 2017 and partially offset in the amount of $0.8 million by a decrease of our legacy YOD business.

Our business strategy and the primary goal for entering crude oil and consumer electronic is to learn about the needs of buyers and sellers in industries that rely heavily on the shipment of goods. Our activities in the crude oil trading and consumer electronic business have been successful in various aspects. We generated revenue of $359.8 million for the first 3 quarters and have gained experience in the traditional logistics management and financing business, such that we have identified initial use cases for the applications of the technologies in our Fintech ecosystem. While we have gained this experience, the Company does not intend to be a logistics management company. Therefore, we decided to gradually start contracting our crude oil trading business and consumer electronics business starting in the third quarter of 2018 so that we can work towards enabling the application of our Fintech Ecosystem for other useful cases that we have identified. Therefore, revenue decreased by $88.3 million, from $132 million for the second quarter of year 2018 to $43.7 million for the third quarter of year 2018. During the fourth quarter of 2018, revenue further decreased to $17.0 million.

In parallel, for strategic reasons, during the course of the fourth quarter, we also chose to focus our resources and efforts on other non-crude oil trading and non-logistics management revenue generating opportunities that we have identified in the market. These other market opportunities also involve the use of our technologies across our Fintech Ecosystem and their applications across Industry Ventures.

We did not generate any revenue from YOD Legacy business in 2018 since our new fintech services business strategy limits the support of the Legacy YOD business. Currently, we have a partnership with a third party (since 2016) that acts as the exclusive distribution operator (within the territory of PRC) of our licensed library of major studio films.

Cost of revenue

Cost of revenues was $ 374.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to $137.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017. Our cost of revenues increased by $237.4 million which is in line with our increase in revenues. Our cost of revenues is primarily comprised of cost to purchase electronics products and crude oil from suppliers in our logistics management business and the cost of sales in Legacy YOD business is primarily comprised of content licensing fees. Our content license agreements with production companies incorporate minimum guaranteed payment levels.

Gross profit

Gross profit ratio

Our gross profit for the year ended December 31, 2018 was approximately $3.2 million, as compared to $7.2 million during the same period in 2017.

Our current crude oil and consumer electronics trading business operates in highly competitive global markets characterized by aggressive price competition, resulting in downward pressure on already low gross margins. Further, factors such as frequent introduction of new products, short product life cycles, evolving industry standards, price sensitivity on the part of consumers place continued competitive pressure in our consumer electronics trading business, and our crude oil trading margins are impacted by many factors outside of our control, including geopolitical developments and fluctuations in the world’s markets.

As such, the logistics management business typically has low margins and the Company has primarily focused its activities in this area with the intent of learning the logistics management business so that we could develop use cases for the applications of our technologies and the overall benefit of our long-term strategy, not necessarily with a focus on deriving margin improvement.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

Our selling, general and administrative expense for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $ 22.5 million as compared to $13.1 million for the same period in 2017, an increase of approximately $9.3 million or 71%. The majority of the increase was due to

Research and development expense

Research and development expenses for the year ended December 31, 2018 was $1.7 million as compared to $0.4 million for the same period in 2017, an increase of approximately $1.3 million or 307%. The majority of the increase was related to the early stage technology development.

Professional fees

Professional fees are generally related to public company reporting and governance expenses as well as legal fees related to business transition and expansion. Our professional fees increased approximately by $1.5 million, or 48%, for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared with the same period in 2017. The increase was related to an increase in legal, valuation, audit and tax as well as fees associated with continuing to build out our technology ecosystem and establishing strategic partnerships and M&A activity as part of this technology ecosystem.

Depreciation and amortization

No material changes in depreciation and amortization.

Impairment of other intangible assets

We did not have any material impairment charges during 2018 and 2017.

Loss from operations

Our loss from operations was increased by $16.1 million to $26.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, from $10.1 million during 2017. This was mostly due to the decrease in gross profit from our Wecast Services segment and the increase of operating expenses for the development of Wecast Service business.

Interest expense, net

Our interest expense increased $0.7 million to $0.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, from $0.1 million during 2017. The interest expense increase during 2018 was primarily due to the amortization of beneficiary conversion features associated with convertible notes issued in 2018.

Change in fair value of warrant liabilities

Certain of our warrants are recognized as derivative liabilities and re-measured at the end of every reporting period and upon settlement, with the change in value reported in the statement of operations. We reported loss of $0.1 million for the years ended December 31, 2017 and no warrant liability in 2018.

Equity in loss of equity method investees

No material change.

Loss on disposal of subsidiaries

The increase in loss ($1.2 million) is due to the sales of our investment (55% interest) in Wide Angle and Shanghai Huicang Supplychain Management Ltd in 2018. Please see Note 6 to the consolidated financial statements included in this report.

Net loss attributable to non-controlling interest

Net loss attributable to non-controlling interests was $1.0 million in 2018 compared to a net loss of $0.4 million in 2017. The increase is primarily due to net loss from Amer (we have 55% ownership and its primary business is consumer electronic) and Grapevine (we have 65.65% ownership and it was acquired in 2018).

LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES

As of December 31, 2018, we had cash of approximately $3.1 million. Approximately $1.5 million was held in our Hong Kong, US and Singapore entities and $1.6 million was held in our PRC entities.

As discussed in Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements included in this report for going concern and management’s plan, the Company has incurred significant continuing losses in 2018 and 2017, and total accumulated deficits were $150.0 million and $126.7 million as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. The Company also used cash for operations of approximately $20.2 million and $10.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively. We believe our existing cash resources will be sufficient to fund our planned operations into April 2020. However, we cannot provide assurances that our plans will not change or that changed circumstances will not result in the depletion of our capital resources more rapidly than we currently anticipate. We must continue to rely on proceeds from debt and equity issuances to fund ongoing operating expenses to date, which could raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern. The consolidated financial statements included in this report have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern and, accordingly, do not include any adjustments that may result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

The following table provides a summary of our net cash flows from operating, investing, and financing activities.

Operating Activities

Cash used in operating activities increased by $9.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to 2017, primarily due to (1) an increase in net loss from $10.9 million in 2017 to $28.4 million in 2018, (2) total non-cash adjustments to net loss was $6.0 million and $2.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively; and (3) total changes in operating assets and liabilities resulted in an increase of $2.5 million and a reduction of $2.4 million in cash used in operations activities for the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017, respectively.

Investing Activities

Cash used in investing activities increased by $19.1 million, primarily used for the acquisition of Fintech Village, the related costs and surety bond (approximately $10.7 million) and an increase of approximately $5.0 million during 2018 related to acquisitions of subsidiaries and long term investments.

Financing Activities

We received $13 million from the issuance of convertible notes and $21.5 million in proceeds in a private placement from the issuance of common shares, warrant and options for the year ended December 31, 2018, to certain investors, including officers, directors and other affiliates. While in the same period in 2017, we received $13.6 million.

Effects of Inflation

Inflation and changing prices have had an effect on our business and we expect that inflation or changing prices could materially affect our business in the foreseeable future. Our management will closely monitor the price change and make efforts to maintain effective cost control in operations.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

Off-balance sheet arrangements are obligations the Company has with nonconsolidated entities related to transactions, agreements or other contractual arrangements. The Company holds variable interests in joint ventures accounted for under the equity method of accounting. The Company is not the primary beneficiary of these joint ventures and therefore is not required to consolidate these entities (see Note 8 to the Consolidated Financial Statements).

We do not have other off balance sheet arrangements that have or are reasonably likely to have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, revenues or expenses, results of operations, liquidity or capital expenditures or capital resources that is material to an investor in our securities.

Contractual Obligations

As of December 31, 2018, we have the following contractual obligations:

Seasonality

Our operating results and operating cash flows historically for our legacy YOD business have not been subject to seasonal variations. However, we expect a disproportionate amount of our revenues generated from Wecast Services quarter over quarter to be subject to seasoned fluctuations at holiday periods and due to introduction of new products. This pattern may change, however, as a result of new market opportunities or new product introductions.

OUTLOOK

In order to meet market demands, the Company has identified various areas that we intend to develop as part of our overall fintech services strategy, which are complementary to both our FinTech Ecosystem and Industry Ventures. These areas will focus primarily around (i) an Ideanomics AI Engine Group, (ii) a Digital Banking Advisory Group, and (iii) a Digital Asset Management Group.

Through these groups, we intend to further leverage our core business strategy, which is to promote the use, development and advancement of blockchain- and AI-based technologies, by bringing technology leaders together with industry leaders and creating synergies in our Fintech Ecosystem and the business in our network of Industry Ventures.

Environmental Matters

We are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, hazardous materials, environmental contamination and the protection of the environment. We have made, and expect to make in the future, expenditures to comply with such laws and regulations, but cannot predict the full amount of such future expenditures. We may also incur fines and penalties from time to time associated with noncompliance with such laws and regulations. Starting from year 2018, we had $8 million accrued for Asset Retirement Obligations. The increase is related to our legal contractual obligation in connection with the acquisition of Fintech Village.

CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States requires our management to make assumptions, estimates, and judgments that affect the amounts reported, including the notes thereto, and related disclosures of commitments and contingencies, if any. We have identified certain accounting policies that are significant to the preparation of our financial statements. These accounting policies are important for an understanding of our financial condition and results of operations. Critical accounting policies are those that are most important to the portrayal of our financial condition and results of operations and require management’s difficult, subjective, or complex judgment, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain and may change in subsequent periods. Certain accounting estimates are particularly sensitive because of their significance to financial statements and because of the possibility that future events affecting the estimate may differ significantly from management’s current judgments. We believe the following critical accounting policies involve the most significant estimates and judgments used in the preparation of our financial statements. We have reviewed our critical accounting policies and estimates with the audit committee of our board of directors.

Variable Interest Entities

We account for entities qualifying as VIEs in accordance with Financial Accounting Standards Boards (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 810, Consolidation. For our consolidated VIEs, management has made evaluations of the relationships between our VIEs and the economic benefit flow of contractual arrangement with VIEs. In connection with such evaluation, management also took into account the fact that, as a result of such contractual arrangements, we control the legal shareholders’ voting interests and have power of attorney in the VIEs, and therefore we are able to direct all business activities of the VIEs. As a result of such evaluation, management concluded that we are the primary beneficiary of our consolidated VIEs.

We have consulted our PRC legal counsel in assessing our ability to control our PRC VIEs. Any changes in PRC laws and regulations that affect our ability to control our PRC VIEs may preclude us from consolidating these companies in the future.

Revenue Recognition

For the sale of goods and services, we evaluate whether we are the principal, and report revenues on a gross basis, or an agent, and report revenues on a net basis. In this assessment, the Company recognizes revenue on a gross basis based on the consideration if we obtain control of the specified goods or services before they are transferred to the customer, as well as other indicators such as the party primarily responsible for fulfillment, inventory risk, and discretion in establishing price. 

Licensed Content

We obtain content through content licensing agreements with studios and distributors. We recognize licensed content when the license fee and the specified content titles are known or reasonably determinable. Prepaid license fees are classified as an asset on the consolidated balance sheets as licensed content and accrued license fees payable are classified as a liability on the consolidated balance sheets.

We amortize licensed content in cost of revenues over the content contractual window of availability based on the expected revenue derived from the licensed content, beginning with the month of first availability, such that our revenues bear a representative amount of the cost of the licensed content. We review factors that impact the amortization of licensed content on a regular basis, including factors that may bear direct impact on expected revenue from specific content titles. We estimate expected revenue by reviewing relevant factors, including marketing considerations, programming efforts, relationship with our channel partners, expected customer renewals and content offered by other distributors on the same platform. Changes in our expected revenue from licensed content could have a significant impact on our amortization pattern.

Long-lived Assets

Long-lived assets, including property and equipment and intangible assets, excluding goodwill, are reviewed for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable. The evaluation is performed at the lowest level of identifiable cash flows independent of other assets. An impairment loss would be recognized when estimated undiscounted future cash flows generated from the assets are less than their carrying amount. Measurement of an impairment loss would be based on the excess of the carrying amount of the asset group over its fair value.

The assumptions and estimates used to determine future values and remaining useful lives of our intangible and other long-lived assets are complex and subjective. They can be affected by various factors, including external factors such as industry and economic trends, and internal factors such as changes in our business strategy and our forecasts for future expansion development. Based on our impairment assessment, no impairment has been recognized.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Asset retirement obligations generally apply to legal obligations associated with the retirement of a tangible long-lived asset that result from the acquisition, construction or development and the normal operation of a long-lived asset.  If a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made, the fair value of a liability for an asset retirement obligation is recognized in the period in which it is incurred or a change in estimate occurs.  Asset retirement costs associated with asset retirement obligations are capitalized with the carrying amount of the related long-lived assets and depreciated over the asset’s estimated life.  The Company’s asset retirement obligations as of December 31, 2018 are mainly associated with the acquisition of Fintech Village that we are contractually obligated to remediate the existing environmental conditions.  We included it in the construction in progress and asset retirement obligation (long term) in the consolidated balance sheets. We will start to amortize asset retirement costs upon completion of the assets and put into use. 

Goodwill

The Company performs goodwill impairment testing at the reporting unit level which is defined as the operating segment or one level below the operating segment. One level below the operating segment, or component, is a business in which discrete financial information is available and regularly reviewed by segment management. The Company tests goodwill for impairment annually (during the fourth quarter), or more frequently when events or changes in circumstances indicate it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit has declined below its carrying value. Goodwill is evaluated for impairment using qualitative and/or quantitative testing procedures.

The Company has the option to first perform qualitative testing to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value. Judgment applied when performing the qualitative analysis includes consideration of macroeconomic, industry and market conditions, overall financial performance of the reporting unit, composition, personnel or strategy changes affecting the reporting unit and recoverability of asset groups within a reporting unit. Judgments applied when performing the quantitative analysis includes estimating future cash flows, determining appropriate discount rates and making other assumptions. Changes in these judgments, estimates and assumptions could materially affect the determination of fair value for each reporting unit.

If we determine that it is more-likely-than-not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount, goodwill is further tested for impairment by comparing the carrying value to the estimated fair value of its reporting units, determined using externally quoted prices (if available) or a discounted cash flow model and, when deemed necessary, a market approach. 

New Accounting Pronouncements

Information regarding new accounting pronouncements is included in Note 2 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

This Item 7A is not required for non-accelerated filers.

IDEANOMICS, INC.

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the shareholders and the board of directors of Ideanomics, Inc.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of Ideanomics, Inc. and its subsidiaries and variable interest entities (the "Company") as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, the related consolidated statements of operations, comprehensive loss, equity, and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the "financial statements"). In our opinion, the financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2018 and 2017, and the results of its operations and its cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States.

Going concern uncertainty

The accompanying financial statements have been prepared assuming that the Company will continue as a going concern. As discussed in Note 3 to the financial statements, the Company incurred recurring losses from operations, has net current liabilities and an accumulated deficit that raise substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. Management’s plans in regard to these matters are also described in Note 3. The financial statements do not include any adjustments that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty.

Basis for Opinion

These financial statements are the responsibility of the Company's management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's 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 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 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 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 financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Emphasis of Matters

As described in Note 6 to the financial statements, the Company’s financial statements as of and for the year ended December 31, 2017 have been retrospectively adjusted in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Subtopic 805-50 due to business acquisition of entities controlled by the Company’s Chairman in April 2018.

The Company has significant transactions and relationships with related parties, including entities controlled by the Company’s Chairman, which are described in Note 14 to the financial statements. Transactions involving related parties cannot be presumed to be carried out on an arm's length basis, as the requisite conditions of competitive, free market dealings may not exist.

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2018.

Lakewood, Colorado

April 1, 2019 

IDEANOMICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

* The above consolidated balance sheets include Shanghai Guang Ming Investment Management Limited (“Guang Ming”). The acquisition of Guang Ming was completed on April 4, 2018 and accounted for as a reorganization of entities under common control and as if it had been owned by the Company since November 10, 2016 in accordance with ASC Subtopic 805-50 (See Note 6 “Acquisition”)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

IDEANOMICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

*The above consolidated statements of operations include Guang Ming. The acquisition of Guang Ming was completed on April 4, 2018 and accounted for as a reorganization of entities under common control and as if it had been owned by the Company since November 10, 2016 in accordance with ASC Subtopic 805-50 (See Note 6 “Acquisition”)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

IDEANOMICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

* The above consolidated statements of cash flows include Guang Ming. The acquisition of Guang Ming was completed on April 4, 2018 and accounted for as a reorganization of entities under common control and as if it had been owned by the Company since November 10, 2016 in accordance with ASC Subtopic 805-50 (See Note 6 “Acquisition”)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial statements.

IDEANOMICS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EQUITY

For the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017