Takung Art Co., Ltd - Quarter Report: 2023 March (Form 10-Q)

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-Q

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

For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2023

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

For the transition period from ____________ to ____________

Commission file number: 001-38036

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code +86-13020144962

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

Indicate by checkmark 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 ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark 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 ☒

As of May 24, 2023, 34,991,886 shares of the Company’s common stock, $0.001 par value, were issued and outstanding.

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD

FORM 10-Q

INDEX

PART I –FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Item 1. Financial Statements

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD AND SUBSIDIARIES

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

(Stated in U.S. Dollars except Number of Shares)

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

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD AND SUBSIDIARIES

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS AND COMPREHENSIVE LOSS

(Stated in U.S. Dollars except Number of Shares)

(UNAUDITED)

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these interim condensed consolidated financial statement

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD AND SUBSIDIARIES

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

(Stated in U.S. Dollars except Number of Shares)

(UNAUDITED)

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

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD AND SUBSIDIARIES

INTERIM CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

(Stated in U.S. Dollars)

(UNAUDITED)

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

TAKUNG ART CO., LTD AND SUBSIDIARIES

NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(Stated in U.S. Dollars except Number of Shares)

1. ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Takung Art Co., Ltd and Subsidiaries (“Takung”, the “Company”), a Delaware corporation (formerly Cardigant Medical Inc.) through Hong Kong Takung Art Company Limited (“Hong Kong Takung”), a Hong Kong company and its wholly owned subsidiary, operates an electronic online platform located at www.takungae.com for artists, art dealers and art investors to offer and trade in valuable artwork.

Hong Kong Takung was incorporated in Hong Kong on September 17, 2012 and operates an electronic online platform for offering and trading artwork. The Company generates revenue from its services in connection with the offering and trading of artwork on its system, primarily consisting of listing fees, trading commissions, and management fees. The Company conducts business primarily in Hong Kong, People’s Republic of China.

Takung (Shanghai) Co., Ltd (“Shanghai Takung”) is a limited liability company, with a registered capital of $1 million, located in the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone. Shanghai Takung was incorporated on July 28, 2015. It is engaged in providing services to its parent company Hong Kong Takung by receiving deposits from and making payments to online artwork traders of Takung for and on behalf of Takung. Shanghai Takung was deregistered on May 8, 2020 and the Company merged the operations of Shanghai Takung with Takung Cultural Development (Tianjin) Co., Ltd.

Takung Cultural Development (Tianjin) Co., Ltd (“Tianjin Takung”) provides technology development services to Hong Kong Takung and also carries out marketing and promotion activities in mainland China. It is engaged in providing services to its parent company Hong Kong Takung by receiving deposits from and making payments to online artwork traders of Takung for and on behalf of Takung when Shanghai Takung was deregistered. On November 8, 2021, the Management became aware of the suspension of the operation of Tianjin Takung by the local authority.

Hong Kong Takung Art Holdings Company Limited (“Takung Art Holdings”) was formed in Hong Kong on July 20, 2018 and operates as a holding company to control an online platform for offering, selling and trading whole piece of artwork. Takung Art Holdings was deregistered on April 29, 2020 due to deregistration of its wholly-owned subsidiary, Art Era Internet Technology (Tianjin) Co., Ltd., on June 18, 2019.

Hong Kong MQ Group Limited (“Hong Kong MQ”) was formed in Hong Kong on November 27, 2018, and is engaged in blockchain and non-fungible tokens (“NFT”) businesses, including consultancy service for NFT launch projects, developing its own NFT marketplace to facilitate users to buy and sell NFTs, as well as development of block chain-based online games. On June 19, 2019, as a result of a private transaction, one (1) share of common stock of Hong Kong MQ was transferred from Ms. Hiu Ngai Ma to the Company. The net asset of Hong Kong MQ was $nil as of the acquisition date. The consideration paid for the ownership transfer, which represent 100% of the issued and outstanding share capital of Hong Kong MQ, was $0.13 (HK$1). Hong Kong MQ became a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

MQ (Tianjin) Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (“Tianjin MQ”) was incorporated in Tianjin, PRC on July 9, 2019 and is a directly wholly owned subsidiary of Hong Kong MQ. It was established as a limited liability company with a registered capital of $100,000 located in the Pilot Free Trade Zone in Tianjin. Tianjin MQ focused on exploring business opportunities and promoting its artwork trading business. Tianjin MQ was deregistered on August 10, 2020 due to the Company streamlining its operation.

NFT Digital Technology Limited (“NFT Digital”) was incorporated in Albany, New York on December 13, 2021 and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Takung. This entity primarily provides administrative and technical supports for the development of NFT projects.

NFT Exchange Limited (“NFT Exchange”) was incorporated in Wyoming on January 7, 2022 and is wholly owned by Takung. This entity facilitates the business and operation of the new NFT exchange market.

Metaverse Digital Payment Co., Limited (“Metaverse Digital Payment”) was formed in Hong Kong on January 27, 2022, and is wholly owned by NFT Exchange. This entity is engaged in digital payment service.

Cultural Objects Provenance Holdings Limited

Cultural Objects Provenance Holdings Limited is an investment holding company. Its wholly-owned subsidiary is headquartered in Hong Kong, with global outposts in China (Shenzhen), Europe (Germany), and USA (NY/LA). It is an artwork authentication platform powered by blockchain. According to company home page, the subsidiary is the official technology partner for NANZUKA Gallery in Tokyo, Japan. It authenticated some sought-after editions and limited edition works from some of the world’s most prolific artists, including Hajime Sorayama, Javier Calleja, Daniel Arsham, James Jarvis, and more.

On May 28, 2021, Takung entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement (the “SPA”) with Cultural Objects Provenance Holdings Limited (“Cultural Objects”), a British Virgin Islands company with a wholly-owned subsidiary in Hong Kong engaging in an operation of an artwork authentication platform powered by blockchain with global presence in China, Germany and the United States. Takung shall invest in Cultural Objects through paying certain purchase that consists of cash consideration, $500,000 and issuance of 282,000 shares of common stock of Takung in exchange for 54,100 shares of common stock of Cultural Objects and 290,000 unvested restricted shares of common stock of Takung to Cultural Objects in exchange for 32,460 unvested shares of common stock of Cultural Objects.

On August 21, 2021, Takung and Cultural Objects entered to an amendment to the SPA. The amendment provides that the original purchase price was amended to be $500,000 in cash and the issuance of 771,040 restricted shares of common stock of Takung to Cultural Objects in exchange for 54,100 shares of common stock of Cultural Objects, and, subject to the satisfaction of the conditions stipulated in the SPA, the issuance of 787,440 unvested restricted shares of common stock of Takung to Cultural Objects in exchange for 32,460 unvested shares of common stock of Cultural Objects. The cash consideration of $500,000 was paid to Cultural Objects by the end of August 2021. On September 9, 2021, an aggregate amount of 1,558,480 restricted shares of common stock of Takung issued to Cultural Objects in an exchange for an aggregate 86,560 shares of common stock of Cultural Objects. Together with the cash consideration paid $500,000 and the total value of the restricted shares issued to Cultural Objects, $10,130,120, the total value of the investment in Cultural Objects was $10,630,120. As of December 31, 2022 the initial cost of this investment was adjusted to $0 after a further impairment charge, $9,296,614 was recorded (see Note 4).

2. SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of presentation

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles in the United States (“U.S. GAAP”).

This basis of accounting involves the application of accrual accounting and consequently, revenues and gains are recognized when earned, and expenses and losses are recognized when incurred. The Company’s financial statements are expressed in U.S. dollars.

Use of estimates

The preparation of interim condensed consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the interim condensed consolidated financial statements and the amount of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Actual results could differ materially from those results.

Basis of consolidation

The interim condensed consolidated financial statements include the financial statements of the Company, and its subsidiaries, NFT Exchange, NFT Digital, Hong Kong Takung, Tianjin Takung and Hong Kong MQ. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated on consolidation.

Discontinued operations

The Company has adopted ASC Topic 205 “Presentation of Financial Statements” Subtopic 20-45, in determining whether any of its business component(s) classified as held for sale, disposed of by sale or other than by sale is required to be reported in discontinued operations. In accordance with ASC Topic 205-20-45-1, a discontinued operation may include a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity, or a business or non-profit activity. A disposal of a component of an entity or a group of components of an entity is required to be reported in discontinued operations if the disposal represents a strategic shift that has (or will have) a major effect on an entity’s operations and financial results when any of the following occurs: (1) the component of an entity or group of components of an entity meets the criteria to be classified as held for sale; (2) the component of an entity or group of components of an entity is disposed of by sale; (3) the component of an entity or group of components of an entity is disposed of other than by sale (for example, by abandonment or in a distribution to owners in a spinoff).

For the component disposed of other than by sale in accordance with paragraph 360-10-45-15, the Company adopted ASC Topic 205-20-45-3 and reported the results of operations of the discontinued operations, less applicable income tax expenses or benefits as a separate component in in the statement where net income (loss) is reported for current and all prior periods presented. Due to the suspension of the operation of Tianjin Takung by the local authority in the fourth quarter of 2021, Hong Kong Takung lost its control over Tianjin Takung. The Company plans to dispose Hong Kong Takung, and is actively locating buyers for Hong Kong Takung and related operations in order to focus on its blockchain and NFT business operation.

As of March 31 2023, only the operation of Hong Kong Takung was classified as a discontinued operation the same as of December 31, 2021.

Deconsolidation

Under the ASC Subtopic 810-10-40, “Consolidation-Overall-Derecognition”, a reporting entity will deconsolidate a subsidiary in the period when the loss of control over such subsidiary incurred as a result of one or more of the following events: (i) a parent sells all or part of its ownership interest in its subsidiary; (ii) the expiration of a contractual agreement that gave control of the subsidiary to the parent; (iii) the subsidiary issues shares which reduces the parent’s ownership interest in the subsidiary to an extent that the parent no longer has a controlling financial interest in such subsidiary; (iv) the subsidiary becomes subject to the control of a government, court, administrator, or regulator. Upon deconsolidation, the reporting entity would no longer include the subsidiary’s assets, liabilities and results of operations in its consolidated financial statements. Due to the suspension of the operation of Tianjin Takung by the local authority. The financial information of Tianjin Takung was deconsolidated as of December 31, 2021.

Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts have been reclassified to conform to current period presentation in order to reflect the discontinued operations of Tianjin Takung. None of these reclassifications had an impact on reported financial position or cash flows for any of the periods presented.

Fair value measurements

The Company applies the provisions of ASC Subtopic 820-10, “Fair Value Measurements”, for fair value measurements of financial assets and financial liabilities and for fair value measurements of non-financial items that are recognized or disclosed at fair value in the financial statements. ASC 820 also establishes a framework for measuring fair value and expands disclosures about fair value measurements.

Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. When determining the fair value measurements for assets and liabilities required or permitted to be recorded at fair value, the Company considers the principal or most advantageous market in which it would transact and it considers assumptions that market participants would use when pricing the asset or liability.

ASC 820 establishes a fair value hierarchy that requires an entity to maximize the use of observable inputs and minimize the use of unobservable inputs when measuring fair value. ASC 820 establishes three levels of inputs that may be used to measure fair value. The hierarchy gives the highest priority to unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to measurements involving significant unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements). The three levels of the fair value hierarchy are as follows:

There were no assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis subject to the disclosure requirements of ASC 820 as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

Comprehensive loss

The Company follows the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board (the “FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 220 “Reporting Comprehensive Income” and establishes standards for the reporting and display of comprehensive income, its components and accumulated balances in a full set of general purpose financial statements. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, the Company’s comprehensive loss includes net loss and foreign currency translation adjustment.

Foreign currency translation and transaction

The functional currency of Hong Kong Takung and Hong Kong MQ are the Hong Kong Dollar (“HKD”).

The reporting currency of the Company is the United States Dollar (“USD”).

Transactions in currencies other than the entity’s functional currency are recorded at the rates of exchange prevailing on the date of the transaction. At the end of each reporting period, monetary items denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rates prevailing at the end of the reporting periods. Exchange differences arising on the settlement of monetary items and on re-translation of monetary items at period-end are included in income statement of the period.

For the purpose of presenting these financial statements, the Company’s assets and liabilities with functional currency of HKD are expressed in USD at the exchange rate on the balance sheet’s dates, which is 7.8499 and 7.8015 as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively; stockholder’s equity accounts are translated at historical rates, and income and expense items are translated at the weighted average exchange rates during the year, which is 7.8389 and 7.8056 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The resulting translation adjustments are reported under accumulated other comprehensive loss in the stockholders’ equity section of the balance sheets.

Cash and cash equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash on hand, cash in bank with no restrictions, as well as highly liquid investments which are unrestricted as to withdrawal or use, and which have original maturities of three months or less when initially purchased.

A significant portion of the Company’s cash and cash equivalents is denominated in RMB, and deposited in the financial institutions of China. Chinese governmental policies were introduced in 1996 to allow the convertibility of RMB denominated cash into foreign currencies for current account items, but conversion of RMB denominated cash into foreign exchange for most of the capital items, such as foreign direct investment, loans or securities, requires the approval of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange, or SAFE. These approvals, however, do not guarantee the availability of foreign currencies to fund the business activities outside China, or to repay non-RMB denominated obligations.

Restricted cash

Restricted cash represents the cash deposited by the traders (“buyers and sellers”) into a specific bank account under Takung (“the broker’s account”) in order to facilitate the trading shares of the artwork. The buyers are required to have their funds transferred to the broker’s account before the trading take place. Upon the delivery of the shares, the seller will send instructions to the bank, requesting the amount to be transferred to their personal account. After deducting the commission as per Takung, the bank will transfer the remainder to the seller’s personal account. Except for instructing the bank to deduct the commission fee, Takung has no right to use any funds in the broker’s account except for instructing the bank to deduct the commission and management fee. Our restricted cash is denominated in USD and is deposited in the financial institutions of USA.

Accounts receivable and allowance for doubtful accounts

Accounts receivable are recorded and carried at the original invoiced amount less an allowance for any potential uncollectible amounts. The Company makes estimates for the allowance for doubtful accounts based upon the assessment of various factors, including historical, experience, the age of the accounts receivable balances, credit quality of the customers, current economic conditions, and other factors that may affect customers’ ability to pay.

Loan receivable

Loan to third parties is presented under current asset of the balance sheets based on the nature and loan period of time.

Prepayment and other current assets, net

Prepayment and other current assets mainly consist of the prepayment for income taxes, maintenance of online trading system, advertising and promotional services, insurances, financial advisory, professional services, rental deposits, as well as other current assets.

Other non-current assets

A portion of the deposits, are presented under the non-current section of the balance sheets based on the expected collection date.

Property and equipment, net

Property and equipment are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation and impairment losses. Gains or losses on dispositions of property and equipment are included in operating income or expense. Major additions, renewals and betterments are capitalized, while maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred. Depreciation and amortization are provided over the estimated useful lives of the assets using the straight-line method from the time the assets are placed in service.

The Company developed systems and solutions for solely internal use. Certain costs incurred in connection with developing or obtaining internal use software are capitalized. Unamortized capitalized costs are included in computer trading and clearing system, within property and equipment, net in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. Capitalized software costs are amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated useful lives of the software of 5 years. Amortization of these costs is included in depreciation and amortization expense in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

Estimated useful lives are as follows, taking into account the assets’ estimated residual value:

Long-lived assets

The Company evaluates its long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable. When these events occur, the Company assesses the recoverability of these long-lived assets by comparing the carrying amount of the assets to the future undiscounted cash flows expected to result from the use of the assets and their eventual disposition. If the future undiscounted cash flow is less than the carrying amount of the assets, the Company recognizes an impairment equal to the difference between the carrying amount and fair value of these assets.

During the first quarter of 2023, we did not record any asset impairments due to the deconsolidation of Tianjin Takung as a result of the loss of control in this entity since there is no asset impairment during the three months ended March 31, 2023.

Intangible assets

Intangible assets represent the licensing cost for the trademark registration. For intangible assets with indefinite lives, the Company evaluates intangible assets for impairment at least annually and more often whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Whenever any such impairment exists, an impairment loss will be recognized for the amount by which the carrying value exceeds the fair value. For intangible assets with definite lives, they are amortized over estimated useful lives, and are reviewed annually for impairment. The Company has not recorded impairment of intangible assets as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

Advance from customers

Advance from customers represent the cash deposited by the traders into a specific bank account under Takung (“the broker’s account”) in order to facilitate the trading ownership units of the NFT. The traders are required to have their funds transferred to the broker’s account before the trading take place.

Revenue Recognition

The Company generates revenue from its services in connection with the offering and trading of artworks on the Company’s system, primarily consisting of listing fee, trading commission, and management fee.

Effective January 1, 2018, the Company adopted Topic 606 using modified retrospective approach applied to its contracts which were not completed as of January 1, 2018. Results for reporting periods beginning after January 1, 2018 are accounted for and presented under Topic 606, while prior period amounts are not adjusted and continue to be reported in accordance with Topic 605.

Under ASC 606, an entity recognizes revenue as the Company satisfies a performance obligation when its customer obtains control of promised goods or services, in an amount that reflects the consideration that the entity expects to receive in exchange for those goods or services. To determine revenue recognition for arrangements that an entity determines are within the scope of ASC 606, the Company performs the following five steps: (i) identify the contract(s) with a customer; (ii) identify the performance obligations in the contract; (iii) determine the transaction price, including variable consideration, if any; (iv) allocate the transaction price to the performance obligations in the contract; and (v) recognize revenue when (or as) the entity satisfies a performance obligation. The Company only applies the five-step model to contracts when it is probable that the Company will collect the consideration to which it is entitled in exchange for the goods or services it transfers to the customer.

The Company recognizes revenue when control of the promised services is transferred to the traders and service agents. Revenue is measured at the transaction price, which is based on the amount of consideration that the Company expects to receive in exchange for transferring the promised services to the traders and service agents. The revenue mainly falls into the following broad categories: (i) listing fee, (ii) commission, and (iii) management fee.

Listing fee

The Company recognizes the listing fee revenue at a point in time when the ownership units of the artwork are listed and available for trading on the Company’s system, at an amount of an agreed percentage of the total offering price. The amount is collected from the money raised from the issuance of such units. This applies to the legacy business only if any for the current reporting period.

Commission

The Company generates commission fee from Customers and selected traders for the legacy business and commission fee only for the NFT trading platform’s seller and buyers.

For Customers, the commission is calculated based on a percentage of transaction value of artworks when there is purchase and sale of the ownership shares of the artworks. The commission revenue is recognized at a point in time when each purchase and sale transaction is completed.

For selected traders, starting from April 1, 2016, the Company charged a predetermined monthly commission fee which allows the selected traders to conduct unlimited trades for specific artworks. The commission revenue is recognized on a monthly basis as the Company continuously satisfied its performance obligation.

Management fee

The Company provides third-party merchants the access to Takung’s online platform for sales of artworks, and charges commission fee to third-party merchants, at an amount of an agreed percentage of the total transaction price. The revenue is recognized at a point in time when the artwork sales transaction is completed.

Revenue by customer type

The following table presents the revenue by customer type from our discontinued operations for the years ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

Cost of revenue

In 2022, the Company’s cost of revenue primarily consists of expenses associated with the delivery of its service of our discontinued operations. These include expenses related to the operation of the data centers, such as facility and lease of the server equipment, development and maintenance of the platform system, as well as the cost of insurance, storage and transportation of the artworks. Cost of revenue also includes commission paid to service agent. In 2023, the Company’s cost of revenue primarily consists of Internet service charge due to the new business nature.

The Company has elected to apply the practical expedient in ASC 606-10 and does not disclose information about remaining performance obligations that have original expected durations of one year or less.

The Company does not have amounts of contract assets that it has right to consideration in exchange for services that the Company has transferred to customers when that right is conditioned on something other than the passage of time. The contract liabilities are the Company’s obligation to transfer services to traders for which the Company has received consideration from the traders. All contract liabilities are expected to be recognized as revenue within one month and are presented in Advance from Customers in the Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Leases

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-12, Leases (ASC Topic 842), which amends the leases requirements in ASC Topic 840, Leases. Under the new lease accounting standard, a lessee will be required to recognize a right-of-use asset and lease liability for most leases on the balance sheet. The new standard also modifies the classification criteria and accounting for sales-type and direct financing leases, and enhances the disclosure requirements. Leases will continue to be classified as either finance or operating leases.

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception. The lease payments under the lease arrangements are fixed. Non-lease components include payments for building management, utilities and property tax. It separates the non-lease components from the lease components to which they relate.

Lease assets and liabilities are recognized at the present value of the future lease payments at the lease commencement date. The interest rate used to determine the present value of the future lease payments is the Company’s incremental borrowing rate, because the interest rate implicit in the leases is not readily determinable. The incremental borrowing rate is estimated to approximate the interest rate on a collateralized basis with similar terms and payments, and in economic environments where the leased asset is located. The lease terms include periods under options to extend or terminate the lease when it is reasonably certain that the Company will exercise that option. The Company generally uses the base, non-cancellable, lease term when determining the lease assets and liabilities.

Income taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes using an asset and liability approach which allows for the recognition and measurement of deferred tax assets based upon the likelihood of realization of tax benefits in future years. Under the asset and liability approach, deferred taxes are provided for the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. A valuation allowance is provided for deferred tax assets if it is more likely than not that these items will either expire before the Company is able to realize their benefits, or that future deductibility is uncertain.

Under ASC 740, a tax position is recognized as a benefit only if it is “more likely than not” that the tax position would be sustained in a tax examination, with a tax examination being presumed to occur. The evaluation of a tax position is a two-step process. The first step is to determine whether it is more-likely-than-not that a tax position will be sustained upon examination, including the resolution of any related appeals or litigations based on the technical merits of that position. The second step is to measure a tax position that meets the more-likely-than-not threshold to determine the amount of benefit to be recognized in the financial statements. A tax position is measured at the largest amount of benefit that is greater than 50 percent likely of being realized upon ultimate settlement. Tax positions that previously failed to meet the more-likely-than-not recognition threshold should be recognized in the first subsequent period in which the threshold is met. Previously recognized tax positions that no longer meet the more-likely-than-not criteria should be de-recognized in the first subsequent financial reporting period in which the threshold is no longer met. Penalties and interest incurred related to underpayment of income tax are classified as income tax expense in the year incurred. GAAP also provides guidance on de-recognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods, disclosures and transition.

On December 22, 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (the “Tax Act”) was enacted by the U.S. government which included a wide range of tax reform affecting businesses including the corporate tax rates, international tax provisions, tax credits and deduction with majority of the tax provision effective after December 31, 2017. Certain activities conducted in foreign jurisdictions may result in the imposition of U.S. corporate income taxes on Takung when its subsidiaries, controlled foreign corporations (“CFCs”), generate income that is subject to Subpart F or GILTI under the U.S. Internal Revenue Code beginning after December 31, 2017.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy Security (CARES) Act (“the CARES Act, H.R. 748”) was signed into law on 27 March 2020. The CARES Act temporarily eliminates the 80% taxable income limitation (as enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017) for NOL deductions for 2018-2020 tax years and reinstated NOL carrybacks for the 2018-2020 tax years. Moreover, the CARES Act also temporarily increases the business interest deduction limitations from 30% to 50% of adjusted taxable income for the 2019 and 2020 taxable year. Lastly, the Tax Act technical correction classifies qualified improvement property as 15-year recovery period, allowing the bonus depreciation deduction to be claimed for such property retroactively as if it was included in the Tax Act at the time of enactment. The Company does not anticipate a material impact on its financial statements as of December 31, 2020 due to the recent enactment.

The Company accounts for an unrecognized tax benefit from an uncertain tax position only if it is more likely than not that the tax position will be sustained upon examination by the tax authorities. The Company considers and estimates interest and penalties related to the gross unrecognized tax benefits and includes as part of its income tax provision based on the applicable income tax regulations.

The Company’s Hong Kong subsidiary of Metaverse Digital Payment Co., Limited accrued US$26,352 corporate income tax for the year ended March 31, 2023.

The Company did not accrue any liability, interest or penalties related to uncertain tax positions in the provision for income taxes line of the consolidated statements of operations for the year ended March 31, 2022.

Earnings (loss) per share

Basic net income (loss) per share (EPS) is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the year. Diluted income (loss) per share is computed by dividing net income (loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted-average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the period adjusted to include the effect of potentially dilutive securities. Potentially dilutive securities are excluded from the computation of dilutive EPS in periods in which the effect would be antidilutive (Note 15).

Concentration of risks

Concentration of credit risk

Financial instruments that potentially expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk consist primarily of cash and cash equivalents, restricted cash, account receivables. The carrying values of the financial instruments approximate their fair values due to their short-term maturities. The Company places its cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash with financial institutions with high-credit ratings and quality. Account receivables primarily comprise of amounts receivable from the trader customers. With respect to the prepayment to service suppliers, the Company performs on-going credit evaluations of the financial condition of these suppliers. The Company establishes an allowance for doubtful accounts based upon estimates, factors surrounding the credit risk of specific service providers and other information.

Concentration of customers

There were no revenues from customers that individually represent greater than 10% of the total revenues during the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

Concentration of customer deposits

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were no traders that individually accounted for greater than 10% of the Company’s total customer deposits.

Accounting standards adopted on January 1, 2022

Fair Value Measurement: In August 2018, the FASB Accounting Standards Board issued ASU No. 2018-13, “Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Disclosure Framework Changes to the Disclosure Requirements for Fair Value Measurement” (“ASU 2018-13”). ASU 2018-13 modifies the disclosure requirements on fair value measurements. Under this guidance, entities will no longer be required to disclose the amount of and the rationale for transfers between level 1 and level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. For level 3 fair value measurement, disclosures for the range and weighted average used to establish significant unobservable inputs are required. The removed and modified disclosures will be adopted on a retrospective basis and the new disclosures will be adopted on a prospective basis. The Company adopted this guidance on January 1, 2020 and there was no impact to its consolidated financial statements.

Accounting standards adopted on January 1, 2021

Income Taxes: On December 18, 2019, the FASB issued ASU No. 2019-12, Income taxes (Topic 740), Simplifying the Accounting for Income Taxes. This guidance amends ASC Topic 740 and addresses several aspects including 1) evaluation of step-up tax basis of goodwill when there is not a business combination, 2) policy election to not allocate consolidated taxes on a separate entity basis to entities not subject to income tax, 3) accounting for tax law changes or rates during interim periods, 4) ownership changes from equity method investment to subsidiary or vice versa, 5) elimination of exception to intraperiod allocation when there is gain in discontinued operations and a loss from continuing operations, 6) treatment of franchise taxes that are partially based on income. The Company adopted ASU2019-12 effective January 1, 2021.

Accounting pronouncements issued but not yet adopted

Financial Instruments - Credit Losses: In June 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-13, Financial Instruments - Credit Losses (Topic 326): The amendments in this Update require a financial asset (or a group of financial assets) measured at amortized cost basis to be presented at the net amount expected to be collected. The amendments broaden the information that an entity must consider in developing its expected credit loss estimate for assets measured either collectively or individually. The use of forecasted information incorporates more timely information in the estimate of expected credit loss, which will be more decision useful to users of the financial statements. In November 2019, FASB issued ASU 2019-10, “Financial Instruments – Credit Losses (Topic 326), Derivatives and Hedging (Topic 815), and Leases (Topic 842).” This ASU defers the effective date of ASU 2016-13 for public companies that are considered smaller reporting companies as defined by the SEC to fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2022, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is planning to adopt this standard in the first quarter of fiscal 2023.The Company is currently evaluating the potential effects of adopting the provisions of ASU No. 2016-13 on its consolidated financial statements, particularly its recognition of allowances for accounts receivable.

The Company does not believe other recently issued but not yet effective accounting standards, if currently adopted, would have a material effect on the consolidated financial position, statements of operations and cash flows.

3. GOING CONCERN

Due to the recent regulatory scrutiny by PRC governments on digital asset related business, the artwork unit trading platform operated by the PRC subsidiary Tianjin Takung was suspended by the local authority. The Management became aware of the suspension on or around November 8, 2021. The local authority indicated the suspension was to facilitate certain investigation although it did not announce the purpose of the investigation. The Company intends to fully cooperate with the local authority’s investigation.

The Company has accrued the amount of RMB 408,411 for the month ended December 31, 2022 arising from three settled cases and nine pending cases; none of the pending cases have received any outcome as at May 22, 2023.

In the event that the suspension carries on for a substantial period of time or the investigation results in unfavourable outcome, the Company is subject to various risks, including, but not limited to, permanent discontinuation of the artwork unit trading platform business, material loss of Tianjin Takung’s carrying assets, material impact to the Company’s financial performance and liquidity, and being involved in litigation.

Management has assessed the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern in accordance with the requirements of ASC 205-40 and, based on the above factors, the management has concluded that there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern within one year from the issuance date of the Company’s consolidated financial statements. Management’s plan to alleviate the going concern risk includes, but not limited to, (1) equity or debt financing, (2) increasing cash generated from new business model operations, and (3) financing from domestic banks and other financial institutions. The management of the Company has made the following plans to mitigate these adverse conditions and to increase the liquidity of the Company. The Company will be able to divert its resource into the NFT trading business after disposal of the legacy business in art-work trading. The Company through its 100% subsidiary called Metaverse Digital Payment Co., Ltd. is taking full advantages of Hong Kong as the hub of finance center and digital trading center after the Company sets up its operation center in Hong Kong.

Management’s Plan

Private Investment in Public Equity (“PIPE”) Transaction

The Company entered into certain securities purchase agreement on February 23, 2022 (the “SPA”) with certain non-affiliated and accredited “non-U.S. Persons”, (the “Purchasers”) as defined in Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell 11,952,190 units, each consisting of one share of Common Stock (the “Shares”) and a warrant (the “Warrant”) to purchase three Shares.

On March 9, 2022, the Company and the Purchasers agreed to amend and restate the SPA (the “A&R SPA”) to amend the number of units sold, per unit purchase price, and the terms of the warrants underlying the units. Pursuant to the terms of the A&R SPA, the Company agreed to sell 10,238,910 units (the “Units”), each Unit consisting of one Share and a Warrant to purchase three Shares with a purchase price per Unit of $2.93.

On April 14, 2022, the transaction contemplated by the A&R SPA closed. The gross proceeds to the Company from this offering were approximately $30 million.

On June 27, 2022, Takung Art Co., Ltd., a Delaware corporation (the “Company”) entered into certain securities purchase agreement (the “SPA”) with certain “non-U.S. Persons” (the “Purchasers”) as defined in Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell 15,789,474 units, each consisting of one share of the common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) and a warrant to purchase two shares of Common Stock. The purchase price of each Unit is $1.9. The gross proceeds to the Company from this offering will be approximately $30 million.

New Business Model Operations

The Company plans to further develop its operations of blockchain and NFT related businesses, including consultancy services, development of NFT marketplace and “Play-to-Earn” style blockchain-based online games. “Play to Earn” is essentially a business model powered by blockchain technology, where players can acquire in-game assets or token ownership by recharging and playing games.

Meanwhile, the Company is actively seeking other strategic partners with resources that can expand its blockchain and NFT businesses.

The Company has recruited a global management team and technology research and development team to develop new products and new business directions that combine education and technology to provide online service in Metaverse. In order to diversify the political risks and legal scrutiny arising from the PRC regulations imposed with regards to digital assets, the Company has also decided to expand its business outside China, such as United States and Canada.

The Company has set up the new corporate structure for its new business stream as follows:

4. INVESTMENTS

We adopted ASU 2016-01 on January 1, 2018. This guidance requires us to measure all equity investments that are not accounted for under the equity method or result in consolidation at fair value and recognize any changes in net income. For equity investments with readily determinable and observable fair values, we use quoted market prices to determine the fair value of equity securities. For equity investments without readily determinable fair values, we have elected the measurement alternative under which we measure these investments at cost minus impairment, if any, plus or minus changes resulting from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the identical or a similar investment of the same issuer.

Equity investments with readily determinable fair values that are not accounted for under the equity method classified as trading are not assessed for impairment, since they are carried at fair value with the change in fair value included in net income. Similarly, prior to the adoption of ASU 2016-01, equity investment classified as trading was not tested for impairment.

Equity investments without readily determinable fair values are reviewed each reporting period to determine whether a significant event or change in circumstances has occurred that may have an adverse effect on the fair value of each investment. When such events or changes occur, we assess the fair value compared to our cost basis in the investment. We also perform this assessment every reporting period for each investment for which our cost basis has exceeded the fair value.

For investments in privately-held companies, management’s assessment of fair value is based on valuation methodologies such as discounted cash flows, estimates of revenue and appraisals, as applicable. We consider and apply the assumptions that we believe market participants would use in evaluating estimated future cash flows when utilizing the discounted cash flow or estimates of revenue valuation methodologies. In the event the fair value of an investment declines below our cost basis, management determines if the decline in fair value is other than temporary and records an impairment accordingly.

As of December 31, 2021, our investment merely includes a non-marketable investment in a privately held company incorporated in British Virgin Islands without readily determinable market values. We elected the measurement alternative under which we measured the investment at cost minus impairment with an adjustment to the changes from observable price changes in orderly transactions for the similar investments of the same issuer.

Management determined that the future undiscounted cash flow was less than the carrying cost of our non-marketable investment and recognized an impairment charge, nil, against our non-marketable investment.

The carrying value is measured as the total initial cost minus impairment.  The carrying value for our non-marketable investment is nil and summarized below:

For the three months ended March 31, 2023, we did not incur any unrealized gain or loss in connection with the non-marketable investment.

5. PREPAYMENT AND OTHER CURRENT ASSETS, NET

Prepayment and other current assets mainly consist of the prepaid tax, the prepaid services for maintenance of online trading system, the advertising and promotional services, prepaid financial advisory and banking services, as well as other current assets.

For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022  , the Company incur no provision for doubtful accounts.

6. ACCOUNT RECEIVABLES, NET

Account receivables consisted of the following:

For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we did incur provision nil and $8,484 for doubtful accounts.

7. PROPERTY AND EQUIPMENT, NET

Property and equipment consisted of the following:

8. INTANGIBLE ASSETS

9. OTHER NON-CURRENT ASSETS

Other non-current assets as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 consisted of:

10. ACCRUED EXPENSES AND OTHER PAYABLES

Accrued expenses and other payables as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 consisted of:

11. SHORT-TERM BORROWINGS FROM A THIRD PARTY

In July 2019, Hong Kong Takung entered into HKD Loans with Friend Sourcing with interest accruing at a rate of 8% per annum. The HKD Loans are to provide Hong Kong Takung with sufficient HKD currency to meet its working capital requirements. Friend Sourcing is a non-related party to the Company. On April 1, 2021, Hong Kong Takung extended the due date of the HKD Loans with Friend Sourcing to July 30, 2021. On August 1, 2021, Hong Kong Takung further extended the financing with Friend Souring to April 1, 2022. An interest payment, $86,795, was made on October 22, 2021.

The weighted average interest rate of outstanding short-term borrowings was 8% per annum as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022. The fair value of the short-term borrowings approximates their carrying amounts.

The third party by the name of Guohui Li has lent NFT Exchange Limited for the amount of $1,750,000.00.

12. INCOME TAXES

Takung was incorporated in the State of Delaware and is therefore subject to United States income tax. Hong Kong Takung, Takung Art Holdings and Hong Kong MQ were incorporated in Hong Kong S.A.R. People’s Republic of China and are subject to Hong Kong profits tax.

United States of America

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economy Security (CARES) Act (“the CARES Act, H.R. 748”) was signed into law on 27 March 2020. The CARES Act temporarily eliminates the 80% taxable income limitation (as enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017) for NOL deductions for 2018-2020 tax years and reinstated NOL carrybacks for the 2018-2020 tax years. Moreover, the CARES Act also temporarily increases the business interest deduction limitations from 30% to 50% of adjusted taxable income for the 2019 and 2020 taxable year. Lastly, the Tax Act technical correction classifies qualified improvement property as 15-year recovery period, allowing the bonus depreciation deduction to be claimed for such property retroactively as if it was included in the Tax Act at the time of enactment. The Company does not anticipate a material impact on its financial statements as of December 31, 2020 due to the recent enactment. 

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company in the United States $12,872 and had $11,935,256  in net operating loss carry forwards available to offset future taxable income, respectively. For net operating losses arising after December 31, 2017, the Tax Act limits the Company’s ability to utilize NOL carryforwards to 80% of taxable income and carryforward the NOL indefinitely. NOLs generated prior to January 1, 2018 will not be subject to the taxable income limitation and will begin to expire in 2033 if not utilized.

Hong Kong

Two-tier Profits Tax Rates

The two-tier profits tax rates system was introduced under the Inland Revenue (Amendment)(No.3) Ordinance 2018 (“the Ordinance”) of Hong Kong became effective for the assessment year 2018/2019. Under the two-tier profit tax rates regime, the profits tax rate for the first HKD 2 million (approximately $257,311) of assessable profits of a corporation will be subject to the lowered tax rate, 8.25% while the remaining assessable profits will be subject to the legacy tax rate, 16.5%. The Ordinance only allows one entity within a group of “connected entities” is eligible for the two-tier tax rate benefit. An entity is a connected entity of another entity if (1) one of them has control over the other; (2) both of them are under the control (more than 50% of the issued share capital) of the same entity; (3) in the case of the first entity being a natural person carrying on a sole proprietorship business-the other entity is the same person carrying on another sole proprietorship business. Since Hong Kong Takung, Metaverse Payment and Hong Kong MQ are wholly owned and under the control of Takung U.S, these entities are connected entities. Under the Ordinance, it is an entity’s election to nominate the entity that will be subject to the two-tier profits tax rates on its profits tax return. The election is irrevocable. The Company elected Hong Kong Takung to be subject to the two-tier profits tax rates.

The provision for current income and deferred taxes of Hong Kong Takung has been calculated by applying the new tax rate of 8.25%. Hong Kong MQ and Metaverse Payment apply the original tax rate of 16.5% and 9.2% for its provision for current income and deferred taxes.

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company’s subsidiaries in Hong Kong had both nil in net operating loss carry forwards available to offset future taxable income, respectively. These net operating losses will be carryforward indefinitely under Hong Kong Profits Tax regulation.

PRC

In accordance with the relevant tax laws and regulations of the PRC, a company registered in the PRC is subject to income taxes within the PRC at the applicable tax rate on taxable income. All the PRC subsidiaries that are not entitled to any tax holiday were subject to income tax at a rate of 25% for the year ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. According to PRC tax regulations, the PRC net operating loss can generally carry forward for no longer than five years starting from the year subsequent to the year in which the loss was incurred. Carryback of losses is not permitted.

The income tax expense was $(213,004) and $255,805 for the years ended March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively, related primarily to the Company’s subsidiaries located outside of the U.S. The loss before provision for income taxes for the years ended March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022 was as follows:

The income tax provision consists of the following components:

A reconciliation between the Company’s actual provision for income taxes is as follow:

Continuing operations

The effective tax rate for the continuing operations was (0.2)% and 0% for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Discontinued operations

The effective tax rate for the discontinued operations was 0% for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

The approximate tax effects of temporary differences, which give rise to the deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

Continuing operations

Discontinued operations

Uncertain tax positions

The reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of liabilities associated with uncertain tax positions is as follows:

The Company files tax returns as prescribed by the tax laws of the jurisdictions in which it operates. In the normal course of business, the Company is subject to examination by the respective jurisdictions, where applicable. The statute of limitations for the tax returns varies by jurisdictions.

The amounts of uncertain tax liabilities listed above are based on the recognition and measurement criteria of ASC Topic 740, and the balance is presented as current liability in the consolidated financial statements as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022. The Company anticipated that the settlements with the taxing authority are remitted within one year.

Our policy is to include interest and penalty charges related to uncertain tax liabilities as necessary in the provision for income taxes. The Company has a liability for accrued interest of $nil as of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.

Our discontinued operation, Hong Kong Takung, was selected for routine examination for its tax years ended December 31, 2016 through 2018 by Hong Kong Inland Revenue Department (“IRD”) during the fiscal year ended 2020. The examination had been concluded in May 2021 and the ultimate resolution of the tax examination concurred with the uncertain tax liabilities previously accrued. Hong Kong Takung settled the entire tax liabilities in June 2021. METAVERSE DIGITAL PAYMENT CO., LIMITED incurred corporate income tax payable of $26,354 during the first quarter of 2023. The Company does not expect the position of uncertain tax liabilities will significantly fluctuate within the next twelve months.

The statute of limitations for the Internal Revenue Services to assess the income tax returns on a taxpayer expires three years from the due date of the profits tax return or the date on which it was filed, whichever is later.

In accordance with the Hong Kong profits tax regulations, a tax assessment by the IRD may be initiated within six years after the relevant year of assessment, but extendable to 10 years in the case of potential willful underpayment or evasion.

In accordance with PRC Tax Administration Law on the Levying and Collection of Taxes, the PRC tax authorities generally have up to five years to assess underpaid tax plus penalties and interest for PRC entities’ tax filings. In the case of tax evasion, which is not clearly defined in the law, there is no limitation on the tax years open for investigation. Accordingly, the PRC entities remain subject to examination by the tax authorities based on the above.

13. LEASES

The Company has operating leases for its office facilities. The Company’s office leases have an initial terms of twelve months therefore it is not required to record on the balance sheet per ASC 842, the Company recognizes lease expenses for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term.

Maturities of operating lease liabilities as of March 31, 2023 were as follow:

14. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Capital Commitments

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the Company had no capital commitments.

Contingencies

During the year ended December 31, 2022, the deconsolidated entity of the Company, Tianjin Takung has been named as a defendant for litigations filed against the entity and compensation claims amounting to USD 60,694 have been recorded in the statement of operations. As at the filing date of this report, there are pending litigations that have yet to be concluded and the compensation claims are not determinable until the outcome are finalized. The Company is in the process of finalizing the disposal of Hong Kong Takung, and upon the completion of the disposition of Hong Kong Takung, the purchaser will assume all the assets and liabilities of the entity, including those associated with the Tianjin Takung.

Except for the above, as of March 31, 2023 and through the issuance date of the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-Q, the Company does not have any other significant indemnification claims.

Due to the deconsolidation of Tianjin Takung, the ending balance of our restricted cash totaling $58,254,521 and $52,215,458 as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, was not included in our consolidated financial statements and was reclassified to current assets – a deconsolidated entity. The Company could be exposed to claims made by the PRC customers for the return of their deposits at the Tianjin Takung’s restricted cash accounts. Any claims against Hong Kong Takung, though it is a limited company, that are ultimately successful, could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s financial position, operating results and cash holdings unless Hong Kong Takung is disposed or wound down.

15. NET (LOSS) EARNINGS PER SHARE

The computation of the Company’s basic and diluted net loss per share is as follows:

Diluted earnings per share takes into account the potential dilution that could occur if securities or other contracts to issue common stock were exercised and converted into common stock.

As of March 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there were no outstanding stock options and no other securities that would potentially be converted to additional shares of common stock that would have been outstanding if the dilutive potential shares of common stock had been issued were excluded from the calculation of diluted net loss per share.

16. SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Disposition Agreement

On November 1, 2022, Takung Art Co., Ltd. (the “Company”), Hong Kong Takung Art Company Limited (“Hong Kong Takung”) and Hong Kong MQ Group Limited (“Hong Kong MQ”, together with Hong Kong Takung, the “Targets”), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiaries, and Fecundity Capital Investment Co., Ltd. (the “Purchaser”), entered into a certain share purchase agreement (the “Disposition SPA”). Pursuant to the Disposition SPA, the Purchaser agreed to purchase the Targets in exchange for cash consideration of $1,500,000 (the “Purchase Price”). Upon the closing of the transaction (the “Disposition”) contemplated by the Disposition SPA, the Purchaser will become the sole shareholder of the Targets and as a result, assume all assets and liabilities of all the subsidiaries and VIE entities owned or controlled by the Targets. The Company believes that the Disposition will not have a significant, material impact on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

The closing of the Disposition is subject to certain closing conditions including the payment of the Purchase Price, the receipt of a fairness opinion from Access Partner Consultancy & Appraisals and the approval of the Company’s shareholders.

The Disposition was approved by the board of directors (the “Board”) of the Company.

Below is the Company’s structure chart before the completion of the Disposition.

Below will be the Company’s structure chart after the completion of the Disposition.

Merger Agreement

On November 1, 2022, the Company entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement”) with NFT Limited (“NFT”), a Cayman Islands exempt company and a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, among other things, the Company will merge with and into NFT, with NFT continuing as the surviving entity (the “Redomicile”). The Redomicile will become effective at such time on the closing date as the certificate of merger is duly filed with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware or at such other time specified in the Certificate of Merger (the “Effective Time”).

From and after the Effective Time, each share of the Company’s stock, either common stock or preferred stock issued and outstanding prior to the Effective Time (excluding certain excluding shares and dissenting shares, if any) will be automatically converted into Class A Ordinary Shares of NFT on pro rata basis. Each share of NFT stock held immediately prior to the Effective Time by the Company will be automatically cancelled and no payment will be made with respect thereto.

The closing of the Redomicile is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of customary conditions by the respective parties, including the approval of the Merger Agreement and the contemplated transactions by the Company’s shareholders.

The Redomicile was approved by the Board of the Company.

As disclosed on Takung Art Co., Ltd.’s (the “Company”) Current Report on Form 8-K (the “Form 8-K”) filed on August 24, 2022, the Company entered into certain securities purchase agreement, dated June 27, 2022, as amended on July 27, 2022 (the “SPA”), with certain “non-U.S. Persons” (the “Purchasers”) as defined in Regulation S of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). Pursuant to the SPA, the Company agreed to issue 10,380,623 units for a per unit price of $2.89 (the “Units”). Each Unit consists of one share of the common stock of the Company, par value $0.001 per share (the “Common Stock”) and a warrant to purchase two shares of Common Stock.

The issuance and sale of the Units is exempted from the registration requirement of the Securities Act pursuant to Regulation S promulgated thereunder.

The transaction contemplated by the SPA was closed on September 13, 2022, as all the closing conditions have been satisfied.

Effective April 14, 2023, the board of directors of Takung Art Co., Ltd. (the “Company”) approved the termination of Mr. Kwok Leung Paul Li position as the Company’s Co-Chief Executive Officer (“Co-CEO”) for cause, as defined in the executive employment agreement by and between the Company and the Co-CEO, dated July 20, 2021 (the “Employment Agreement”).

Annual Meeting of Shareholders

The Company will hold its 2022 annual meeting of shareholders on May 25, 2023. One of the proposals on the agenda is to vote for the approval of the proposed sale of the Company’s legacy business for a purchase price of $1.5 million.  

Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.

The following discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and related notes thereto.

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains or may contain forward-looking statements and information that are based upon beliefs of, and information currently available to, our management as well as estimates and assumptions made by our management. When used in the report the words “anticipate”, “believe”, “estimate”, “expect”, “future”, “intend”, “plan” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions as they relate to us or our management identify forward-looking statements. Such statements reflect the current view of our management with respect to future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors as they relate to our industry, our operations and results of operations, and any businesses that we may acquire. Should one or more of the events described in these risk factors materialize, or should our underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may differ significantly from those anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned.

Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. Except as required by applicable law, including the U.S. federal securities laws, we do not intend to update any of the forward-looking statements to conform them to actual results unless required by applicable securities regulations or rules. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our financial statements and the related notes filed herein.

Overview

We, through our wholly owned subsidiary, NFT Exchange, operate an electronic online platform located at https://www.nftoeo.com/for artists, art dealers and art investors to offer and trade valuable artwork. We offer online listing and trading services that allow artists, art dealers and owners to access a much bigger art trading market where they can engage with a wide range of investors that they might not encounter without our platform.

In May 2022, we launched our blockchain NFT online platform at www.nftoeo.com.

The company’s NFT business outlook can be described in several aspects below.

NFT Market Insights

Digital artwork based on NFT technology is becoming a hot asset. The earliest NFT projects can be traced back to the 2017 bull market CryptoKitties (the encrypted cats), which had the properties of scarcity and value anchoring of ownership. At its peak, a virtual cat could sell for more than $100,000. In terms of NFT artwork, in March 2021, artist Beeple’s NFT work “Every Day: The First 5,000 Days” sold for $69.346 million, making it the third-highest price for a living artist. According to a report by Invezz, the NFT market was worth $338 million in 2020, and it has grown to reach $490 million in 2021. With the help of the bull market wave, NFT has grown rapidly., As of the first quarter of 2021, the total transaction volume of the NFT market has exceeded 1.5 billion US dollars, an increase of more than 2627% from the previous quarter. In April 2021, the total market value of NFTs exceeded $30 billion for the first time, setting a new all-time high. Currently, NFTs can be used in the fields including games, artworks, domain names, insurance, collectibles, virtual assets, real assets, identities, etc. With the vigorous development of the digital world, many businesses will appear in the form of digital original ecology, and the huge application space and technological imagination of NFT are expected to become more and more attractive in the new digital economy world.

New business model

TKAT’s business model revolves around the theme of “free circulation of value and creation of a unique digital work exchange platform”, allowing each user to create, buy and sell various irreplaceable digital works to realize the value of works.

New business types

Away from poor offline communication and incomplete information, there is no misunderstanding of the pain points, and to tap the needs of users to provide comprehensive consulting services such as labor cost, artist influence, artistic value of works, and channels for obtaining works, which not only serves customers but also creates value for the company.

TKAT has built a fully functional NFT trading platform, which is in the stage of testing to be launched. The platform can meet the categories of digital works including: artwork, music videos, collectibles, game props, sports, metaverse, virtual world, social tokens, and meet the needs of various users as much as possible. And it can realize the whole business process of user registration-certification-work uploading-work casting-work trading. The platform was launched and placed in service in May 2022. In the transaction process, it not only meets the needs of customers for uploading and purchasing digital works, but the company extracts a portion of the handling fee (including token minting, first sale, and second sale) to create value.

After the TKAT platform has a certain user base, it can provide advertising and publicity services for users or the company itself. The business model is not limited to categories and industries, such as investment promotion, work promotion, and industry promotion.

New Strategic Direction

TKAT is committed to creating a digital original ecological platform that integrates games, artworks, domain names, insurance, collectibles, virtual assets, real assets, identity and other fields, and changes the market status of traditional industries through its own efforts. Strategic goals: basic platform building-targeted population entry-providing services (consulting services, transaction services, advertising services)-optimizing the platform and expanding the scope of services-full service.

Competitor analysis

Opensea is an NFT market exchange. It has more than 20,000 users. Compared with projects in the popular decentralized finance (“DeFi”) field, it is second only to Uniswap, kyber and Compound, and higher than maker, 0x, etc. As a trading platform with a relatively high status in the NFT field, OpenSea has a complete range of collections, equivalent to Taobao in the NFT world. At present, the trading market of OpenSea has nearly 40,000 users, and the monthly transaction volume exceeds 5 million US dollars. Coinbase’s new NFT platform hits 1.4 million signups. The Coinbase platform has an active population of 50,000 users. The service rates for each service are as follows: 1. Rarible’s minting fees are borne by the creators themselves, and the royalties are also set by the creators themselves, with default amounts of 10%, 20% and 30%. 2. VIV3’s NFT minting costs and profits come from the 12.5% service fee it collects on the first and second sales. 3. OpenSea does not need gas fee to mint NFT. 4. Rarible charges a 2.5% service fee on the first sale. On the SuperRare platform, a 15% commission is charged on the first sale and a 3% fee (paid by the buyer) is charged on the second sale.

Our headquarters are located in Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region, People’s Republic of China and we conduct our business primarily in the United States and Hong Kong through a global online platform. Our principal executive offices are located at Office Q, 11^th Floor, Kings Wing Plaza 2, No. 1, Kwan Street, Shatin, New Territory, Hong Kong.  

Competitive Advantages

The advantages of Takung in the NFT transaction and blockchain market are as follows:

Innate industry advantages

In recent years, digital artworks of NFT technology based on blockchain technology are becoming popular assets. The NFT online platform the Company built can effectively solve the current situation such as unclear ownership of property, difficulty in distinguishing authenticity and low efficiency of artwork circulation. Convert business development from offline to online operation, so that the value of digital works can be freely circulated online.

Advantages of the core management team

The core team members of Takung have experience in blockchain technology development and NFT trading platform operation, which can ensure a smoother development and business operation in the later stage.

Takung’s platform advantages

The currently developed and launched NFT online trading platform supports multi-category product uploads, including: Digital art, Digital oil painting, Produced by Gallery, Personal products, Artist signature, Oil on canvas, Print, Paper ink, Device, Comprehensive media, Derivative, and It will be continuously enriched and improved according to customer interests. The NFT trading platform has stable performance, high security and easy to maintain. At the front end of the system, the Company will continuously improve the operability and user experience of the system focusing on improving the user experience.

Technical advantages

The Takung’s digital works exchange platform that has been launched is built by a professional technical team. Each technician has rich industry experience, can work under a short development cycle or high pressure, and has a number of relevant industry benchmarking projects experience. The capability of the technical team ensures the strong technical support in the later system optimization and iterative update.

Marketing advantages

The Company has a professional marketing team. After the platform goes online, it can be promoted online and offline simultaneously, so as to quickly increase the popularity of the platform, and use professional marketing solutions to attract more creators and demanders to join in the platform.

We expect that we will generate revenue from the offering and trading of NFT on the Company’s system, primarily consisting of member fee, trading commission, and advertising fee.

Results of Operations

Three Months Ended March 31, 2023 Compared to Three Months Ended March 31, 2022

The following tables set forth our interim condensed consolidated statements of income data:

Revenue

For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, our continuing operations generated $699,741 and nil revenue. For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, our discontinued operations did not generate revenues respectively.

Revenue by category

The following table presents our revenue of our discontinued operations:

Revenue by customer type

The following table presents our revenue by customer type of our discontinued operations:

Listing fee revenue is calculated based on a percentage of the listing value and transaction value of artworks.

Listing value is the total offering price of an artwork when the ownership units are initially listed on our trading platform. We utilize an appraised value as a basis to determine the appropriate listing value for each artwork, or portfolio of artworks.

For Customers, the commission revenue was calculated based on a percentage of transaction value of artworks, which we charge trading commissions for the purchase and sale of the ownership shares of the artworks. The commission is typically 5% of the total amount of each transaction. The commission is accounted for as revenue and immediately deducted from the proceeds from the sales of artwork units when a transaction is completed.

Commission revenue for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 was $699,741 and nil from discontinued and continued operations respectively.

Our legacy online trading platform charges Traders a management fee to cover the costs of insurance, storage, and transportation for an artwork and trading management of artwork units, which is calculated at $0.0013 (HK$0.01) per 100 artwork units per day. The management fee is recognized when the artwork is sold and is deducted from proceeds from the sale of artwork ownership shares when there is a purchase and sale transaction.

During the three months period ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, our operations did not generate management fee revenue.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue of our discontinued operations primarily includes the following: commission paid to service agents, depreciation, internet service charges, artwork insurance and artwork storage costs.

Cost of revenue of our discontinued operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 were $150,930 and nil respectively. Since the legacy online trading system was suspended in the fourth quarter in 2021 and our NFT online trading platform was not launched until May 2022, our discontinued and continuing operations did not generate any revenues and cost of revenue during the three months ended March 31, 2022.

Gross Profit

Gross profit for our operations was $548,811 and nil for three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Operating Expenses

General and administrative expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2023 were $657,343 compared to $611,475 for the three months ended March 31, 2022.

The following table sets forth the main components of our general and administrative expenses of our continuing operations and for discontinued operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022.

Our continuing operations did not incur any selling expense for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022. The selling expense of our discontinued operation was nil for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Other (expenses) income

Other (expenses) income for the continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 were $93,265 and $(99), respectively. Other expenses were related to bank charges.

Other (expenses) income for the discontinued operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 were $(87) and $(167).

Loss before income taxes

Our continuing operations incurred loss before income taxes $15,267 and $611,574 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. Loss before income taxes of our continuing operations was significantly higher for the three months ended March 31, 2023 compare to the same period in 2022 as we incurred a higher commission revenue in 2023 as discussed above.

Our discontinued operations incurred loss before income taxes, $8,983 and $179,765 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Income tax expense

For the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, our continuing operations incurred income tax expense as $26,352 and $nil, respectively.

The income tax expense from the discontinued operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 were both nil.

Net Loss

As a result of our operations aforementioned, our net loss after income taxes for continuing operations for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 were $41,619 and $611,574, respectively. Our discontinued operations generated net loss after income tax $8,983 and $179,765 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Foreign currency translation gain (loss)

We had a foreign currency translation gain (loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022 of $(2,253) and $21,059, respectively.

Comprehensive gain/(loss)

As a result of the above, we posted a comprehensive loss of $52,855 and $770,280 for the three months ended March 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The following tables set forth our interim condensed consolidated statements of cash flow: