The blockchain stardust was sprinkled over Net Element International Inc (NASDAQ:NETE) on Wednesday causing the shares to triple in pre-market trading.
The electronic payments solutions provider saw its shares shoot up to US$19.73 from their overnight level of US$5.21 after the company announced the launch of a blockchain-focused business unit.
The new business unit is expected to become a decentralized crypto-based ecosystem.
Net Element said the platform would act as a framework for an unlimited number of value-added services that can connect merchants and consumers directly using blockchain technology while increasing the economic efficiency of all transactions being made within the ecosystem.
The company has gone into partnership with Bunker Capital to work on the blockchain technology.
“We believe that we’re at the dawn of a new evolution where additional digital payment methods are being introduced,” said Oleg Firer, chief executive of Net Element.
“Introduction of our division focused on blockchain as part of the NASDAQ-listed entity will add transparency and compliance assurance to our investors as well as provide access to deploy value-added services to over 20 million electronic commerce clients that are currently part of Net Element’s growing network,” said Firer.