Benzinga | Mar 15, 2021 08:39AM EDT

ZK International Says Subsidiary xSigma Enters Non-Fungible-Token Market Announces Launch Of Of NFT Platform On Ethereum, Polkadot Blockchains

ZK International Group Co., Ltd. (NASDAQ:ZKIN) ("ZKIN", "ZK International" or the "Company"), is pleased to announce that, xSigma Corporation, a subsidiary of the Company and a blockchain R&D lab, announces that it will be launching its newest project that will allow it to participate in the projected $1.3 Billion growing industry in 2021 of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT).

The new platform being developed by the developing team at xSigma labs will be an NFT marketplace, which will allow users in the community to buy and sell NFTs, as well as to create their own custom NFTs in a few clicks. xSigma plans to use multiple blockchains behind the platform, such as Ethereum and Polkadot. xSigma plans to attract various artists and talents on an exclusive basis to its platform. Previously, xSigma was able to attract NBA Champion Dwight Howard, to endorse its DeFi project and it hopes that the new marketplace will be able to attract similar celebrities to its new NFT Platform.

The NFT Platform will be the fourth project in xSigma's ecosystem of blockchain products to be implemented and launched later this year. Currently, xSigma's DeFi project was launched in February and successfully reached $100 M of Total Value Locked in the first week.

What are Non-Fungible Tokens?

Non-Fungible Tokens are easily exchangeable and individually unique digital assets which are held on certain blockchains, mainly Ethereum but also others such as Flow, Wax, and many others.

One of the key differences between Cryptocurrencies and Non-Fungible Tokens is that every NFT is completely and not directly interchangeable with any other asset by identity, value, and/or utility. Every Non-Fungible Token is composed of metadata which gives each one their individuality, these attributes can include size, artist name, scarcity etc. NFT not only exist in a digital space but crucially they can also represent any type of physical asset, acting as a kind of 'digital twin' to anything existing in the real world and enabling the ownership and exchange of physical possessions within digital marketplaces.

True ownership is one of the defining key components of any NFT and, as the digital economies continue to thrive, there is no doubt that NFT will play a pivotal role in bringing the digital and physical worlds closer to one another than they have ever been before.

According to the report by Canadian-based analytics company NonFungible, they indicated that, "the total market cap for project-based NFTs finished was $338 million at the close of 2020. Messari research analyst Mason Nystrom believes this figure could rise to more than $1.3 billion in 2021." The report goes on to indicate, that it is predicting that 2021 is poised for "a new Bull Market in the NFT industry."1

Additional indications and validation of the growing NFT space, is last week's volume of the NFT industry which saw over $43 million a week of transactions, according to NonFungible.com.2

The popularity of NFTs are growing and attracting top tier companies and some examples are as follows:

* Recently, the world's record of the most expensive NFT was recorded by artist Beeple with his digital art piece that was sold for over $60m at Christie's. The auction house is set to become the first major auctioneer to apply the innovative technology.

* NBA TopShot, the flagship non-fungible token (NFT)-powered game built by Dapper Labs is the first app offering blockchain-based collectibles to launch on Samsung's mobile shop. Top Shot allows users to collect multi-media "moments" of varying scarcity representing significant highlights across basketball's history. The limited edition tokens feature video and statistics depicting an event -- like a buzzer beater shot -- with users able to unlock extremely rare tokens by completing particular "sets" of tokens showcasing related moments.

* Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur and renowned investor, has created his own non-fungible token (NFT). Titled "The RollUp 2021," the digital art piece was released in an edition of 10 on the NFT marketplace Rarible. Within hours, a buyer bought two for roughly $81,000.3

* Traditional brands like Nike, Louis Vuitton, and Formula 1 are already looking at exploring the various commercial applications of NFT in a means of seeing how they can engage their customers virtually while increasing their value of their brands and their profitability.

Mr. Huang, Chairman of xSigma stated, "We are pleased to announce that we are moving quickly into the next boom of monetizing of digital assets of the innovative industry known as Non-Fungible Tokens. We have invested into xSigma to create value by developing various projects from the R&D lab and we are extremely pleased in our top tier team who continue to exceed our expectations and we believe that they have come up with another new great product for the NFT community, which is scheduled to be launched in the third quarter of 2021".

1 New report predicts NFTs will explode in popularity during 2021(cointelegraph.com)

2 NFT market history overview (nonfungible.com)

3 Mark Cuban Mints First Ethereum NFT on Rarible, Buyer Spends $81,000 |Crypto Briefing

The NFT Yearly Report 2020 is live! - NonFungible.com

About ZK International Group Co., Ltd.

ZK International Group Co., Ltd. is a China-based designer, engineer, manufacturer and supplier of patented high-performance stainless steel and carbon steel pipe products that require sophisticated water or gas pipeline systems. The Company owns 28 patents, 21 trademarks, 2 Technical Achievement Awards, and 10 National and Industry Standard Awards. ZK International is preparing to capitalize on the $850 Billion commitment made by the Chinese Government to improve the quality of water, which in its current supply state is 70% unfit for human contact. ZK International is Quality Management System Certified (ISO9001), Environmental Management System Certified (ISO1401), and a National Industrial Stainless Steel Production Licensee that is focused on supplying steel piping for the multi-billion dollar industries of Gas and Water sectors. ZK has supplied stainless steel pipelines for over 2,000 projects, which include the Beijing National Airport, the "Water Cube" and "Bird's Nest", which were venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Emphasizing superior properties and durability of its steel piping, ZK International is providing a solution for the delivery of high quality, highly sustainable, environmentally sound drinkable water to not only to the China market but to international markets such as Europe, East Asia and Southeast Asia.



For more information please visit www.ZKInternationalGroup.com. Additionally, please follow the Company on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Weibo. For further information on the Company's SEC filings please visit www.sec.gov.