NXT-ID Rallies After Announcing Cryptocurrency Retail Payment Platform

NXT-ID Inc NXTD announced Wednesday that its subsidiary FitPay and Cascade Financial Technology are jointly developing a platform allowing cryptocurrency holders to make purchases at millions of retail locations worldwide. 

The cryptocurrency frenzy, which has sent the stocks of companies with even the most remote connection to digital currency soaring, triggered a strong rally in NTX-ID on Wednesday.

At the time of writing, NXT-ID shares were jumping 60.99 percent to $2.93

Enabling Crypto For Everyday Purchases 

The agreement, an extension of a current relationship between FitPay and Cascade, provides for the creation of a platform that will seamlessly transfer cryptocurrency value into widely accepted forms of payment, and stores that value on devices capable of making contactless payment at any near field communication-enabled point of sale terminals, according to NXT-ID. 

As cryptocurrencies increase in value and become more widely held, a demand is created for new methods to monetize them and enable their acceptance, Michael Orlando, the COO of NXT-ID and president of FitPay, said in as statement. 

"Our development effort with Cascade seeks to connect cryptocurrencies to the payment ecosystem as a natural extension of FitPay's platform. It will give cryptocurrency holders the opportunity to effortlessly use their value to make purchases every day, just as they would use a credit or debit card, and transform the way people pay." 

See also: Why The Bitcoin Bubble Is Different From All Other Bubbles

The Australian Connection

NXT-ID announced Tuesday its FitPay unit has struck a partnership with Australia's Australia and New Zealand Banking (ADR) ANZBY to extend contactless payment capabilities to a range of new devices for ANZ credit card holders.

Following the announcement, Maxim Group analyst Brian Kinstlinger reiterated a Buy rating on NXT-ID with a $1.72 price target.

"We believe FitPay is working on similar agreements with other Australian banks," Kinstlinger said. (See the analyst's track record here.) 

NXT-ID is in the process of cleaning up its balance sheet, and at the same time is striking what appears to be lucrative deals that will establish its technology for the wearable payments sector, according to Maxim Group. 

The activation of payment capability on the new Garmin Ltd GRMN smart watch in the first half of 2018 is the most significant near-term catalyst for NXT-ID, Kinstlinger said. New product launches in Australia using FitPay's technology could be another catalyst in 2018, the analyst said. 

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