OLB Group Inc. Reports Taking Advantage Of Boom In Global CBD Market

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Growth in the global cannabidiol (CBD) market is reportedly booming, and OLB Group Inc. OLB believes it is poised to take advantage.

The market for CBD products was impacted during the pandemic by supply shortages and nationwide shutdowns of transportation and manufacturing. Today, however, most signs point to significant expansion.

Even with the slowdown caused by the pandemic, the global market for CBD was valued at nearly $3 billion in 2020. And that market now is predicted to grow at a compound annual rate of more than 20% through 2028, according to Grand View Research. Fortune Business Insights projects that growth will mean the market for CBD products will achieve an annual value in excess of $55 billion by 2028.

CBD may be extracted from cannabis or hemp, but the majority comes from the latter owing to its greater content of CBD. It’s important to note the difference between cannabis and hemp: The former does not have enough tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) to create the “high” of marijuana. Instead, the extracted CBD compounds interact with receptors involved in a variety of functions ranging from appetite to pain sensation.

Products containing CBD have reportedly found favor with consumers in recent years thanks to the many benefits associated with its use: treating anxiety, helping prevent seizures and the reduction of inflammation and pain. Accordingly, the products are proliferating across a variety of health and wellness categories such as cosmetics, food and pharmaceuticals.

The Grand View Research report highlights the consumer availability of CBD-based products, noting their presence at Rite Aid Corp. RAD, CVS Health Corp. NYSE: CVS) and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. WBA. When it comes to CBD topical treatments alone in the U.S., CVS Health offers them across its 800 stores and Walgreens Boots Alliance sells them in 1,500 stores.

The OLB Group delivers fully outsourced private-label shopping solutions to highly trafficked websites. Those services include website creation, hosting, processing of transactions, order fulfillment, customer service and sales reporting. Looking to recognize a growth opportunity for its services in the CBD space, OLB Group in December acquired a portfolio of more than 1,500 CBD merchants who will now use the company’s SecurePay payment gateway to process payments.

OLB states that the CBD portfolio, which is expected to achieve transactions of about $400 million in 2022, provides it with a significant portion of the nearly $3 billion global market and creates an established sales channel for the company, which is currently onboarding an average of 120 new accounts per month.

Based on the historical performance of this particular group of merchants, OLB anticipates the acquisition will provide an additional $20 million in annual revenue and $5 million in earnings for the company's payment processing business before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. 

“This acquisition in a market that is forecasted to continue its very healthy growth rate in both profitability and revenue provides OLB with a new growth engine,” OLB Group CEO Ronny Yakov said. "The revenue contribution to our top line is anticipated to represent an increase of revenue of approximately 200% in 2022 when compared to 2020 revenue."

Going forward, OLB’s proprietary SecurePay system may help these merchants to manage the continued growth in the CBD sector. That’s because of SecurePay’s support for traditional card-based payments as well as major digital wallets (Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal) and cryptocurrency wallets. The cloud-based platform also can integrate with multiple back-office systems including QuickBooks and other business software applications.

OLB’s move into the CBD space continues its diversification from its initial e-commerce focus. For example, its wholly-owned subsidiary DMint Inc. has enabled it to also move into the flourishing space for Bitcoin BTC/USD. DMint, which OLB acquired in October, is engaged in the mining of Bitcoin, using sustainable natural gas with an initial deployment of 1,000 mining computers. Ultimately, the company says it seeks to expand to 24,000 computers by the fall of 2023.

This post contains sponsored advertising content. This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be investing advice.