IOT Group has recast itself as a qualified blockchain advisor — four months after getting into the sector — and says it’s getting $5 million in crypto for a single job.

IOT Group (ASX:IOT) says it’s now advising on an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) and a new subsidiary is consulting on a cryptocurrency mining project for Sydney-based Royalti Blockchain Group.

IOT’s last gig was as a selfie-drone seller — an experience it decribed in May as “disappointing”, followed by an investment in a Sydney parcel-delivery service.

It later hired celebrity publicist Max Markson — who was paid in shares.

In March it started hiring blockchain gurus and in April announced a coal-fired blockchain energy plant.

On Monday IOT first mentioned a new subsidiary called International Blockchain Advisory Corp — or IBAC for short — though there’s no word yet on who’s staffing it.

“IBAC’s role in this project is to advise and introduce qualified technical management to complete the RBG Blockchain Mining Project,” IOT said.

They’re clearly working very fast: IBAC is to be paid for its services in just 14 days.

$5 million in cryptocurrency

It is being paid 5 million cryptocurrency tokens, which Royalti Blockchain Group plans to “list” for $1 each via an ICO by December.

An ICO is like an initial public offering — but instead of offering shares, an issuer offers digital tokens that can be traded on cryptocurrency platforms or swapped for services.

IOT does provide a warning to its shareholders, however:

“Investors should note that the basis for the token valuation is, in fact, unknown at this stage and is only notional, and will only be known once the tokens are planned to be listed on an exchange in Q4 this year.

It also says if the ICO doesn’t actually happen, it gets nothing.

Stockhead was on Monday unable to contact IOT founder Sean Neylon or the three men appointed as blockchain advisors in March from Digital Capital Management and Bitcoin Advisors.

Phone lines at the two blockchain advisories rang out.

The power plant project

Meantime, IOT is working on its plan to build a blockchain and cryptocurrency mining hub off the back of a shuttered coal power plant in NSW’s Hunter Valley.

Hunter Power spokesman Richard Poole told Stockhead they originally promised IOT Group 5-7 per cent of the power from the shuttered Redbank power plant, if they got it running.

Hunter Power was “actively looking at whether we can reopen it”, Mr Poole said.

But a re-opening was not assured.

“To get it up we obviously have to ensure that we can get coal supply at the right price [and] ensure the retrofitting can be done at a reasonable price,” he said. Then there’s gaining community support and ensuring a market for the power.

If those conditions could be met it was possible the plant could re-open by March.

The key draw card of the site is its grid connection. Hunter also want to eventually build a solar farm and add battery storage to the site.

IOT will be hoping all this comes to pass after signing clients for its Redbank-backed blockchain centre, a crypto mining operation, and an ICO on the back of the power promise.

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