TORONTO, Aug. 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Abaxx Technologies Inc. (CBOE:ABXX)(OTCQX:ABXXF) ("Abaxx" or the "Company"), a financial software and market infrastructure company, majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Commodity Exchange and Clearinghouse (individually, "Abaxx Exchange" and "Abaxx Clearing"), and producer of the SmarterMarkets Podcast, provides an update on operational milestones and the continued execution of the Company's business strategy in the second quarter of 2025.
Since quarter-end, the Company has entered a transformational period, with key developments from July and August outlined in the highlights below. On August 11, 2025, Abaxx CEO and Founder Josh Crumb hosted a Special Mid-Year Investor Update Call to update shareholders on these transformational events and the current state of the Company. A recording of this presentation is available on the Abaxx Investor Relations website at investors.abaxx.tech.
Abaxx Corporate Milestone Highlights
Commercial Development
During Q2-2025
- Confirmed active trading in Abaxx Exchange's physically-deliverable Gold Singapore Futures (GKS) contract following the product's official launch on June 12, 2025.
- Completed the first ever physical delivery of a regulated, exchange-cleared voluntary carbon contract - a live commercial transaction between major global participants, validating Abaxx's end-to-end infrastructure from trading and clearing to final settlement and registry transfer.
- Coordinated visits from multiple State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) to Abaxx's Singapore headquarters to explore participation in Abaxx markets, including active negotiations on incorporating Abaxx liquefied natural gas (LNG) benchmarks into pricing formulas.
- Continued discussions with external exchange groups based in China to collaborate on cross-jurisdictional (onshore/offshore) product listing opportunities with Abaxx Exchange and Abaxx Clearing.
- A total of 80 firms including clearing firms, trading firms and interdealer brokers are now either fully connected or in process of onboarding with Abaxx Exchange
- Established connectivity with 15 market maker firms and 5 liquidity providers across product verticals to deepen market liquidity and tighten bid /ask spreads across listed products.
- Formed Abaxx Spot, a separate provider of spot market services in Singapore, offering secure, centrally-pooled kilobar gold trading for physical market participants and enabling global access to physically-allocated gold in the format preferred across Asia.
Subsequent to Quarter-End
- Average daily volumes in Gold Singapore Futures (GKS) increased from 200 lots in June to 500-1,000+ lots in August, with consistent days above 1,000 lots and an active curve across four months.
- Gained traction in Gulf of Mexico LNG Futures (GOM), with regular trading activity and the first calendar-month spread trade - currently the only physically-backed LNG forward curve available and trading in the global market.
Exchange Product Development
- Launched physically-deliverable Gold Singapore Future (GKS), Abaxx's first precious metals market, with development underway for additional precious metals including silver, platinum and rhodium.
- Moved weather futures and carbon market contracts aligned with regional compliance programs into Stage 3, with launch planning underway. These contracts will be Abaxx's first products priced in a non-USD currency.
- Advanced Stage 3 development of complementary cash-settled LNG contracts to expand portfolio risk management tools alongside physically-deliverable LNG benchmarks.
- Progressed stage 3 development of a financially-settled copper spread contract designed to improve hedging precision in global copper markets.
Risk and Regulatory Development
- Application to the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) for recognition as a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) under review and progressing well
- Implemented exchange rule changes to operational mechanisms of Error Trade Cancellation and No Cancellation Bands
- Established accounts with two clearing members as designated liquidation brokers, expanding operational readiness for default management.
Systems and Operations Development
- Completed development and testing of multi-currency settlement and collateralization capabilities, with implementation scheduled for Q3 2025.
- Achieved ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification for Abaxx Singapore's exchange and clearing infrastructure, confirming alignment with global standards for information security, operational resilience, and institutional onboarding requirements.
Abaxx Console Suite Development
During Q2-2025
- Announced a Q4 2025 pilot for the first application of Abaxx's Private Digital Title, financing gold futures margin with physical gold held in Abaxx Spot with the goal of demonstrating legally-enforceable, real-time collateral across the Company's integrated market infrastructure.
- Proved bank-grade security of Verifier+ for passwordless login through secure integration to the Abaxx Trade Registration Platform.
- Deployed pilot-ready Abaxx Messenger, Sign, and Drive applications to production ahead of schedule, meeting development requirements for the Company's Annual Information Filing.
- Advanced third-party adoption of the Abaxx Console Suite with initial rounds of user, legal, and compliance research ahead of full-stack ISO27001/SOC2 compliance certification.
- Advanced the ID++ and Console Suite's total addressable market by continuing development of AbaxxOne to enable compatibility between enterprise identity providers and the ID++ service layer.
Subsequent to Quarter-End
- Announced a second pilot to test the Abaxx USD Trust Network using Abaxx's Private Digital Title and ID++ technologies with tokenized-USD money market funds, addressing legal finality and identity requirements for real-time collateral in regulated markets.
The following sections provide further information related to these developments across business units and platform initiatives. Due to the transformational events that have transpired in July and August, the discussion below includes developments that have occurred subsequent to quarter-end.
Abaxx Exchange and Abaxx Clearing Developments
Risk and Regulatory: The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) review of Abaxx Exchange's application for recognition as a Foreign Board of Trade (FBOT) progressed in Q2. Once granted, the designation will allow U.S.-based participants to directly access Abaxx-listed products.
In June, Abaxx Exchange introduced targeted rule changes to provide greater clarity on the operational mechanisms for error trade cancellation and the imposition of no-cancellation bands, enhancing transparency and predictability for market participants.
Abaxx Clearing successfully established accounts with two clearing members to serve as designated liquidation brokers. These arrangements ensure that, in the event of a default or forced position closure, the appointed brokers can execute timely liquidations in accordance with Abaxx Clearing's risk management framework and regulatory obligations.
Commercial: Trading momentum continued to build through and after Q2, with deeper liquidity, broader participation, and measurable growth across Abaxx markets. Gold Singapore Futures (GKS) launched on June 12, 2025, with average daily volumes increasing from 200 lots in June to 500-1,000+ lots in August, including consistent days above 1,000 lots and an active curve across four months. Gulf of Mexico LNG Futures (GOM) gained traction with regular trading activity and the first calendar-month spread trade - currently the only physically-backed LNG forward curve available on-screen.
The quarter also saw the first physical delivery of a regulated, exchange-cleared voluntary carbon contract between major global participants, validating Abaxx's end-to-end trade, clearing, and settlement capabilities. A total of 80 firms including clearing firms, trading firms and interdealer brokers are now either fully connected or in the process of onboarding with Abaxx Exchange. Liquidity infrastructure was further strengthened through connectivity with 15 market maker firms and five liquidity providers across product verticals, supporting deeper markets and tighter bid/ask spreads.
In Asia, Abaxx hosted multiple visits from State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) active in the energy sector to its Singapore headquarters to explore participation in Abaxx markets, including active negotiations on incorporating Abaxx LNG benchmarks into pricing formulas. The Company also continued discussions with external exchange groups in China on potential cross-jurisdictional (onshore/offshore) product listing opportunities with Abaxx Exchange and Clearing. To further strengthen its presence in mainland China, Abaxx increased its strategic team dedicated to expanding commercial interest in the region, along with launching its official WeChat channel. These efforts were supported by an on-the-ground delegation at the World Gas Conference in Beijing and targeted participation at the Asia Pacific Precious Metals Conference and the Japan Energy Summit's Technical Conference. In June, China Central Television featured the launch of Gold Singapore Futures on its World Finance program following a visit to Abaxx headquarters.
In Europe, Head of LNG Markets Luc Speeleveld advanced outreach at Wood Mackenzie's Gas, LNG & Future of Energy Conference and the CEDIGAZ Seminar in Paris, highlighting Abaxx LNG benchmarks as tools for transparent price discovery and precise hedging for imports into Northwest Europe. Abaxx also broadened its industry influence through targeted participation in forums shaping the future of global commodity markets, including International Emissions Trading Association's (IETA) European Climate Summit, FLAME 2025, Benchmark Minerals' GIGA 2025, the Fastmarkets Lithium Supply and Battery Raw Materials Conference, the Indonesia Critical Minerals Conference and Expo, and the Financial Times' Asia's Energy Transition event. These platforms strengthened relationships with key decision-makers and supported visibility and education around Abaxx benchmark contracts to drive product adoption.
Systems and Operations: Abaxx Exchange and Abaxx Clearing operated without interruption, supporting steady trading activity and participant onboarding. Development and testing of multi-currency settlement and collateralization capabilities were completed, with implementation scheduled for Q3 2025.
In May, Abaxx Singapore was granted ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification, confirming that the Company's exchange and clearing infrastructure meets internationally recognized standards for data security, risk management, and operational resilience.
Enhancements to client onboarding workflows advanced during the quarter, streamlining the process for new market participants. In parallel, integration work with major market data vendors progressed, expanding access to Abaxx Exchange data and strengthening connectivity across the trading ecosystem.
Exchange Product Development: Abaxx launched its Gold Singapore Futures (GKS) contract on June 12, establishing a regionally anchored kilobar benchmark to support price discovery, risk management, and the convergence of futures and spot pricing in one of the world's most active physical gold markets. Stage 2 development is progressing on additional precious metals contracts - including silver, platinum, and rhodium - to extend the suite.
Weather futures and carbon contracts aligned with regional compliance programs advanced through Stage 3 in the second quarter, with launch planning in progress. These contracts will be the first Abaxx products priced in currencies other than the U.S. dollar.
Stage 3 development also continued on complementary LNG contracts designed to support portfolio risk management. These cash-settled products will expand the range of listed instruments, enabling traders to manage global LNG exposure in tandem with Abaxx's physically-deliverable benchmarks.
The Company also continued Stage 3 development of a financially-settled copper spread contract aimed at improving hedging precision in global copper markets.
Additional Corporate Updates
Abaxx Console Apps: Abaxx announced the first commercial application of its Private Digital Title, marking the next phase in integrating the Company's regulated market infrastructure with its ID++ technology to increase collateral mobility and capital efficiency. This Q4 2025 pilot will finance gold futures margin with physical gold held in Abaxx Spot¹, with the goal of demonstrating legally-enforceable, real-time collateral across the Company's integrated platforms. Preparations have included design work, deployment of foundational infrastructure, and completion of initial user, legal, and compliance research to validate target audiences and use cases. Interested parties - including clearing firms, brokers, traders, custodians, banks, and technologists - are invited to contact digitaltitle@abaxx.com to participate in the Private Digital Title working group.
The Company also announced a second pilot to test the Abaxx USD Trust Network using Abaxx's Private Digital Title and ID++ technologies with tokenized-USD money market funds, addressing legal finality and identity requirements for real-time collateral in regulated markets.
In parallel, Abaxx deployed pilot-ready Sign, Drive, and Messenger applications to production environments ahead of schedule, completing a major milestone in delivering the full Console Suite toolset. These applications enable secure trade documentation, communications, and custody workflows for regulated commodity markets. The Company also validated bank-grade security of Verifier+ for passwordless login through secure integration to the Abaxx Trade Registration Platform and advanced third-party adoption of the Console Suite with early-stage user, legal, and compliance research ahead of full-stack ISO27001/SOC2 compliance certification.
The Company also advanced the Console Suite's total addressable market by continuing development of AbaxxOne, extending compatibility between enterprise identity providers and the ID++ service layer to expand access.
Abaxx Spot: In Q2, Abaxx incorporated Abaxx Spot as a separate entity to operate a physically-allocated gold trading platform in Singapore¹. The platform uses an undivided interest structure to provide secure, transparent ownership of 99.99% purity kilobars, traded through a pre-funded, OTC-cleared central limit order book (CLOB). This design expands participant access beyond bilateral OTC trades and unifies custody, compliance, and settlement under a single framework.
By co-locating the spot gold pool with Abaxx Exchange's physically-deliverable Gold Singapore Futures, Abaxx aims to reduce basis risk between spot and futures prices, giving market participants a more precise framework for managing price exposure.
Abaxx Spot will also play a central role in the previously announced Q4'25 pilot - conducted outside Abaxx's regulated clearinghouse - to finance gold futures margin with physical gold using Abaxx's Private Digital Title.
¹Abaxx Spot Pte. Ltd. is a registered dealer under the Precious Stones and Precious Metals (Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act 2019 (PSPM Act), and is exempted from holding a spot commodities brokers license under the Commodity Trading Act 1992. Abaxx Spot Pte. Ltd. is not regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore as a financial institution, but operates in compliance with the regulatory framework established by the PSPM Act.
About Abaxx Technologies
Abaxx Technologies is building Smarter Markets: markets empowered by better tools, better benchmarks, and better technology to drive market-based solutions to the biggest challenges we face as a society, including the energy transition.
In addition to developing and deploying financial technologies that make communication, trade, and transactions easier and more secure, Abaxx is the majority shareholder of Abaxx Singapore Pte. Ltd., the owner of Abaxx Exchange and Abaxx Clearing, and the parent company of wholly owned subsidiary Abaxx Spot Pte. Ltd., the operator of Abaxx Spot.
Abaxx Exchange delivers the market infrastructure critical to the shift toward an electrified, low-carbon economy through centrally-cleared, physically-deliverable futures contracts in LNG, carbon, battery materials, and precious metals, meeting the commercial needs of today's commodity markets and establishing the next generation of global benchmarks.
Abaxx Spot modernizes physical gold trading through a physically-backed gold pool in Singapore. As the first instance of a co-located spot and futures market for gold, Abaxx Spot enables secure electronic transactions, efficient OTC transfers, and is designed to support physical delivery for Abaxx Exchange's physically-deliverable gold futures contract, providing integrated infrastructure to deliver smarter gold markets.
For more information please visit abaxx.tech, abaxx.exchange, abaxxspot.com and smartermarkets.media.
For more information about this press release, please contact:
Steve Fray, CFO
Tel: +1 647 490 1590
Media and investor inquiries:
Abaxx Technologies Inc.
Investor Relations Team
Tel: +1 647 490 1590
E-mail: ir@abaxx.tech
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
??This press release includes certain "forward-looking statements" which do not consist of historical facts. Forward-looking statements include estimates and statements that describe Abaxx's future plans, objectives, or goals, including words to the effect that Abaxx expects a stated condition or result to occur. Forward-looking statements may be identified by such terms as "seeking", "should", "intend", "predict", "potential", "believes", "anticipates", "expects", "estimates", "may", "could", "would", "will", "continue", "plan" or the negative of these terms and similar expressions. Since forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Although these statements are based on information currently available to Abaxx, Abaxx does not provide any assurance that actual results will meet respective management expectations. Risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other factors involved with forward- looking information could cause actual events, results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information related to Abaxx in this press release includes, but is not limited to: the business plans and objectives of Abaxx; the development of new products, futures contracts, markets and technologies and associated benefits; anticipated receipt of regulatory approvals; and onboarding of clearing members and firms. Such factors impacting forward-looking information include, among others: the inability to receive regulatory approvals in connection with financings or inability to finalize transaction documentation; risks relating to the global economic climate; dilution; Abaxx's limited operating history; future capital needs and uncertainty of additional financing; the competitive nature of the industry; currency exchange risks; the need for Abaxx to manage its planned growth and expansion; the effects of product development and need for continued technology change; protection of proprietary rights; the effect of government regulation and compliance on Abaxx and the industry; acquiring and maintaining regulatory approvals for Abaxx's products and operations; the ability to list Abaxx's securities on stock exchanges in a timely fashion or at all; network security risks; the ability of Abaxx to maintain properly working systems; reliance on key personnel; global economic and financial market deterioration impeding access to capital or increasing the cost of capital; and volatile securities markets impacting security pricing unrelated to operating performance. In addition, particular factors which could impact future results of the business of Abaxx include but are not limited to: operations in foreign jurisdictions, protection of intellectual property rights, contractual risk, third-party risk; clearinghouse risk, malicious actor risks, third-party software license risk, system failure risk, risk of technological change; dependence of technical infrastructure; and changes in the price of commodities, capital market conditions, restriction on labor and international travel and supply chains, and the risk factors identified in the Company's most recent management discussion & analysis filed on SEDAR+. Abaxx has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of Abaxx's normal course of business.
Abaxx cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. In addition, although Abaxx has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated, or intended. When relying on forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Abaxx has assumed that the material factors referred to in the previous paragraphs will not cause such forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors. The forward-looking statements and information contained in this press release represents the expectations of Abaxx as of the date of this press release and, accordingly, is subject to change after such date. Abaxx undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements and information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements and information. Cboe Canada does not accept responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release.
