Meten Holding Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: METX), an omnichannel English language training (ELT) service providers headquartered in China, said it had entered into an agreement with industry experts to establish a joint venture specialising in the research and development (R&D), production, and sales of cryptocurrency mining equipment.

The group added that it expects to engage in businesses related to blockchain and metaverse in North America and other countries and areas around the world (not including China), including cryptocurrency mining, mining farm construction, and mining pool and data centre operation.

The engaged industry experts include:

• Zhijun Liu, Vice President of Hummingbird Mining Machine, an expert in cryptocurrency mining and has rich resources and experience in the development and supply chain of cryptocurrency mining machines.

• Yunning Li, former Chief Marketing Officer of ChainPlus and Dragon Social in Hong Kong, who has extensive practical experience in the blockchain industry and cross-border marketing and sales.

• Manning Liao, who graduated from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and previously worked for Dell and Hong Kong Satellite Television, has extensive experience in technology, knowledge and R&D of blockchain and cryptocurrency mining machines.

Pursuant to the Agreement, all parties have agreed to build a R&D team, establish a R&D mechanism, and intellectual property rights generated from the joint venture’s R&D activities or in reliance upon the joint venture’s resources and in connection with the joint venture’s business operations will belong to the joint venture.

Meten has agreed to invest US$3 million in the JV in exchange for 21% equity stake which will entitle the company to its pro rata share of the joint venture’s earnings and dividends, which, if there any to be distributed, will be paid on an annual basis.

Meten has also safeguarded its right to appoint the chairman to the JV’s board and take charge of financial management.

As part of the agreement, after the formation of the joint venture, the company is granted the right to purchase, under certain conditions and subject to the terms of the agreement, all or part of the equity held by the other members of the joint venture in in exchange for the company’s stock.

Alan Peng, Chief Executive Officer of Meten Holding Group, said: “We are delighted with this joint venture that fits the strategy for our new blockchain and cryptocurrency business line.

“We believe that the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry expertise brought by Mr. Zhijun Liu, Ms. Yunning Li, and Mr. Manning Liao will be highly complementary to our new business. We believe this joint venture will enable the company not only to have a complete R&D, manufacturing and sales capabilities of mining equipment, but also to consolidate and expand its foundation in the mining and blockchain industry. We intend to make significant investments in R&D, technology, and equipment through this joint venture.”

Peng added that he expects to see initial results as result of the company’s exploration of the metaverse business by the first quarter of 2022.

“We [also] expect that our cryptocurrency and mining machine business will start generating revenue,” he added.

“Meanwhile, the company is also actively preparing and promoting it new line of business in the metaverse related education fields. We expect the joint venture to add to the company’s planned growth in new businesses such as metaverse, blockchain and cryptocurrency.”