(Head Office: Taito-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Sei Kobayashi; hereinafter "EarlyWorks") and Barrett Group K.K. (Head Office: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Atsushi Ogata; hereinafter "Barrett Group") will begin a business alliance in February 2020 to verify the impact of blockchain technology on digital advertising and to implement methods to solve problems faced by the advertising industry. (headquartered in Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; Atsushi Ogata, President; hereinafter "Barrett Group") will begin a business alliance in February 2020 to examine the impact of blockchain technology on digital advertising and to implement solutions to issues faced by the advertising industry.

The digital advertising market has experienced significant growth over the past several years, and the rise of programmatic advertising has been a key driver of digital advertising growth. While programmatic advertising has become more convenient for both advertisers and media companies, it has also brought to light issues such as ad-fraud, brand safety, and viewability.

In particular, excessive tracking and retargeting using cookies, etc., to the detriment of users has become an issue worldwide, and Japan is no exception.

However, the current technology, with a processing speed of only 2__kanma__000 transactions per second, is inadequate for the current digital advertising market, which requires hundreds of thousands to millions of transactions per second. However, the current technology, with a processing speed of only about 2__kanma__000 messages per second, is inadequate for use in current digital advertising, which requires hundreds of thousands to millions of processes per second.

Therefore, EarlyWorks has independently developed a high-throughput, high-scalability Grid Ledger System, and by combining the expertise and technology of the Barrett Group in digital advertising, we will begin joint verification of methods to solve the problems of digital advertising. The Company will also make an investment in EarlyWorks.

In addition, Merchant Bankers, Inc., an EarlyWorks investor, and BlockConnect, a joint venture with Merchant Bankers, Inc. will provide sales resources and collaborators to establish a cooperative framework for system development and sales that maximizes EarlyWorks' resources. EarlyWorks: Original Architect

Earlyworks: Provision of a super high-speed blockchain platform (GLS) that makes full use of blockchain technology by its original architects and study of methods to realize solutions in digital advertising.

Barrett Group: Provides the latest know-how in the performance marketing area through its major clients, and provides advertising technology through its team of engineers with over 20 years of experience in the development of advertising effectiveness measurement technology.

＜For inquiries regarding this press release, please contact EarlyWorks, Inc. E-Mail: contact@e-arly.works The Barrett Group, Inc. E-Mail: info@bltinc.co.jp

Information in this document is current as of the date of publication. Specifications and service contents are subject to change without notice.