Tag: stocks

When it comes to stock listings and companies that cultivate cannabis, the United States is a land of regulatory hypocrisy. Whereas companies that are based in Canada have historically been allowed to offer SEC-qualified stock options to the public, the same is not true for companies based in the United States. That appears to be changing.

Goldenseed, a “California lifestyle cannabis and hemp brand” that is backed by music group Green Day’s bassist and co-founder Mike Dirnt, recently announced that it has become the first private U.S. cannabis cultivation company to be approved to sell SEC-qualified stock to the public. Per GlobeNewswire:

Mike Dirnt, bassist and co-founder of American rock band Green Day, announced that Goldenseed - a California lifestyle cannabis and hemp brand he advises and has invested in – is the first private U.S. cannabis cultivator ever qualified by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to sell stock to the general public. Anyone who wants to invest in and actually own stock in a privately-held U.S. cannabis farm, can now do so for the first time in history for as little as $100.

Dirnt has been involved with Goldenseed as an investor, brand ambassador and advisor since 2018. “I’m excited to be a part of a farm that grows cannabis and hemp the way Goldenseed does,” Dirnt said. “People who want to invest probably already love this plant, and are believers in what I, and many others, consider to be nature’s medicine. I think Goldenseed honors all of that in the right way.”

Whether this particular stock offering is a good buy or not is something that investors will have to determine on their own after conducting robust due diligence. However, regardless of the merits of the stock offering from a profit potential standpoint, the fact that the stock offering is SEC-qualified is historic.

Hopefully this is the first of many such approvals to come in the near future. There is no valid reason why U.S. cannabis cultivation companies should be hindered from following in the footsteps of Goldenseed. Allowing Canadian cannabis cultivation companies to list on the U.S. stock exchange, while forcing U.S. companies to seek listings on the Canadian exchange, makes zero sense and negatively impacts the opportunities for investors everywhere.

The cannabis industry is booming, and investors are taking notice. The legal cannabis industry is already worth billions of dollars, and the rate of growth is astounding. With so many U.S. states and countries around the globe reforming their cannabis laws, there’s no end in sight to the exponential growth of the cannabis industry.

For some investors, cannabis stocks provide a great opportunity to dip their toes into the industry without having to take a deep dive via a massive investment. Launching a cannabis cultivation facility is expensive. So is launching a cannabis dispensary.

Cannabis stocks are far cheaper compared to those options and compared to funding many other ancillary cannabis business ideas. For many years investors refused to give serious consideration to the cannabis industry due to stigma and lack of legal/viable options.

However, that has changed, as evidenced in the results of a recent investor survey commissioned by GOBankingRates which was featured by Yahoo Finance. Below are some of the key findings from the survey:

• 49% of survey participants stated that they have already purchased cannabis stocks or plan to
• Roughly one-third of survey respondents said they would start investing in cannabis if it were legalized
• Among survey participants who were open to investing in cannabis stocks, 27% said that they plan to invest $1,000 or more

It will be very interesting to see where investor attitudes are as time goes on and more cannabis stock options become available. For investors that are open to investing in the cannabis industry yet have refrained from doing so thus far, presumably, some of them are just waiting for what they deem to be viable options.

Current cannabis stock options largely revolve around Canada’s cannabis industry and the Canadian Stock Exchange due to limitations in the United States. When things open up in the United States, it’s logical to assume that investor interest will spike.