Long Island Iced Tea Corp changes name to Long Blockchain
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — During the internet bubble, some companies were able to boost their stock prices simply by inserting a "dot-com" in their names or, virtually overnight, refashioning themselves as e-commerce companies.
Some 15 years after the internet crash, Long Island Iced Tea Corp. (LTEA) on Thursday saw its shares jump more than 200 percent, to $7.66, after saying it plans to focus on blockchain and is changing its name to Long Blockchain Corp.
Blockchain, the technology behind the current cryptocurrency craze, is a ledger sheet where transactions involving bitcoin, litecoin and other digital currencies are recorded.
Long Island Iced Tea, a Farmingdale, New York, manufacturer of iced tea and lemonade, said it plans to ask the Nasdaq exchange to change its trading symbol from its current "LTEA," but didn't disclose what it wants the symbol changed to. It will continue to run Long Island Brand Beverages LLC, which concentrates on the ready-to-drink segment of the beverage industry.
According to its website, the company "is already in the preliminary stages of evaluating specific opportunities involving blockchain technology."
However, "The company does not have an agreement with any of these entities for a transaction, and there is no assurance that a definitive agreement with these, or any other entity, will be entered into or ultimately consummated," the website says.