By Matteo Castia
Shares in Quantum Blockchain Technologies PLC rose Wednesday after the company said it has entered into a one-year service agreement with an undisclosed cryptography expert specialized in cryptocurrency mining blockchain optimizations.

The cryptocurrency investment company said it believes there are tangible and disruptive optimizations that can be made at multiple levels within the end-to-end Bitcoin mining process, which could result in faster execution and energy saving.
The first set of measures will be ready for testing in the coming weeks, it said.
“The aim of this work is to improve the efficiency of Bitcoin mining, targeting a material reduction in energy usage and faster hash processing, which will increase the probability of successful mining,” the company said.
Shares at 0710 GMT were up 0.15 pence, or 12%, at 1.43 pence, after jumping nearly 25% earlier in the session.
The consultant has been awarded share options over 10 million new ordinary shares at an exercise price of 5 pence each (7.1 cents), which can be exercised between Feb. 15, 2022 and Aug. 15, 2022, Quantum Blockchain said.
Write to Matteo Castia at matteo.castia@dowjones.com