Over the past eight months, a team of journalists have conducted a wide-ranging investigation into Dr Green Digital Key – a high-profile blockchain project positioning itself as a game-changer in global cannabis access.
Backed and vocally promoted by a man who styles himself the world’s first “cannabis billionaire,” the platform’s bold claims have attracted patients, entrepreneurs and investors across multiple continents.
After months of interviews, document reviews, blockchain analysis and regulatory consultation, we have found a growing chasm between the company’s confident public messaging and the verifiable facts underpinning its operations.
We believe vulnerable patients, many of whom are living with chronic conditions and seeking alternative treatments, as well as aspiring entrepreneurs unfamiliar with the complexities and intricacies of cannabis regulation, deserve a clear and accurate understanding of the business they are engaging with, therefore we believe now is the time to publish our findings in the spirit of public interest.
Marketing vs. Reality: The promised and the provable
Dr Green’s relentless promotion across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube has been hard to miss over the last year, with professionally produced, often influencer-led content blitzing feeds and promising to democratise the medical cannabis industry for the masses.
It’s not just its own channels. Plenty of reputable publications, including ABC News, Forbes, LADbible, Benzinga, and Cointelegraph, have all published stories on Dr Green.
These all reiterate the company’s promises to investors to “use state of the art technology to bring the popular drug to the masses”, alongside an enticing pricing structure, offering “margins for sellers ranging from 50–70%… for every $100 the holder sells, they keep up to $70 of it.”
One such article, equates NFT holders to McDonald’s franchise owners, noting that compared to the millions in total costs required to set up a licenced fast food restaurant, Dr Green’s $10,000 NFT requires “no product handling, and the ability to operate entirely from a mobile device”, and investors could pay off their costs in ‘less than three months”.
Crucially, it also promises that this will all be done entirely legally, adhering to the strict regulatory controls present in the sector, granting access to its “medical cannabis license, issued by Portugal’s INFARMED regulatory body.”
Ultimately, its marketing promises to “make entry to the cannabis industry affordable in a way that wasn’t possible” before its introduction.
All orders require KYC + a valid medical recommendation. No middlemen. No grey zones. Full SAHPRA compliance. Backed by blockchain transparency. pic.twitter.com/tYykDwXCpk
— Dr Green Digital Key (@DrGreen_nft) June 2, 2025
Since its NFTs were made available to the public, Dr Green says it has sold over 2000, in theory, netting the company millions in revenues already.
This might all sound too good to be true, and our findings raise significant questions about whether the model is workable as claimed.
Despite its marketing blitz, we’ve found:
- Just a handful of NFTs minted to legitimate, confirmed third parties
- Many may have been minted to accounts owned by the company itself
- Material gaps between what is proposed and what appears legally or operationally viable
- No public evidence of the licensing needed for this model to work as advertised
- Potential breaches of industry regulations
- Major inconsistencies in its claims and messaging
Why we’re publishing
This investigation is not about blockchain, cannabis, or business hype in isolation – it’s about the intersection of unregulated digital finance, unverified medical claims, and the potential for patient exploitation.
We believe this story needs to be told because:
- It involves the promotion of unlicensed medical cannabis products to vulnerable patients in the UK, South Africa, and other regions
- It raises serious questions about compliance with advertising and controlled substance laws
- It involves financial contributions from a large number of individuals, many of whom were led to believe they were buying into a compliant and internationally licensed ecosystem
- It presents a model that could be replicated across jurisdictions, with similar legal grey areas and patient risk
We extended a detailed right to reply to Dr Green and have incorporated their responses throughout our reporting. They deny any unlawful conduct, say any unauthorised third-party marketing is not condoned, and insist they will operate fully within the law once formally launched.
In response to our allegations, Dr Green said: “We welcome the opportunity to publicly share how our technologies aim to support the market and demonstrate our ongoing commitment to regulatory compliance in every jurisdiction in which we intend to operate.
“It is important to clarify that our business has not yet launched and is still in the development phase. We appreciate your inquiries and respectfully ask that any reporting be conducted with integrity and with an understanding that we are a new venture striving to build in a lawful and compliant manner.
“Our mission is to contribute positively to the medical cannabis industry by fostering innovation, transparency, and accountability. We are committed to operating fully within all applicable laws and regulations.”
What we’re publishing
Over the next week, we’ll be publishing a series of articles that explore:
- A deep dive into its blockchain transactions and expert analysis on what money has really changed hands, and to who
- Its plans to launch in the UK, its growing number of licensees, and whether its model adheres to MHRA regulations
- Its South African launch, and the ‘quasi-legal’ medical cannabis market in the region
- The business model behind Dr Green’s NFT system, and what it really offers
- Its extensive business network, questionable connections, and whether it has the licences it both claims and needs to operate
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