Overstock.com, Inc., a major US online retailer, plans to publicly offer digital securities to be recorded to a distributed blockchain ledger. Overstock CEO Patrick M. Byrne announced it at Money 20/20 Europe in Copenhagen, Denmark Thursday.
It is believed to be the first such offering to be recorded to a distributed blockchain ledger.
Another piece of the puzzle
The company that is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and sells a broad range of products at low prices has entered into an agreement with Georgeson Inc. that is to act as information agent in the upcoming offering. Georgeson is the world’s foremost provider of shareholder intelligence, communications and proxy services.
Patrick M. Byrne made the announcement during a keynote address after outlining the benefits of securities settlement on a distributed ledger.
Overstock’s FinTech subsidiary, t0, is behind utilizing blockchain technology in capital markets. The securities issued in Overstock’s offering will trade on t0’s trading platform.
“Another piece of the puzzle has fallen into place in our effort to revolutionize the financial world,” said Byrne.
“We’re delighted to be working with Overstock and with t0 on this groundbreaking transaction,” says Paul Conn, president of the Global Capital Markets Group at Georgeson’s parent company Computershare Limited.
SEC registered
In June 2015, Overstock.com was the first public company to issue a private security using blockchain technology.
In December 2015, the SEC gave Overstock.com the ability to issue digital shares in a public offering on a distributed ledger, such as the platform developed by t0. A prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with the SEC.
t0 (pronounced tee-zero) is a majority owned subsidiary of Overstock, focusing on the development and commercialization of financial technology (FinTech) based on cryptographically-secured, decentralized ledgers – more commonly known as blockchain technologies.
Since its inception in October of 2014, t0.com has pioneered the effort to bring greater efficiency and transparency to capital markets through the integration of blockchain technology.