Canadian online retailer Overstock.com said it would counter its significant losses for 2018 with a return to profits this year in its Q4 earnings report released on March 18. Overstock, which is famous as being one of the first major retailers to accept Bitcoin (BTC), saw profitability dive through last year as a result of a change of strategy, something CEO Patrick Byrne says he will now reverse. “Our retail arm lost money last year because I gunned things in an attempt to create a conventional high-growth/money losing e-commerce business, but the losses were nauseating and we reverted back to …

E-commerce giant Overstock.com’s cryptocurrency subsidiary tZERO has filed a patent for a “crypto integration platform” for trading digital assets. The patent was published by the United States Patent and Trademark Office on Jan. 1. The patent filing describes a system that would be able to receive orders to trade “digital transactional items” — such as securities, tokens, digital shares, cash equivalents and digital assets — from broker-dealers and then translate the orders into crypto orders on a digital exchange. The platform reportedly aggregates various market data from cryptocurrency exchanges and “locate[s] the best price in the crypto market for the …

United States retailer Overstock.com has announced it will pay part of its business taxes in the state of Ohio using Bitcoin (BTC), according to an announcement on its website Jan. 3. Overstock will cover commercial activity taxes (CAT) with Bitcoin starting February, using the recently launched cryptocurrency taxpayer platform, OhioCrypto.com. The company’s CEO and founder Patrick Byrne — a longtime crypto enthusiast — said in the announcement that governmental adoption of cryptocurrencies and other emerging technologies, accompanied by friendly legislation, is "the best way to ensure the U.S. does not lose our place at the forefront of the ever-advancing global …

Patrick Byrne, founder and CEO of U.S. retail giant Overstock, is planning to sell the retail arm of his company to focus on blockchain by early next year, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports Nov. 23. Byrne, known in the blockchain industry for his commitment to the technology, did not disclose the details of the agreement, nor did he name potential buyers; he did however tell the WSJ that he expects to have the deal closed by February 2019. The WSJ reports that Byrne has been planning to sell his e-commerce business since 2017 to fully devote himself to blockchain …

The CEO of Overstock, the first major retail company to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method, has sold 10 percent of his shares, CNBC reported September 11. According to a form 4 SEC filing, Patrick Byrne sold around $15.8 million worth of shares as of Thursday and Friday, and then $4.9 million worth on Monday, totalling more than $20 million. The company’s share price subsequently fell 12 percent. In an open letter to investors, which Byrne reportedly signed "your humble servant," he pointed out several reasons for shareholders not to be concerned about his decision, saying “don't worry, I'm …

On June 5, retail giant Overstock became the first company to offer a corporate bond, valued at US$25 million, as crypto securities to qualified institutional investors. The offering is part of the company’s bitcoin blockchain-based initiative called Medici. Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne stated in a press release: "The crypto revolution has arrived on Wall Street. We're making it official by offering the world's first crypto security.” The crypto securities, or stocks, will be powered and issued by Overstock’s TØ.com platform, which Overstock said “refers to the fact that trades on the system securely settle same day, as opposed to three …

Overstock takes steps toward issuing blockchain-secured stocks by purchasing a 25% stake in trading firm Pro Securities. Following their March application to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue US$500 million worth of blockchain-secured crypto stocks, Overstock has started securing the plan for the opening of their Medici stock market. By acquiring a stake in a trading firm, which is rumored to be valued at US$250,000, Overstock has lined up the “alternative trading system” needed to actually allow interested investors to purchase crypto stocks. Pro Securities is already registered with the SEC in this capacity, reducing the amount …

Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne discusses the vulnerabilities of our current financial system, and explains how "blockchain trading" could solve these flaws, at CATO Institute conference. On November 6, Patrick Byrne gave a keynote at the Cato Institute’s 32nd Annual Monetary Conference, where he discussed Wall Street's organized crimes and explained how blockchain technology could solve our financial system's weaknesses. In reference to an article written by Wired, entitled "Meet Patrick Byrne: Bitcoin Messiah, CEO of Overstock, Scourge of Wall Street," Byrne started by clearing the air: "My commitment isn't to Bitcoin. It is to the crypto revolution, and to the …

Keynoting at the Inside Bitcoins Conference in Las Vegas, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne wowed the crowd by announcing a stock market based on the Bitcoin block chain protocol. Byrne stated: “Overstock went public in 2002. And it became very clear to me, very quickly, that there was a tremendous amount of criminality on Wall Street. And I was asked to take part. Then in 2007, a very well known hedge fund manager sat me down on Wall Street and said, ‘You need to understand, Patrick, you’re the most hated man I’ve ever known in my entire life. I hope they …