{"id":977,"date":"2018-11-27T14:29:48","date_gmt":"2018-11-27T14:29:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/icoholder.com\/blog\/?p=977"},"modified":"2025-06-11T15:44:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T15:44:10","slug":"overstock-shifts-to-blockchain-selling-retail-arm-by-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/icoholder.com\/blog\/overstock-shifts-to-blockchain-selling-retail-arm-by-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Overstock Shifts to Blockchain, Selling Retail Arm by 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_75 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-light-blue ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/icoholder.com\/blog\/overstock-shifts-to-blockchain-selling-retail-arm-by-2019\/#Overstocks_blockchain_projects_success\" >Overstock\u2019s blockchain projects success<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/icoholder.com\/blog\/overstock-shifts-to-blockchain-selling-retail-arm-by-2019\/#In_conclusion\" >In conclusion<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Overstock is reportedly planning to sell its retail arm for a not so surprising reason. According to The Wall Street Journal, founder and CEO Patrick Byrne wants to focus on blockchain. Overstock shifts to blockchain as its core strategy, aiming to strengthen its position in this emerging technology. The sale is expected to happen early next year.<\/p>\n<p>Byrne did not name any interested buyers or disclose deal terms. However, he told the WSJ he expects to finalize the sale by February 2019. Byrne has been planning this since 2017 to focus solely on blockchain projects.<\/p>\n<p>The WSJ also reported that Medici Ventures, Overstock\u2019s blockchain subsidiary, caused most of the company\u2019s losses. Medici lost $22 million in 2017 and $39 million in the first nine months of 2018. Overstock\u2019s overall losses in 2018 reached $163.7 million.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the losses, Byrne remains positive about blockchain. He said, \u201cI don&#8217;t care whether tZero [a Medici project] is losing $2 million a month. We think we have cold fusion on the blockchain side.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Overstocks_blockchain_projects_success\"><\/span>Overstock\u2019s blockchain projects success<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Recall that Overstock came into being in 1999 as a means of selling returned and excess merchandise online. In 2014, the company acquired pioneer status in the crypto industry when it became one of the major retailers to accept payments in Bitcoins (BTC).<\/p>\n<p>Some of the projects embarked upon by Medici this year included \u201ca remote blockchain-based voting in the US state of West Virginia.\u201d Thanks to Voatz, a decentralized mobile platform, 144 overseas-based military personnel from 24 counties were able to cast their votes in the 2018 midterm elections. In spite of the numerous concerns about the security of Voatz, the experiment has adjudged as a success by West Virginia officials.<\/p>\n<p>A blockchain-based land registry platform in Zambia is another project launched by Overstock. Under its subsidiary, Medici Land Governance, the company collaborated with the Zambian government to \u201cdevelop a system of decentralized land ownership, allowing rural landowners to legitimize their estates and gain access to the financial world.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"In_conclusion\"><\/span>In conclusion<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p data-pm-slice=\"1 1 []\">Patrick Byrne, Overstock&#8217;s founder and CEO, has disclosed plans to sell off the retail arm of the company so as to focus solely on blockchain projects. Overstock shifts to blockchain as its primary focus, reflecting Byrne\u2019s commitment to advancing the company\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/icoholder.com\/blog\/xrp-token-unlock-and-sec-impact-on-cryptocurrency-trends\/\">blockchain initiatives<\/a>. Byrne revealed to The Wall Street Journal that the sale is expected to be concluded by February 2019.<\/p>\n<p>To keep up with the latest news in the crypto-sphere, subscribe to the ICOholder&#8217;s newsletter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Overstock is reportedly planning to sell its retail arm for a not so surprising reason. According to The Wall Street Journal, founder and CEO Patrick &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Overstock Shifts to Blockchain, Selling Retail Arm by 2019<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Overstock shifts to blockchain focus as CEO plans to sell retail arm by early 2019 to prioritize blockchain projects - IcoHolder.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/icoholder.com\/blog\/overstock-shifts-to-blockchain-selling-retail-arm-by-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Overstock Shifts to Blockchain, Selling Retail Arm by 2019\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Overstock shifts to blockchain focus as CEO plans to sell retail arm by early 2019 to prioritize blockchain projects - 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