Retailer Overstock Will Issue Company Stock on TØ Blockchain Platform
Retail giant Overstock has announced that it plans to issue company stock on its TØ.com blockchain platform.
The announcement was made today at the 41st Annual International Futures Industry Conference. According to a release announcing the endeavor, Overstock revealed that it would allow shareholders to purchase its stock on TØ.com, just as it would and does on traditional platforms.
The name TØ.com implies that trades in the financial system are security settled the same day, as opposed to the current settlement system which spans three days, or as Wall Street traders refer to as “T+3.”
As a transparent stock lending platform using the open Assets protocol, TØ.com can be used to issue, buy and sell stocks and bonds as digital, blockchain-based assets. As a financial technology subsidiary under Overstock, TØ.com offers an alternative to legacy systems in use by Wall Street and aims to improve on efficiency and transparency in capital markets through blockchain-based solutions.
In June 2015, Overstock revealed that it would issue ‘cryptosecurities’ using the TØ.com platform. Byrne sees cryptosecurities as securities that trade on cryptographically-secure distributed ledger.
In a statement, TØ.com CEO Patrick Byrne, a huge proponent of bitcoin and blockchain technology, stated:
This is yet another historic event – the creation of a security that will trade and settle entirely on a distributed ledger. I’ve said from the beginning that blockchain technology is going to change the world of finance forever, and we’re leading that charge.
The public offering will be limited to Overstock.com shareholders. A total of 1 million shares of blockchain and traditional Series A preferred stock will be on offer.There is no confirmed timeline of the issuance, with a date yet to be determined.
Following the issuance of the world’s first private blockchain cryptobond in June 2015, the current plan is to issue the “world’s first public blockchain security” as the press release puts it, on the TØ.com platform.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
