Overstock has slated May 19 as the date to airdrop OSTKO security tokens as a dividend to its shareholders. They’ll get one security token for every ten OSTK shares they own as of April 27, making for 4.37 million tokens to be distributed in total. Importantly, trading for these tokens will take place exclusively on Overstock’s alternative trading system tZERO. It processes less than $10,000 in daily volume on average. Documents filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 7 announced May 19 as the scheduled date for Overstock’s security token airdrop to OSTK shareholders. Overstock …

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission is seeking more feedback and more time before it decides whether to approve the launch of the Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX). In a letter published on April 1, the regulator postponed the current April 2 deadline in light of responses to a recent proposed rule change to BSTX’s original filing. The proposed exchange BSTX is a project for a regulated security token exchange platform that would be jointly owned by Box Digital Markets and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO. As the SEC summarizes in its April 1 letter, the project proposes the operation …

Overstock’s blockchain accelerator, Medici Ventures, announced a global expansion of the distributed ledger technology (DLT)-powered agritech platform GrainChain. Medici Ventures published a press release on March 27 announcing that GrainChain’s expansion will be executed in collaboration with fintech company Symbiont — with GrainChain set to transition from HyperLedger Fabric to Symbiont’s enterprise blockchain platform, Assembly. Medici is a shareholder in both GrainChain and Symbiont. Medici Ventures plots global expansion of GrainChain GrainChain seeks to speed up and remove friction capital circulation in the agricultural market through the use of smart contracts. Farmers can also track their produce as it moves …

Online retailer Overstock is facing a lawsuit from shareholder John Murphy over former CEO Patrick Byrne’s abrupt departure from the company and off-loading of $90 million worth of shares. According to Law360 on March 11, Murphy is seeking records under Section 220 of Delaware General Corporation Law to examine potential violations of duty on the part of Overstock’s directors in connection with Byrne’s actions. The suit states: “This action seeks corporate books and records to investigate Byrne’s and the board’s role in what appears to be a scheme to cause a so-called ‘short squeeze,’ resulting in Byrne’s sudden resignation from …

The Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX) is still looking to be approved by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. The second amendment to its Oct. 11 filing, submitted on Feb. 19 and published on March 6, makes it explicitly clear that the security tokens will not have any role in defining ownership. BSTX is a proposed exchange platform jointly owned by Box Digital Markets and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZero. Its goal is to be the “world’s first regulated exchange to trade security tokens,” according to its website. The text of the filing reveals that security tokens will have no …

Jonathan Johnson, CEO of Overstock and president of Medici Ventures, has issued a statement supporting blockchain in voting in response to the technology’s vulnerabilities claims published on Feb. 13. Emerging technologies got in the crosshairs of regulators when a mobile software application that had been devised to help calculate the total number of votes in the recent Iowa Democratic caucus reportedly malfunctioned, resulting in the Democratic Party having to delay its public reporting of last Monday’s results. But does blockchain really fail when it comes to elections? Following the Iowa caucus scandal, blockchain-based voting apps fell under scrutiny, which resulted …

Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO aims to launch its broker dealer service in the first half of 2020. In a letter to investors released on Jan. 30, tZERO CEO Saum Noursalehi provided a recap of the company’s progress over the last year and highlighted tZERO’s goals for 2020. One of the main objectives of the company is to roll out a broker dealer in the first half of the current year, dubbed tZERO Markets. Noursalehi said that the company is working closely with regulators on the matter, and further added that “this is an important initiative as it will allow us …

After selling off all of his shares of Overstock’s common stock, former CEO Patrick Byrne reportedly still holds a major stake in the company in the form of Series A-1 Preferred Stock. Byrne still owns 63,775 shares of preferred stock Overstock’s 2019 notice of special meeting and proxy statement, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Nov. 22, shows that the company's former CEO still holds 63,775 shares of Series A-1 Preferred Stock. In August, Byrne announced that he was stepping down as CEO of Overstock, citing his controversial relationship with Maria Butina as the most …

Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO will provide its technology to tokenize River Plaza, a luxury residential development in Manchester, United Kingdom. Following a partnership with U.K.-based real estate investment firm Alliance Investments, tZERO plans to tokenize at least $25 million of River Plaza on the Tezos blockchain, according to a press release on Oct. 30. A 180-unit luxury residential development, River Plaza is the first initiative of Alliance Investments’ real estate tokenization plan to tokenize around $640 million of real estate projects across the U.K. over the next several years. The security token offering is expected to launch in Q1 2020. …

Overstock’s venture capital arm Medici Ventures has invested in PeerNova, a startup that develops blockchain-based solutions for financial institutions to synchronize their data across multiple systems. In an Oct. 22 news release, PeerNova reported that it had raised $31 million in growth funding led by existing investor Mosaik Partners, with participation from Medici Ventures and Intuitive Venture Partners. This funding round brings the total raised funds to $74 million. PeerNova, a California-based software company in the financial industry, is planning to use this financing to increase its market penetration and further develop solutions to solve some of the challenges faced …

Boston Security Token Exchange (BSTX), a platform jointly owned by BOX Digital Markets and Overstock’s blockchain arm tZERO, has filed an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve the launch of a market for publicly traded registered security tokens. In the rule change proposal released by the SEC on Oct. 11, BOX asks the commission to “adopt rules to govern the trading of equity securities on the Exchange” which “would operate a fully automated, price/time priority execution system for the trading of ‘security tokens.’” Establishing its own listing standards The firm also hints at having …

E-commerce giant Overstock has opened a blockchain research and development (R&D) center in Ireland. According to a news release published on Oct. 9, the firm’s new R&D center is located in “IDA’s flagship North West business park in Sligo” and is expected to make its 100th Irish hire before the end of 2019. Currently, it employs 80 technologists. Over $1 million invested Per the release, the move has cost the company over €1 million ($1.1 million). Overstock vice president and site lead David Kenny added: “We’re absolutely delighted with our new home and getting all our teams back under one …