Wednesday, October 8, 2014

Overstock.com Eyes Bitcoin Stock Exchange Effort, Spinout

Think Salt Lake City-based Overstock.com's acceptance of Bitcoin is a bit revolutionary for an e-commerce retailer? The latest project out of Overstock.com makes those efforts seem mere child's play. According to Wired, Overstock.com is going a lot further than merely accepting Bitcoin--it is is developing its own software, based on the digital currency, to issue its own corporate stock over the Internet. The new software--code named "Medici"--will let the etailer sidestep traditional stock exchanges, such as the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange. Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne said the effort aims to "democrative Wall Street" by applying the same principles to the stock market as Bitcoin has to currency and payments. Byrne told wired he plans to spin the technology out as its own startup.