Overstock invests $4 million in Caribbean firm working on digital currencies

[alyssa85]

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-overstock-com-investment-fintech-idUSKCN0WY5HI

U.S. online retailer Overstock.com Inc (OSTK.O) said on Friday it has invested $4 million in a financial technology company that is working to move countries in the Caribbean region to adopt digital currencies.

The investment was announced at a media conference in Barbados attended by principals from the financial firm, Barbados-based Bitt, and Overstock, according to a statement from the U.S. retailer.

"A major impediment to economic advancement around the world is the fact that the vast majority of humans are unbanked," said Overstock Chief Executive Patrick Byrne.

"Yet mobile penetration in some countries exceeds 100 percent. Bitt has a vision for the Caribbean of frictionless mobile cash, beginning with central banks transparently issuing digital fiat which is then exchanged on a blockchain."

In February of 2016, Bitt launched a digitized Barbadian dollar on the bitcoin blockchain, backed by the Central Bank of Barbados.

[bitdumper]

Wow! Bitcoin is gaining massive support .
I think it will replace fiat soon.

[Velkro]

Wow! Bitcoin is gaining massive support .
I think it will replace fiat soon.

It will not, maybe in longer term. Anyway bitcoin best bet is store of value.

[NorrisK]

Bitdumper, you do realize that fintech or blockchain technology does not mean bitcoin?

They are investing in the mechanisms around bitcoin and blockchain to improve their service, they are not implying to invest into bitcoin.

[Wendigo]

I wonder if the banks in the Caribbean region will pay a license to the Bitcoin Foundation for using its Blockchain technology to run their digitized local currencies. Does anyone know if there is a patent over the Blockchain tech? 
 
By the way can we stop with this feud between Bitcoin and fiat please? There is no need for Bitcoin to replace fiat as you can see they both can coexist peacefully 

[mixan]

Overstock is a huge company and I have ordered and dealt with their customer service in the past.
This being a step in the right direction to get major markets towards bitcoin adaptation since they are mostly online only, so this goes well together.
Being in the Caribbean can be looked over for now, just as long as the bottom line is met. That being, it will allow it's customers to use bitcoin to buy household goods and items that are essential to daily living such as clothes and deodorant 

[Slowturtleinc]

Lot of the unbanked areas like Africa have mobile banking already set up where they trade phone credits for purchases. If you think its easy to just waltz into these markets and get people interested in bitcoin you really have not watched how slow things are changing to make a lot of these areas better for their own benefit. You would be looking at least 5 years out for any dent and even that would be a long shot.

[alyssa85]

I wonder if the banks in the Caribbean region will pay a license to the Bitcoin Foundation for using its Blockchain technology to run their digitized local currencies. Does anyone know if there is a patent over the Blockchain tech? 
 
By the way can we stop with this feud between Bitcoin and fiat please? There is no need for Bitcoin to replace fiat as you can see they both can coexist peacefully 

It's all Open Source, so no patents, anyone can set up alts or blockchains.

I also agree that there shouldn't be any feud between bitcoin and fiat. The significance of what is happening in the Caribbean is that if fiat goes on a blockchain, it removes the need for banks, because prior to blockchains you needed banks for payment processing. It sounds to me like central banks are planning for the next financial crisis and this time will let the banks fail because they don't need them anymore.

[knowhow]

With fiat coming by blockchain credit and debit machines will become uselless and those 3-5% will stand with the seller and merchant.Soo cielo and others companies can be affected a bit by these inovation if people start to use it,they runned for a long time with a montly fee and more those % in each transaction soo someone has the vision to maximize the income already.

[DimensionZ]

Although Bitcoin is open-source I am worried about patent trolls or any of the big banks trying to patent something in their version of the Blockchain. Just read this http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/28/bank-of-america-is-going-big-on-blockchain-plans-to-file-20-patents.html

Looks like everyone now wants a piece of the Blockchain technology for their own greedy purposes. Is there a way to protect the Blockchain so as not to allow people to file for patents left right and center?

[lumeire]

Wow! Bitcoin is gaining massive support .
I think it will replace fiat soon.

It will not, maybe in longer term. Anyway bitcoin best bet is store of value.

Yeah it will never. Why do people think that is BTC's goal? It'll never replace fiat, rather it should be along it.

@ontopic Hopefully they'll have something like that in SEA too. Banks are stepping up their game with reloadable debit cards here. Time's ripe for something like Bitt.

[avikz]

That's indeed a great news!

The more and more corporate invests in blockchain technology, the more mainstream it will become.

If this continues, probably we will see a parallel economical system in near future along with fiat currency. Welcoming news!

[Lauda]

They should have clarified which digital currencies they have in mind. Different people are going to differently interpret this.

The more and more corporate invests in blockchain technology, the more mainstream it will become.

$4 Million isn't a lot.

[Denker]

Although Bitcoin is open-source I am worried about patent trolls or any of the big banks trying to patent something in their version of the Blockchain. Just read this http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/28/bank-of-america-is-going-big-on-blockchain-plans-to-file-20-patents.html

Looks like everyone now wants a piece of the Blockchain technology for their own greedy purposes. Is there a way to protect the Blockchain so as not to allow people to file for patents left right and center?

This could be a problem to Bitcoin companies, but not for Bitcoin the network.
And for now lots of attempts to patent certain features of the Blockchain Tech have mostly failed.
A decentralized system will always find a way to show the middle finger to such stupid attempts.I'm not worried too much about that.

[alyssa85]

Although Bitcoin is open-source I am worried about patent trolls or any of the big banks trying to patent something in their version of the Blockchain. Just read this http://www.cnbc.com/2016/01/28/bank-of-america-is-going-big-on-blockchain-plans-to-file-20-patents.html

Looks like everyone now wants a piece of the Blockchain technology for their own greedy purposes. Is there a way to protect the Blockchain so as not to allow people to file for patents left right and center?

When people file to patent blockchains, other people with an interest in open source tend to submit evidence to show that it is open source. Also, the patent offices now know that it started off as open source and they can search github for evidence. It's not like it was in 2011 when nobody knew what blockchains were.

[Hide_ip112]

I think this is good news for the progress of digital currency. As more and more companies who explore digital currency means they are increasingly convinced that digital currency could become an alternative currency that can be used properly and transparently. And I hope in the future more and more companies who explore digital currencies and recognizing digital currency

[jchst]

Well banks will have their own blockchain or will join the bitcoin ,the thing is they wanna be ahead the crypto world,and they can really damage the crypto world,but well think at invest at some coin they may create and those coin gets you a montlhy share from the revenue they got,would act like share market.

[gkv9]

It does not influence at a large scale on Bitcoins...
It needs something huge, something like media talking all the way through Bitcoins, and some channels especially for Bitcoins' news...

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Wow! Bitcoin is gaining massive support .
I think it will replace fiat soon.

Stop leaking shit like an anus, there's no way bitcoin is going to replace fiat in our lifetimes, if at all.  As it stands now btc has very few advantages over cash, one of the few being cheap fees.  That's certainly good for businesses like overstock, but do you really see that much positive in this?  Isn't using your credit or debit card so much easier?

[Lionidas]

They should have clarified which digital currencies they have in mind. Different people are going to differently interpret this.

The more and more corporate invests in blockchain technology, the more mainstream it will become.

$4 Million isn't a lot.

You are right. $4 million is not alot when it comes to bitcoin as that what is transferred in a week on the blockchain. For Corporations that are large like this one, Overstock is big and has been around for years so they are a well established entity in the online retailer world, that is just sales for 90 days of operation.