UPDATE (9th June 10:49am BST): Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne has bought the company’s first cryptobond for $500,000. “I intend to demonstrate my belief not just in Overstock, but in the TØ.com platform that we built and, indeed, in the cryptorevolution itself,” he said in a statement.
E-retail giant Overstock has announced it will utilize colored coins to issue what it calls a “digital corporate bond”, or a cryptocurrency-based security, based on the bitcoin blockchain.
The company said in a 5th June press release the issuance forms part of its development of cryptographic security technology aimed at reducing trade settlement friction.
Overstock previously expressed its interest in creating a cryptotoken-based security in an April filing submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“The cryptorevolution has arrived on Wall Street. We’re making it official by offering the world’s first cryptosecurity,” CEO Patrick Byrne said in a statement.
According to the company, the bond will be issued using its “TØ.com technology”, which was developed as part of its Medici initiative.
In its release, Overstock said it had outlined the initiative in an investor circular distributed at the beginning of this month. Wired reported the company is looking to raise as much as $25m.