SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 21, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) portfolio investment company Bitt.com has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Caribbean island Montserrat to launch
a digital payments platform.
Bitt has been working to position island nations in that region as global leaders in the adoption of digital national
currencies, allowing everyone with a smartphone, tablet, or computer to easily make digital domestic transactions.
This work has included actively building a financial ecosystem in the Caribbean that remedies the issues which people in the
region experience daily, including high frictional fees from banks and other money services operations that make sending money in
and out of the region cumbersome and costly.
“The people of Montserrat will benefit from increased financial inclusion, and a significant reduction in their need for cash to
make payments for goods and services, or as a means of saving,” said Donaldson Romeo, Premier of Montserrat.
The move by Montserrat follows last year’s declaration by the International Monetary Fund’s Christine Lagarde that digital
currencies “may one day be easier and safer than obtaining paper bills, especially in remote regions,” and that “virtual currencies
could actually become more stable” than paper-based currency.
“For decades economists have spoken of ‘the unbanked’ and the difficulties they face because they are disconnected from the
global financial system,” said Patrick M. Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com. “In recent weeks Bitt.com has launched a mobile app-based
solution that allows people in Barbados to walk into a store and buy goods or services with digitized Barbados currency. Now, with
this incredibly forward-thinking step by the premier and government of Montserrat, Bitt can begin bringing this technology to serve
the poor, disconnected, and unbanked of that beautiful nation, and begin connecting them to a leading-edge blockchain-based
monetary system. Then, as Montserrat goes, so goes the world!”
“We’re honored to assist Montserrat in meeting its objective of boosting financial inclusion while reducing reliance on cash while building resilient and sustainable
socio-economic progress together,” said Rawdon Adams, CEO of Bitt.
About Overstock.com
Overstock.com, Inc. Common Shares (NASDAQ:OSTK) / Series A Preferred (Medici Ventures’ tZERO
platform: OSTKP) / Series B Preferred (OTCQX:OSTBP) is an online retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells a broad
range of products at low prices, including furniture, décor, rugs, bedding, and home improvement. In addition to home goods, Overstock.com offers a variety of products
including jewelry, electronics, apparel, and more, as well as a marketplace providing customers access to hundreds of thousands of
products from third-party sellers. Additional stores include Pet Adoptions and Worldstock.com dedicated to selling artisan-crafted
products from around the world. Forbes ranked Overstock in its list of the Top 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in 2014. Overstock
regularly posts information about the company and other related matters under Investor Relations on its website, http://www.overstock.com.
About Medici Ventures:
Launched in 2014, Medici Ventures is a wholly owned subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc., created to leverage blockchain technology to
solve real-world problems with transparent, efficient and secure solutions. Medici Ventures has a growing portfolio of
groundbreaking blockchain-focused investments, including tZERO, Peernova, Bitt, SettleMint, Factom, and IdentityMind, Spera and
Symbiont. The company’s majority-owned financial technology company, t0.com, executed the world’s first blockchain-based stock
offering in December 2016.
O, Overstock.com, O.com, Club O, Main Street Revolution, and Worldstock are registered trademarks of Overstock.com,
Inc. O.biz and Space Shift are also trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. Other service marks, trademarks and trade
names which may be referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include all statements other than
statements of historical fact. Additional information regarding factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of
the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2017,
which was filed with the SEC on November 8, 2017, and any subsequent filings with the SEC.
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