Medici Ventures, a wholly owned subsidiary of Overstock.com who oversees a portfolio of blockchain-focused investments and Symbiont, a market-leading smart contracts platform for institutional applications of distributed ledger technology today announced the completion of a strategic investment in Symbiont by Medici Ventures.
As part of the new relationship, the two companies will collaborate on strategic projects involving both Medici Ventures and its parent company, Overstock.com.
Jonathan Johnson, President of Medici Ventures and a director of Overstock.com, said:
“We look forward to Medici Ventures becoming one of the first Delaware entities to convert its registration to blockchain form at the State of Delaware using the new Delaware blockchain amendments, which take effect August 1, 2017, pending Governor John Carney’s signature.”
“We also anticipate using blockchain to administer Medici Ventures’ fund interests from inception, thereby providing our investors with end-to-end recordkeeping on a blockchain and administration of investor interests using smart contracts. We expect to deliver best-in-class investor transparency.”
Mark Smith CEO and co-founder of Symbiont said:
“We welcome Medici Ventures as an investor in Symbiont and as a partner for Medici’s blockchain registration with the State of Delaware. Management of fund interests is a logical extension of Symbiont’s Smart Securities capabilities, and we welcome a partner that is equally committed to the principle of ensuring accuracy of shareholder records at all times during a company’s life cycle.”
Overstock’s CEO and founder, Dr. Patrick Byrne, added:
“When Overstock went public in our IPO in 2002, I had no choice but to sign over ownership of my personal shares to the DTC’s Cede & Co. Thanks to Delaware’s new law, entrepreneurs won’t be forced into such a Faustian bargain anymore as the admission ticket into the club of publicly-traded companies because Delaware is giving entrepreneurs a path to retaining direct ownership of their shares after their IPOs.”
“We are studying opportunities opened by Delaware’s new law for Overstock’s shareholders to gain direct ownership of our OSTK shares at some point. One thing is for sure — the Dole Food case, where investors presented brokerage statements evidencing ownership of roughly 33% more Dole shares than were legally outstanding — is Exhibit A to prove the existing system doesn’t always keep accurate track of who owns what. Thanks to Delaware, accuracy in securities ownership records can be achieved.”
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