Overstock Invests $2 Million In Blockchain-Based ID Company

Overstock invests $2 million in the blockchain-based identity company Evernym via its venture arm –Medici Ventures according to the press release from the company which we have in our Blockchain news today.

Medici ventures participate in the Simple agreement for future equity of the blockchain ID company which will be transferred into the preferred stock at an undisclosed date. The investment round closer earlier this month when Evernym received funding from Medici Ventures for the successful realization of the product. The fully owned subsidiary of Overstock.com Medici has already invested in blockchain companies in the past and works to promote blockchain technology even further. Evernym joined the Netki and FinClusive companies as the investment arm’s other identity-focused portfolio companies.

The newly appointed CEO of Overstock and president of Medici Ventures Jonathan Johnson spoke about the SAFE and about Evernym and explained that the company will bring the promise of digital identities to the world through blockchain technology:

 “Evernym is bridging the gap between the siloed approach to identity and true self-sovereign identity. Evernym’s platform allows every person, organization, and connected thing to have an independent identity … and will help advance our government-as-a-service technology stack for civilization.”

The president of Evernym Steve Havas explained that the startup has been used by more than 40 proof-of-concept or pilot projects up to this date and will continue in the future to work for further actualization of data self-sovereignty:

 “Right from the start we’ve made it a rule not to cut corners in terms of ensuring privacy by design, privacy by default position for our products – ultimately we’re designing applications that we as individuals would be happy to use.”

In the blockchain news, we can also read that Johnson was appointed as the interim CEO of Overstock.com back on August 22 and then became a full-time CEO a month later after he took over from Patrick Byrne who resigned from his position after admitting he had an affair with a Russian spy Maria Butina. At the time of the interim appointment, Johnson stated that he was fully ready to take over. The new CEO Johnson, who also heads the blockchain accelerator by Overstock named Medici Ventures, said that he is “confident that Overstock’s future in retail and blockchain is bright.”