Bitt.com to Provide Digital Payments Services to Caribbean Nation of Montserrat
February 21 2018 - 8:45AM
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.comOverstock.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.
Media Contact:pr@overstock.com
Investor Contact:ir@overstock.com
Overstock com (NASDAQ:OSTK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Overstock com (NASDAQ:OSTK)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024