Overstock.com Subsidiary Medici Land Governance Signs MOU with Zambian Ministry of Land and Natural Resources to Build Blockc...
July 31 2018 - 9:00AM
Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) has announced that its
blockchain-meets-property rights subsidiary, Medici Land
Governance, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with
Trevor Kaunda, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Land and
Natural Resources in Zambia, to develop a program for systematic
land governance within the country.
Zambia, like many other developing countries around the world,
struggles with low levels of participation in formal land registry
systems. This low participation is a major barrier to financial
inclusion, and hence economic development, for approximately
two-thirds of the world’s population. Without formal ownership,
individuals struggle to obtain access to credit and public
services, while governments are limited in their ability to collect
taxes, enforce property rights, and plan for economic expansion and
innovation. Using blockchain and other technologies, Medici Land
Governance (MLG) will create systems to collect and easily secure
property ownership information. “This momentous partnership
with the Zambian Ministry of Land and Natural Resources has the
potential to be a real, sustainable game-changer in reducing
poverty and supporting economic development on a large scale,” said
Medici Land Governance CEO, Dr. Ali El Husseini. “At Medici Land
Governance, we believe that the first step toward reducing global
poverty is to build a secure and stable way to record land and
property rights, and using our expertise in blockchain, mobile
apps, and other technologies, we are building the technology that
can do that. I look forward to a future where all land and property
services — including utility payments, national and municipal tax
collections, and mortgages — are managed on a secure, user-friendly
system that provides equal access for all people.” As part
of the MOU, MLG has agreed to deliver to the Ministry certificates
of title in digital and printed form by November 30, 2018 to serve
as proof of concept for a systematic, streamlined process to scale
up the country's land titling program. Plans for the full scope of
the project include developing a blockchain-based land titling
program that includes a mobile platform and capabilities for mobile
payments. The platform will accommodate streamlined regulations and
data collection to assist future government decisions around city
planning and land use. “In my first public talk on
blockchain, 500 Years of Liberalism: From the Netherlands to
Cryptocurrency, I spoke about an early application I envisioned for
the technology - utilizing it to lower barriers of entry to the
global economy by providing secure and decentralized land and
property registry. Such a registry would allow individuals across
all socioeconomic classes to build equity and leverage it to their
benefit, as it has done in the West for generations,” said Dr.
Patrick M. Byrne, Chairman of Medici Land Governance and founder
and CEO of parent company Overstock.com. “This agreement with the
Zambian government is a tremendous leap toward a global economy
that achieves trust through technology to the benefit of all
people.” MLG was founded in 2018 and is the 14th portfolio
company in Medici Ventures, Overstock’s blockchain technology
accelerator. MLG’s mission is to help individuals around the world
connect with the global economy by using blockchain and other
technologies to help record rightful ownership of property.
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, tZERO,
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 March 31, 2018, which was
filed with the SEC on May 8, 2018, and any subsequent filings with
the SEC.
SOURCE: Overstock.com, Inc.
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