MCALLEN, Texas, Dec. 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- GrainChain, a
suite of software to bring easy and secure payments to farmers,
buyers and grain elevators through blockchain, announced Medici
Ventures, the leading blockchain accelerator and subsidiary of
Overstock.com, Inc. (OSTK), has purchased a $2.5 million equity in the company. Medici
Ventures has 10 percent ownership in the company, with an option to
further its acquisition for an additional 10 percent at a later
date.
Established in 2013 by the founders of SiloSys, GrainChain's
software products eliminate manual processes of weighing and
documenting agricultural yield. The blockchain-based financial
settlement system allows grain producers, buyers and sellers to
create smart contracts to secure funds throughout the grain
transaction process. By using Internet of Things (IoT) devices that
accurately measure grain weight and quality, GrainChain eliminates
the potential of errors from human error or bad actors. The system
furthermore creates documentation to track harvests from farm to
table, eliminating the potential of fraud.
"We are making the grain transaction extremely efficient,
transparent, safe and secure, and we're giving not only the farmers
but also the buyers a safe marketplace to do business in," said
GrainChain co-founder and CEO Luis
Macias. "At the end of the day, we're just leveling the
playing field for the farmer, giving them much more power and
control over the selling process."
The bulk of agriculture produced worldwide still comes from
small- and medium-sized farming operations, which largely lack the
budget to implement high-level technology to help modernize and
secure their business transactions. GrainChain provides an
affordable means of implementing those tools and safeguards. In
addition to giving the farmers and buyers the ability to cut out
brokers or middlemen to secure their transaction, GrainChain also
allows them the confidence to do business with entities outside
their geographic area, thereby expanding their business
prospects.
"Agriculture is the backbone of our global civilization, but
producers operate on razor-thin margins and are up against a host
of factors far beyond their control," said Jonathan Johnson, president of Medici Ventures.
"GrainChain helps to support those producers by simplifying and
securing the measuring and payment process and bringing
unprecedented transparency to the industry."
GrainChain is currently available in the U.S. and Mexico. Medici Ventures' acquisition, which
accounts for 10 percent of the company, will allow GrainChain to
expand its market share in Central and South America.
About GrainChain:
GrainChain was founded in 2013 with the goal of providing smart
and automated tools for farmers, buyers and grain silos to buy,
sell and track grain throughout the transaction process. The
three-part blockchain-based system eliminates the potential for
human error and cheating throughout the process, as well as gives
accurate tracking of harvests in their journey from farm to
table.
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 and
technology company based in Salt Lake
City, Utah. It's leading e-commerce website sells a broad
range of new products at low prices,
including furniture, décor, rugs, bedding, home
improvement, jewelry, and more. The online shopping site, which is
visited by nearly 40 million customers a month, also features a
marketplace providing customers access to millions of products from
third-party sellers. Overstock was the first major retailer to
accept cryptocurrency in 2014, and in the same year founded Medici
Ventures, its wholly-owned subsidiary developing and accelerating
blockchain technologies to democratize capital, eliminate
middlemen, and re-humanize commerce. Overstock regularly posts
information about the company and other related matters on
the Newsroom and Investor Relations pages on its
website, 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. The company's
majority-owned financial technology company, tZERO, executed the
world's first blockchain-based stock offering in December 2016.
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SOURCE GrainChain