Blockchain technology is all the rage these days, and Overstock.com is the latest company getting in on the action. CEO Patrick Byrne told Cheddar that his company has made ten investments in the industry, including Barbados-based Bitt, which wants to build a financial ecosystem that would replace cash. “If you think of blockchain meets central banking, the leading entity in the world is a company called Bitt,” Byrne said. “We own about a little over a third of it.” Blockchain, though, still has its skeptics. Notably JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has called Bitcoin a fraud. And regulators also have concerns. The SEC this week released a statement warning of the cryptocurrency’s security risks. But Overstock is betting heavily on the industry. The company currently has an accelerator group called Medici, which is focused on blockchain technology and fintech. And it’s not the only one: IBM and Microsoft have also made investments in the sector.
