Blockchain technology firm Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne Sells $20 M of stock

On September 11, the news says that the CEO of Overstock Patrick Byrne revealed that he had sold 10% of his shares. The revelation was made via an open letter Byrne sent to the firm’s shareholders.

Byrne reportedly stated that he had cashed in 1/10 of his chips. However, he added that he is still committed to the progress of the company.

4 SEC filing revealed that Byrne sold $15.8 million worth of stock on Thursday and another $4.9 million worth of stocks on Monday. In total, the stocks he sold is worth about $20 million. As a result, the share price of Overstock had a 12 percent fall.

Byrne had disclosed earlier in March that he was planning on selling a percentage of his shares. He revealed that the proceeds from the sales would fund sidecar investments with the company. In addition, he explained that the money will likely be invested in Overstock and its subsidiary Medici Ventures.

Who is Overstock?

Overstock is an online retailer of merchandises like jewelry, furniture, and home décor. However, The Salk Lake City-based online retailer is getting more involved in blockchain technology. In 2014, the firm launched a subsidiary Medici Ventures that would oversee all its investments on blockchain technology.

Byrne plans on selling or re-strategizing Overstock in order to rebrand it completely into a blockchain-related firm.

Overstock Shares Have Been Struggling

At the moment, Overstock’s stock has fallen by 61 percent since the turn of the year. The shares had briefly risen by 21 percent in August when the firm revealed that Hong Kong-based GSR Capital will be investing about $270 million in one of its blockchain products.

Byrne argued that the continuous fall of Overstock’s share price was as a result of the slump of the prices of cryptocurrencies. He explained that in the last 180 days, the correlation between Overstock’s share price and the price of bitcoin has stood at 85.5%.