SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 15, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- t0.com, a majority-owned subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) today announced it successfully completed another production beta test of its t0 software, by successfully using the bitcoin blockchain to record evidence of compliance with SEC Regulation SHO before a trader can engage in a short-sale. When fully operational, a platform operating the t0 software and the information being recorded on the blockchain, will bring unprecedented levels of transparency and fairness to the otherwise opaque world of stock lending.
"The blockchain is the most important financial development of our lifetimes," said t0.com CEO Patrick M. Byrne. "While others theorize about the innovations this new technology can usher in, t0 is taking action and proving the concept daily, including using it to crack open the notoriously inaccessible black box of securities lending. This is further evidence of the world-historical potential of distributed, cryptographically secured ledgers."
According to Byrne, "When up and running, each Pre-borrow Assured Token will provide the purchaser a valid locate satisfying the SEC's Regulation SHO requirements. These tokens will be auctioned nightly in a Dutch auction using t0 software and the transaction will be recorded on the blockchain. In the process, the arcane world of stock loan receives sunlight."
Earlier this week, hedge fund Clique Fund, LP, participated in the testing to purchase locates for all 30 Dow Jones Industrial Average stocks.
"As I have said publicly ad nauseam, I have no objection in principle with short selling when done legally," said Byrne. "Our introduction of the Pre-borrow Assured Token will solve a problem for the beneficial owners, by bringing their inventory into a transparent market; it will solve a problem for the short seller, who will be able to borrow in a transparent market; and it will solve a problem for regulators, who for several years have taken a more aggressive stance regarding this mischief than they did a decade ago, I feel obliged to acknowledge. Unfortunately, a few bad apples spoil the barrel. That barrel needs a good scrubbing, and that's what our Pre-borrow Assured Token will do."
Access to t0.com's Pre-borrow Assured Tokens (PAT), when available, will be limited to qualified institutional buyers that are also qualified purchasers. This media release is neither an offer to sell nor the solicitation of an offer to buy PATs or any other securities, and there shall not be any offer to sell, solicitation of an offer to buy or sale of PATs in any jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such an offer, solicitation or sale is unlawful. Any offers of the PATs will be made only in accordance with applicable securities laws.
For additional information and to join the Pre-borrow Assured Token waiting list, email inquiries@t0.com.
About t0.com
t0.com is an assumed name for Medici, Inc., which is a majority-owned financial technology subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK). Overstock is an online shopping retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells a broad range of products at low prices including furniture, rugs, bedding, electronics, clothing, and jewelry. Overstock's OLabs department is the emerging businesses incubator for financial services and other initiatives.