Overstock invests $5 million in blockchain technology specialist

Overstock, the US-based retail giant, has invested $5 million in blockchain technology specialist Peernova. The latter was formed as a result of merger between cloud mining contract provider CloudHashing and ASIC hardware designer HighBitcoin last year.

The blockchain specialist raised $8.6m in funding December last year as it sought to speed up its shift away from mining and said that the investment has raised its total to-date financing to $19m in equity and debt financing.

Judd Bagley, general manager of Overstock's Cryptocurrencies Group, told CoinDesk, "PeerNova is precisely the kind of company we're eager to back up. Their team is brilliant and agile and the products they have in the works are going to change the way business is done forever. They get the transformative nature of the blockchain."

He also said that Overstock is looking to expand its venture capital investments in blockchain and decentralised ledger-based technology providers.

"We're completely bought into the idea that decentralized ledgers will play a significant role in business going forward," he said.