SEC Approves Overstock To Issue Stocks Using Blockchain Technology

Overstock.com has received approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission to issue public securities using the blockchain technology. This marks a significant shift in the way financial securities will be distributed and traded in the years to come, Wired reported.

Blockchain technology is nothing but a decentralized public ledger, running across a global network of independent computers. All bitcoin transactions are recorded on the blockchain. However, the technology has applications much beyond the digital currency.

Wired said that the company and its CEO Patrick Byrne spent the past year developing technology to issue financial securities by way of the blockchain. Overstock has already issued private bonds using the blockchain, as it’s not subject to explicit regulatory approval.

While it is uncertain when the company will actually issue a public security on the blockchain, Byrne told Wired that it is “high” on its priorities list for the coming year.

Byrne believes the blockchain “can do for the capital market what the Internet has done for consumers.”