Questions? +1 (202) 335-3939 Login
Trusted News Since 1995
A service for global professionals · Friday, March 29, 2024 · 699,616,376 Articles · 3+ Million Readers

Overstock.com Subsidiary Medici Land Governance Signs MOU with Zambian Ministry of Land and Natural Resources to Build Blockchain Land Titling Program

Medici Land Governance to deliver proof of concept by November 30, 2018

SALT LAKE CITY, July 31, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK) has announced that its blockchain-meets-property rights subsidiary, Medici Land Governance, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Trevor Kaunda, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Land and Natural Resources in Zambia, to develop a program for systematic land governance within the country.

Zambia, like many other developing countries around the world, struggles with low levels of participation in formal land registry systems. This low participation is a major barrier to financial inclusion, and hence economic development, for approximately two-thirds of the world’s population. Without formal ownership, individuals struggle to obtain access to credit and public services, while governments are limited in their ability to collect taxes, enforce property rights, and plan for economic expansion and innovation. Using blockchain and other technologies, Medici Land Governance (MLG) will create systems to collect and easily secure property ownership information.
 
“This momentous partnership with the Zambian Ministry of Land and Natural Resources has the potential to be a real, sustainable game-changer in reducing poverty and supporting economic development on a large scale,” said Medici Land Governance CEO, Dr. Ali El Husseini. “At Medici Land Governance, we believe that the first step toward reducing global poverty is to build a secure and stable way to record land and property rights, and using our expertise in blockchain, mobile apps, and other technologies, we are building the technology that can do that. I look forward to a future where all land and property services — including utility payments, national and municipal tax collections, and mortgages — are managed on a secure, user-friendly system that provides equal access for all people.”
 
As part of the MOU, MLG has agreed to deliver to the Ministry certificates of title in digital and printed form by November 30, 2018 to serve as proof of concept for a systematic, streamlined process to scale up the country's land titling program.

Plans for the full scope of the project include developing a blockchain-based land titling program that includes a mobile platform and capabilities for mobile payments. The platform will accommodate streamlined regulations and data collection to assist future government decisions around city planning and land use.
 
“In my first public talk on blockchain, 500 Years of Liberalism: From the Netherlands to Cryptocurrency, I spoke about an early application I envisioned for the technology - utilizing it to lower barriers of entry to the global economy by providing secure and decentralized land and property registry. Such a registry would allow individuals across all socioeconomic classes to build equity and leverage it to their benefit, as it has done in the West for generations,” said Dr. Patrick M. Byrne, Chairman of Medici Land Governance and founder and CEO of parent company Overstock.com. “This agreement with the Zambian government is a tremendous leap toward a global economy that achieves trust through technology to the benefit of all people.”
 
MLG was founded in 2018 and is the 14th portfolio company in Medici Ventures, Overstock’s blockchain technology accelerator. MLG’s mission is to help individuals around the world connect with the global economy by using blockchain and other technologies to help record rightful ownership of property.

About Overstock.com

Overstock.com, Inc. Common Shares (NASDAQ:OSTK) / Series A Preferred (Medici Ventures’ tZERO platform: OSTKP) / Series B Preferred (OTCQX:OSTBP) is an online retailer based in Salt Lake City, Utah that sells a broad range of products at low prices, including furniture, décor, rugs, bedding, and home improvement. In addition to home goods, Overstock.com offers a variety of products including jewelry, electronics, apparel, and more, as well as a marketplace providing customers access to hundreds of thousands of products from third-party sellers. Additional stores include Pet Adoptions and Worldstock.com dedicated to selling artisan-crafted products from around the world. Forbes ranked Overstock in its list of the Top 100 Most Trustworthy Companies in 2014. Overstock regularly posts information about the company and other related matters under Investor Relations on its website, http://www.overstock.com.

About Medici Ventures:

Launched in 2014, Medici Ventures is a wholly owned subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc., created to leverage blockchain technology to solve real-world problems with transparent, efficient and secure solutions. Medici Ventures has a growing portfolio of groundbreaking blockchain-focused investments, including tZERO, Peernova, Bitt, SettleMint, Factom, and IdentityMind, Spera and Symbiont. The company’s majority-owned financial technology company, tZERO, executed the world’s first blockchain-based stock offering in December 2016.

O, Overstock.com, O.com, Club O, Main Street Revolution, and Worldstock are registered trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. O.biz and Space Shift are also trademarks of Overstock.com, Inc. Other service marks, trademarks and trade names which may be referred to herein are the property of their respective owners.

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements include all statements other than statements of historical fact. Additional information regarding factors that could materially affect results and the accuracy of the forward-looking statements contained herein may be found in the Company's Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on May 8, 2018, and any subsequent filings with the SEC.

SOURCE: Overstock.com, Inc.

Media Contact:
pr@overstock.com

Investor Contact:
ir@overstock.com

Primary Logo

Powered by EIN News
Distribution channels: Retail


EIN Presswire does not exercise editorial control over third-party content provided, uploaded, published, or distributed by users of EIN Presswire. We are a distributor, not a publisher, of 3rd party content. Such content may contain the views, opinions, statements, offers, and other material of the respective users, suppliers, participants, or authors.

Submit your press release