SALT LAKE CITY, Sept. 27, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — tZERO, a subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSTK), RenGen LLC and the Argon Group today announced an exclusive joint venture that teams the market-leading strengths of each company to launch an Alternative Trading System (ATS) that will transform the trading of security tokens issued in Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) in compliance with SEC and FINRA regulations (Joint Venture). This rapidly emerging asset class of blockchain-based digital tokens has raised more than $2 billion so far this year (per Coindesk.com’s ico-tracker) and cryptocurrencies overall (including digital tokens) have a current market cap of $137 billion (per Coinmarketcap.com), making this a huge growth industry. Digital tokens and cryptocurrencies are also changing the face of emerging growth company financing. In the first half of this year, more money was invested in fintech through cryptocurrencies than through venture capital (over $1.2 billion, per CNBC).
“With ICO blockchain offerings surpassing traditional early stage VC funding and U.S. regulators seeking legitimate venues to support security token offerings, with this JV tZERO continues to maintain its leading edge in blockchain financial technology,” said Patrick M. Byrne, CEO of Overstock. “tZERO has been at the forefront of the blockchain revolution for years, working closely with regulators since 2015 – launching the world’s first SEC compliant ATS for blockchain assets, the first private blockchain bond offering, and the first ever public issuance of a blockchain security,” continued Dr. Byrne.
“Now, by combining our expertise with Argon’s advisory services and RenGen’s electronic trading, deep liquidity and market making capabilities, we are in a position to launch the only U.S. SEC compliant token trading venue,” concluded Dr. Byrne.
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