Photo: Medici Ventures INC
Medici Ventures, Overstock.com’s investment wing, has acquired digital tokens translating to 3.6 million shares from Chainstone Labs. These shares are a 29.6% stake in the startup worth $3.6 million. That marks the first step of venturing into the security token markets by Chainstone.
Furthermore, Medici plans to launch a security token marketplace in January 2019. The tZERO token is set to become the primary traded asset on this platform. The CEO at the Atlantic Financial Blockchain Labs, Bruce Fenton, is also the leader at Chainstone. He is a firm believer that there will come a time when tokens start acting as shares. He said:
“We believe that digital securities are a far superior model to the old ways of moving securities. Since this is our business focal point it is a natural fit to have our own equity digitized into securities token.”
Background
The Chainstone digital security token features among the pioneer equity tokens issued using a public blockchain. Moreover, Ravencoin confirmed that it was the first major security token issued on the network. The story of Ravencoin started on October 31, 2017, the date of its announcement. Later on January 3, 2018, it launched as a network.
Since November 5, 2018, Ravencoin supports the issuance of tokens. Medici Ventures is a notable supporter of the blockchain network. Their primary mission is to use blockchain to eliminate middlemen, democratize capital, and re-humanize commerce. They reiterated their mission in a statement saying:
“We believe our equity purchase in Chainstone Labs is a huge step forward in that mission as Chainstone will help change the landscape of the global economy.”
The Digital Shares
Currently, there exist 12.4 million digital shares in the company. All of them thrive under the Chainstone name. Moreover, they reside on the Ravencoin blockchain created by Fenton, Joel Weight, and Tron Black. Initially, they designed the network for P2P asset transactions.
Fenton believes that Ravencoin was a perfect option since it has many advantages over other platforms. The platform benefits from the scalability and security of the Bitcoin code base. Chainstone aims to provide support Blockstream’s Liquid among other platforms with ERC-20 tokens in the future. According to the Medici Ventures president, using blockchain for issuance and tracking of shares will enhance transaction security, speed, and transparency.
The public can access the token at the start of 2019. Currently, there are no plans to make the token tradable on tZERO. However, the company is still in its early stages. The firm also said in a press release that it is creating a security token for cobalt sales. GSR Capital, a Hong Kong-based company, commissioned the project.
Although the crypto markets suffered a downward trend in 2018, blockchain developments kept budding. Overstock is among the growing number of investors who believe that the new era is inevitable. Tokens will join the markets trading as shares.
