Online retailer Overstock.com, Inc. has made a strategic investment of $4 million in digital currency firm in the Caribbean. Bitt Inc. is a Barbados-based cryptocurrency firm with blockchain technology as with Bitcoin.
The investment fund received from the American retailer will be devoted to expand the company's team and services beyond its base country, as Bitt is pushing its efforts to persuade other Caribbean countries other than Barbados to adopt digital currencies. In February, Bitt has already launched a digital wallet with bitcoin blockchain-based digital version of the Barbados dollar. The effort was backed by the Central Bank of Barbados.
As for now, the company is working to expand its service to other countries in the Caribbean, as well as developing its software suite. According to Reuters, the company plans to digitize all of the fiat currencies used across the Caribbean and use the blockchain technology to make it digital, making it easier to trade among the islands. The company sees it as a modern solution for the islands, as the Caribbean often faces issues regarding inefficient exchange and settlement systems.
Bitt CEO Gabriel Abed explained to CoinDesk how the fund will help the company closer to its aim. "We'll be taking what we've done in Barbados and cookie-cutting across the region, badgering legislators and helping with policy reform as it relates to security, consumer protection, privacy and data, and more importantly, no hindrance of the innovation of blockchain technology, and specifically bitcoin," he said. Abed also noted that a part of the funds will be allocated to meet regulatory requirements to achieve their goals.
The $4 million investment from Overstock.com was a part of a Series A investment. Previously, Bitt secured $1.5 million in seed funding in March from Barbadian venture capital firm, Avatar Capital. The newly-raised Series A funding boosted Bitt's valuation at $50 million, as revealed by the company's report.
Overstock.com has been one of the earliest companies to endorse digital currencies. It's even the first U.S.-based company with annual sales of at least $1 billion to accept bitcoins in transactions. The company is also continuing to develop its blockchain securities exchange to support bitcoin transactions.
Overstock.com CEO Dr. Patrick M. Byrne considers his company's investment as a step forward to digital currency-based payments. He stated, as quoted by EconoTimes, "Bitt has a vision for Caribbean of frictionless mobile cash, beginning with central banks transparently issuing digital fiat which is then exchanged on a blockchain all under proper regulatory oversight, as with our to offering to Wall Street."
After launching a digitized version of Barbadian dollar on the bitcoin blockchain, Bitt is now securing a strategic investment of $4 million from American online retailer Overstock.com. Bitt is now seeking to improve its software as well as expanding the move to digitize currencies to other countries in the Caribbean.
Join the Conversation