Overstock wants to be a chain business

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Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock and blockchain evangelist, did not hide that he wanted to run a blockchain business, not a retailer. But investors do not know exactly what it means.

"This remains confusing for most people – even for our own investors – very few people have done their homework," Byrne told CNN Business on Friday.

That is why Byrne stated that he planned to give much more detail about the overall plans of Overstock's block chain companies when it published its latest results at the March.

The company has started adopting blockchain in recent years.

He launched the investment company Medici Ventures to focus on blockchain technology, a digital public trading registry, and is also developing its own tZero security chips for e-commerce and trading.

In December 2017, Byrne told CNBC that his goal was to sell or reorganize his core business Overstock within 60 to 90 days in order to take advantage of the carpet blockchain. That did not happen
The CEO reiterated his intention to withdraw from online trading last November, telling the Wall Street Journal he hoped to make a sale by February. Investors seem to believe it.
Actions of Excessive congestion (OSTK) have climbed more than 20% since then, even though Bitcoin (XBT) prices fell by almost 15% over the same period.
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Despite the emphasis on replacing Overstock by a chain company, Block Street seems more focused on when the online retail business will be sold – and who will buy it.

Some on Wall Street believe that Walmart (WMT), which has already made many acquisitions in digital commerce in order to become more competitive with Amazon (AMZN), could be interested. Walmart has not responded to a request for comment.

However, Overstock's shares have fallen sharply, Byrne's February target is near, no sign of imminent agreement is forthcoming. Overstock fell 9% Thursday.

"I'm not surprised nothing has happened yet," said Bill Baker, an analyst at GARP Research. He notes that retail is a notoriously difficult and competitive business and that Overstock loses money there.

But Baker thinks a sale for Overstock's retail business could still come to fruition and that it could bring in about $ 100 million.

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The current market value of Overstock is just north of $ 650 million. Does this mean that the company's production line activities account for more than half a billion dollars?

Baker believes that they are. He added that Overstock was making the right choice by focusing on the world's fastest growing chain of blocks rather than the constantly challenged retail trade and that the stock could be further strengthened through tZero and Medici.

Byrne seems frustrated with the difficulty of staying in the retail business.

He noted that the company's online furnishing Wayfair (W), a competitor of Overstock who offers very low prices, is not profitable and has lost nearly a billion dollars in the last three years.

"There is no point in trying to compete," Byrne said. "It's way too expensive."

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