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Source: Beyond, Inc.

Global Blockchain Leader Medici Ventures Announces Strategic Investment in VinX

Medici Ventures to facilitate VinX’s goal of introducing blockchain to the wine industry

SALT LAKE CITY, Oct. 04, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Medici Ventures, the leading blockchain accelerator and subsidiary of Overstock.com, Inc. (OSTK), announces its latest strategic investment in VinX, an Israel-based company developing a blockchain platform to streamline wine futures trading while reducing fraud through secure supply-chain tracking from product provenance.

VinX plans to create a token-based digital wine futures platform based on the Bordeaux futures model that allows for the selling and trading of wine futures on a transparent and secure blockchain to create an even playing field for transactions on a global scale. VinX’s platform aims to reduce fraud in the wine industry by using the secure and immutable aspects of blockchain to track provenance of wine to end consumer at a cost bearable to the industry.

“Like any economy, the wine industry has difficulty scaling its middlemen-heavy systems in parallel with the growing demands of an increasing global market,” said Patrick M. Byrne, CEO and founder of Overstock.com. “VinX’s steps in tokenizing wine futures while allowing wine enthusiasts to know without a doubt that the bottles they purchase are filled with authentic wines will position the entire industry as a model of a new global economy that replaces old boys’ networks with frictionless trust through technology.”

Experts conservatively estimate that 20 percent of all wine in the world has counterfeit labeling, so what a consumer believes is a high-end bottle of wine could have a decidedly more local origin. It is often difficult for even the most seasoned collector to identify fakes. To combat this growing concern, VinX plans to use blockchain to connect wine lovers directly with wineries, eliminating fraudulent middlemen within the industry and providing customers with a direct line to the source of the products.

“We are so excited to partner with the Overstock/Medici Ventures family to help us realize the VinX vision, which meshes exactly with the core values of Medici Ventures,” said Jacob Ner-David, VinX co-founder and CEO. “VinX is democratizing the capital structure of the wine industry by bringing consumers in direct contact with producers early in the wine-making cycle. We are riding the wave of direct-to-consumer, which Overstock has been a leader of for almost 20 years. In addition, because we are registering all wine futures as tokens on a blockchain, we are bringing a powerful validating force that will go a long way toward reducing fraud. VinX looks forward to benefiting from the many years of e-commerce experience of Overstock and the blockchain leadership of Medici Ventures and the rest of the Medici Ventures portfolio.”

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. The company’s majority-owned financial technology company, tZERO, executed the world’s first blockchain-based stock offering in December 2016.

About VinX

VinX (www.vinx.wine) is a blockchain based platform that enables wineries to streamline funding by selling wine futures and developing direct connections with their consumers. Founded and advised by a team that includes winery owners and  tech entrepreneurs, VinX is positioned to bring positive disruption to the $300+ Billion wine industry.

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 June 30, 2018, which was filed with the SEC on August 9, 2018, and any subsequent filings with the SEC.

SOURCE: Overstock.com, Inc.

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