Overstock’s Medici Ventures Buys Stake in Decentralized Social Network

Medici Ventures, American internet retailer Overstock’s venture capital subsidiary, has bought a stake in decentralized social network Minds, Inc. (Minds.com). Minds was established in 2011 and is a decentralized social networking platform that rewards clients for their online actions through crypto currencies, views and revenue of their content. Minds has recently released its own $MINDS crypto token on the Ethereum (ETH) Mainnet, which can be earned for commitment to the platform.

After the release, Minds received a Series A funding from Medici Ventures, though the value of the deal was not made public.. With the investment, the founder and CEO of Overstock.com Patrick Byrne joins Mind’s board of directors. Furthermore, Minds has embraced the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) Manila Principles as the platform ’s Digital Bill of Rights in order to “ ensure freedom of speech” for its clients.

Overstock has shown its interest in blockchain projects around the world. Earlier this month, through its subsidiary Medici Ventures, the company took a stake in the Israeli technology company VinX to build a token-based digital wine future platform based on the Bordeaux futures model.

Before that, Overstock’s blockchain land registry subsidiary Medici Land Governance (MLG) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Zambia. The company will coordinate with the Zambian government on the restructuring of land rights to enable rural landowners to legalize their assets and gain access to financial instruments.

Byrne, who is recognized as an early supporter for Bitcoin (BTC) and blockchain technology, sold 10% of his shares for $20 million in September. In a public letter to investors, Byrne, who has signed as “your humble servant,” points out multiple reasons for shareholders to avoid worrying about his decision. He says “don’t worry, I’m still in the game, and we’re going to bring this House to its knees.”