09.26.2019

Medici Ventures Invests in Self-Sovereign Identity

09.26.2019

Medici Ventures, Overstock.com, Inc.’s wholly-owned blockchain subsidiary, participated in Evernym’s recent Simple Agreement for Future Equity (SAFE), which entitles Medici Ventures to convert its interest in the SAFE to preferred stock in Evernym’s future, priced round of equity financing. Evernym is an identity company using blockchain technology to facilitate the development of self-sovereign identity networks.

Evernym closed its SAFE on September 4, 2019, in which Medici Ventures allocated $2 million to help the company continue to bring blockchain-based identity products into production. Evernym uses blockchain technology to return control of identity sharing to the individual. It ensures identity information cannot be altered, creating a decentralized ecosystem of digital credentials that is even more trustworthy than the physical credentials carried in individuals’ wallets.

“Evernym is bridging the gap between the siloed approach to identity and true self-sovereign identity,” said Jonathan Johnson, Overstock.com CEO and president of Medici Ventures. “Evernym’s platform allows every person, organization, and connected thing to have an independent identity. Evernym fills out Medici Ventures’ identity pillar within our keiretsu and will help advance our government-as-a-service technology stack for civilization.”

“Evernym’s strong technical team is building a set of services to eliminate identity theft and consumer fraud,” said Joel Weight, Chief Operating Officer of Medici Ventures. “Its decentralized, self-sovereign identity applications enable trusted interactions at scale without centralized intermediaries. This approach is squarely aligned with Medici Ventures’ vision of bringing individuals trust through technology.”

“We are proud to partner with Medici Ventures to help us continue to bring our products into production,” said Steve Havas, president of Evernym. “Evernym looks forward to benefitting from the years of experience Medici Ventures has in the blockchain-meets-identity space as we develop self-sovereign identity software applications that give individuals control over the management of their digital identity.”

Medici Ventures is Overstock.com’s wholly-owned blockchain accelerator, focused on advancing blockchain technology in existing markets to democratize capital, eliminate middlemen, and re-humanize commerce. Today, Medici Ventures oversees a global keiretsu of companies building the foundation of a technology stack for a civilization based on trust systems that utilize blockchain technologies in industries such as identity, land governance, money and banking, capital markets, supply chain, and voting.

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