From 10% to 50%, e-commerce giant Overstock will truly become a Bitcoin holder

Online retailer Overstock.com is changing its cryptocurrency investment strategy, according to the company’s CEO, Overstock will keep 50% of the bitcoin payments it receives.

Last week, Overstock reported in its second-quarter earnings report that its Medici blockchain business lost nearly $3.3 million (pre-tax) in the quarter, explaining that the losses were due to the accelerated development of the t0 crypto securities trading platform.

During the earnings call, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne was asked about Bitcoin’s recent price rise and whether Overstock would continue to keep 10% of payments in Bitcoin.

According to Byrne’s answer, Overstock’s board of directors has approved the plan to retain 50% of Bitcoin. In addition, he also mentioned that the company may also hold other “crypto-securities”, but did not mention the specific tokens.

He stated during the meeting:

“I mean, we can keep the bitcoin or some other crypto-securities that we received. Then we will have a portfolio, and of course we already do this, and fortunately, we have held some coins for a few years, and they have grown very well. In short, we will have some good returns on our investments in tokens.”

Additionally, Byrne said the company has seen a significant increase in bitcoin payments overall.

“We’ve seen substantial growth, in part due to increased news coverage, with weekly bitcoin payments reaching about $50,000,” Byrne explained.