Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne may sell the e-commerce giant in order to fund new blockchain venture, CoinDesk reported.
The joint venture between Overstock subsidiary Medici Ventures and Hernando de Soto, named De Soto, Inc., will focus on creating a system for local property records, which will leverage the tech as a way to transfer rights while also incorporating mobile tech and social media elements.
The plan is to launch a pilot system in early 2018. To that end, Byrne indicated that one funding option would be to sell Overstock, either in segments or in its entirety, and use the money as capital for the new venture.
"One of the possibilities is I sell the business and we have all the capital we need," he said.
Advisory firm Guggenheim Partners has been hired to help explore potential options for the sale.
In statements, de Soto positioned the technology behind the new venture as a means to help alleviate poverty.
"Billions of people have resources that cannot easily be transformed into productive capital. Blockchain is a powerful tool to solve these structural issues, which are some of the principal causes of poverty and conflict," de Soto said of the new venture.