GSR Capital Engages tZERO to Develop Commodity Contract Token
Overstock.com, Inc. and its subsidiary tZERO Group, Inc., the global leader in blockchain innovation for capital markets, announced today that Hong Kong-based private equity firm GSR Capital has retained tZERO to develop a smart contract token that will be utilized for an upcoming sale of cobalt. Subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, the sale is expected to offer recurring tranches of electric vehicle (EV) battery-grade cobalt, with up to $200 million of the material projected to be available for sale in 2019, with more planned for 2020.
tZERO and GSR Capital intend to build an ecosystem in Asia for tokenized commodity purchase contracts that would simplify the process of identifying, purchasing and tracking the supply of rare minerals. The companies also envision adding a security token trading platform in the region, subject to compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
To accommodate an additional key partner in that project, the companies will be extending the deadline to finalize their previously-announced equity investment until Feb. 28, 2019. More information on the previously announced equity transaction can be found in a letter to investors in the Form 8-K filed by Overstock on December 17, 2018, which can be found on the company’s Investor Relations page.
“GSR Capital and our partners are pushing forward with our plans to create a first-of-its-kind cobalt offering in 2019,” said GSR Capital’s Chairman and Founder, Sonny Wu. “We are proud to partner with tZERO for this token offering and believe that their leadership in this space will benefit our shared global outreach. GSR and our partner will be doing more than just cobalt tokenization, and we see further growth in our partnership with tZERO including consummating an investment directly by next quarter.”
“We are excited to work with GSR and their partner on this innovative cobalt token offering,” said Overstock CEO and tZERO Executive Chairman, Patrick M. Byrne. “Smart contract automation of these transactions will significantly reduce overall costs while effectively improving transparency in rare earth metals purchases throughout the supply chain process. We look forward to bringing the future of commodities purchasing to the global marketplace.”
