I'm Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com: Ask Me Anything!

[Shadedjon]

Patrick,

Thank you so much for bringing the entire Bitcoin ecosystem to a new level by your involvement.
Myself, and the whole ecosystem are grateful to you.

In addition to shopping at Overstock.com, what would you like to see the masses who are interested in Bitcoin do to help drive further adoption?
My pleasure, Roger. I would ask simply that they keep on using social media to spread the word... and do their Christmas shopping at Overstock!

Are you guys doing any sales this Black Friday specifically for Bitcoiners? I'd love to get you listed on Bitcoin Black Friday!

[PatrickByrne]

Hi Patrick, thanks for participating. It's encouraging to see how focused you are on this space. What originally incentivized you to start using Bitcoin personally and with your business?

Do you pay any suppliers and employees with bitcoin, or have plans to? If so, what % range do they accept bitcoin payments and how does this compare to the level of payments purchased by customers?

Thanks

I was excited about the technology for its political implications. Civilization has acquired centralized institutions like barnacles thoughout its history. The blochchain represents our chance to scrape them off the hull of civilization.

Right now we are not paying any suppliers or employees with bitcoin. It is our goal to offer it as an option to employees for their annual bonus. I look forward to someone creating the B2B payments solution into which we can plug to start paying suppliers.

[PatrickByrne]

That would be a program we have called, "Discount by Payment Type." It is in our development queue and should be done by year's end, but not by Black Friday.

[Leith]

Hi Patrick

2 questions if I may.

1. We know the general e-commerce use case is not yet compelling as so few people own BTC, but with broader adoption, as a major E-commerce company do you still believe in the value proposition for processing Bitcoin payments as a cost saving advantage.

2. What do you say to the large finance players making the whole Blockchain good, Bitcoin bad argument, and what sort of critical mass do we need to support larger value transactions on the network.

[PatrickByrne]

Hi Patrick

2 questions if I may.

1. We know the general e-commerce use case is not yet compelling as so few people own BTC, but with broader adoption, as a major E-commerce company do you still believe in the value proposition for processing Bitcoin payments as a cost saving advantage.

2. What do you say to the large finance players making the whole Blockchain good, Bitcoin bad argument, and what sort of critical mass do we need to support larger value transactions on the network.

I think the adoption may in fact come from the banking sector itself, and not be driven bottoms-up by consumers. Banks have the opportunity to save so much money by using the blockchain for their payments, that the adoption could begin there, and from there, spread out.

[lisa.hevern]

Considering the myriad of global economic influences, national debt levels, prolonged zero interest rate and over leveraged paper gold trading, would a shorter term deflationary trend be more plausible or an inflationary trend?

[notig]

Hey patrick

*will you ever run for president? (I'll vote)
*If you were president what would be your top 3 changes on your priority list?
* opinion on amazons and walmarts newfound interest in drone delivery?
*have software patents and amazons "one click" affected overstock?
*Is the block size debate a big deal and what side of the fence are you on?
*Will you create a timelock transaction in your will giving a bitcoin to your descendants 100 years in the future making them ridiculously rich?
*t0 is really interesting. I heard millions were put into development. Do you expect it to become a big deal with all these other blockchain players? Do you think there is value in still using the bitcoin blockchain as an anchor such as putting just a hash value in? Have you been approached about t0 from curious investors?
*do you think the winklevii ETF for bitcoin will ever be approved?
*We have a threat of "bail-ins, hyper inflation, negative interest rates in the future. Do you think there is a threat of an "asset tax" ?

[PatrickByrne]

Considering the myriad of global economic influences, national debt levels, prolonged zero interest rate and over leveraged paper gold trading, would a shorter term deflationary trend be more plausible or an inflationary trend?

Mises referred to a "crack-up boom." As things destabilize around the world, wealth flows to the US in pursuit of our political stability (haha). This will drive the dollar higher. But the failure of the underlying economy and the coming home to roost of the irresponsible Fed policies of recent decades will finally create a falling dollar. Where it's bottom is, no one knows...

[Leith]

Hi Patrick

2 questions if I may.

1. We know the general e-commerce use case is not yet compelling as so few people own BTC, but with broader adoption, as a major E-commerce company do you still believe in the value proposition for processing Bitcoin payments as a cost saving advantage.

2. What do you say to the large finance players making the whole Blockchain good, Bitcoin bad argument, and what sort of critical mass do we need to support larger value transactions on the network.

I think the adoption may in fact come from the banking sector itself, and not be driven bottoms-up by consumers. Banks have the opportunity to save so much money by using the blockchain for their payments, that the adoption could begin there, and from there, spread out.

Thanks for the insight Patrick, keep up the good work, and good luck with T0.

[Shawshank]

Hi Patrick,

I really admire your determination for transparency and against naked short selling.

When do you think your platform will be ready for public use? Are there any technical improvements that are still needed on the Bitcoin blockchain to support t0? Would SEC and similar regulations be manageable to overcome?

Thanks,

[PatrickByrne]

I WILL ANSWER in caps (not to imply shouting, but just as a convention)

Hey patrick

*will you ever run for president? (I'll vote) ODDLY, I GET ASKED THAT MORE AND MORE. IT IS HARD FOR ME TO CONSIDER. I DO NOT WANT TO DO THE CHICKEN POT PIE CIRCUIT FOR THREE YEARS (AND HAVE ALRADY SEEN MORE OF THIS COUNTRY AT FOOT LEVEL THAN JUST ABOUT ANYONE IN IT: I BICYCLED ACROSS COUNTRY FOUR TIMES, HITCHIKED IT THREE TIMES, AND EVEN MOTOCYCLED IT HERE AND THERE). BUT IF I COULD FIGURE OUT A WAY TO RUN WITHOUT ALL THAT KISSING BABY STUFF (I DO NOT DO INSINCERITY), IT COULD HAPPEN, CONCEIVABLY.

*If you were president what would be your top 3 changes on your priority list?

ON THE REVNUE SIDE: GET RID OF THE PHONEY INCOME TAX VERSUS PAYROLL TAX DISTINCTION. PEOPLE COULD CONTRIBUTE TO A SAVINGS ACCOUNT AND ONLY BE TAXED AS THEY WITHDREW MONEY, THUS ENCOURAGING SAVINGS (BUFFETT'S IDEA). THERE, I THINK I WOULD OPT FOR A FLAT TAX COUPLED WITH A HIGH NEGTIVE TAX: BETWEEN THE TWO, YOU CAN GET ANY DEGREE OF PROGRESSIVITY YOU WANT, BUT WITH TWO SIMPLE RULES INSTEAD OF 70,000 PAGES OF THEM. (MILTON FRIEDMAN'S IDEA.)
ON THE EXPENDITURE SIDE, I WOULD SEPARATE THE ISSUE O GOVERNMENT FUNDING SOCIAL SAFETY NETS FROM GOVERNMENT MANAGING THEM. IN PRACTICE, THAT MEANS GIVING THEM VOUCHERS AND LETTING HTEM BUY THEIR OWN IN THE PRIVATE MARKET. THE VA SPENDS $13,000 PER VET: HOW ABOUT GIVING ANY VET WHO WANTS TO DEFEECT A VOUCHER FOR $10,000 TO BUY HER OWN HEALTH CARE WITH? SAME WITH EDEUCATION 9THIS COUNTRY SPENDS $18,000 PER K-12 CHILD, AND GETS THE WORSE RESULTS IN THE OECD: HOW ABOUT LETTING THEM HAVE A VOUCHER FOR HALF OF THAT, ANDF WITHDRAW? WE'D SAVE SO MUCH MONEY, AND DEVILVER GOODS THROUGH PRIVATE MARKETS.

* opinion on amazons and walmarts newfound interest in drone delivery? WELL, IF THEY MASTER IT, SO WILL FEDEX AND UPS, AND WE WILL JUST USE THEIRS.

*have software patents and amazons "one click" affected overstock? IT KEPT US FROM DOING THE SAME FOR MANY YEARS. WE ALWAYS THOUGHT IT WAS A TENUOUS PATENT.

*Is the block size debate a big deal and what side of the fence are you on? NOT FOR ME. I AM AGNOSTIC ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY. TO ME, I DREAM OF THE POLITICAL POSSIBILITIES.

*Will you create a timelock transaction in your will giving a bitcoin to your descendants 100 years in the future making them ridiculously rich? NO DESCENDENTS TH TI KNOW OF.

*t0 is really interesting. I heard millions were put into development. Do you expect it to become a big deal with all these other blockchain players? Do you think there is value in still using the bitcoin blockchain as an anchor such as putting just a hash value in? Have you been approached about t0 from curious investors? YES TO ALL OF THESE QUESTIONS. WE ARE APPLYING IT TO DISRUPT A PART OF WALL STREET CALLED "STOCK LOAN" WHICH IS WHERE MOST OF THE PRIME BROKERGE PROFITS COME FROM. SHOULD BE LIVE NEXT WEEK.

*do you think the winklevii ETF for bitcoin will ever be approved? NO OPINION.

*We have a threat of "bail-ins, hyper inflation, negative interest rates in the future. Do you think there is a threat of an "asset tax" ?

THEE IS A THREAT THAT ANYTHING COULD HAPPEN, AS THE CURRENT KEYNESIAN MAGIC MONEY TREE PARADIGM DIES ITS ULTIMTE END. I FEAR FASCISM EMERGING FROM EITHER SIDE (REMEMBER, THERE WAS A GREAT ITALIAN SOCIALIST, A HARDCORE SOCIALIST, ACTUALLY, A SYNDICALIST [THE CURRENT PROPONENT OF SYNDICALISM IS NOAM CHOMSKY], WHO EDITED THE ITALIAN SOCIALIST NEWSPAPER. AFTER WWI HE ADDED A LITTLE TWIST: THAT ONLY THOSE WHO HAD BEEN BLOODIED IN WAR SHOULD PARTAKE OF THE NEW LEADERSHIP. IT WAS SOCIALISM WITH A NATIONALIST TWIST: NATIONAL SOCIALISM. FASCISM. HIS NAME WAS "BENITO MUSSOLINI." MY POINT BEING THAT FASCISM CAME OUT OF THE LEFT, AND SHARES TOTALITARIAN PROCLIVITIES WITH THEM. LISTEN TO THE LEFT TODAY, AND YOU WILL HEAR STRAINS OF FASCISM.

Hi Patrick,

I really admire your determination for transparency and against naked short selling.

When do you think your platform will be ready for public use? Are there any technical improvements that are still needed on the Bitcoin blockchain to support t0? Would SEC and similar regulations be manageable to overcome?

Thanks,

[PatrickByrne]

Shawshank wrote:
Hi Patrick,

I really admire your determination for transparency and against naked short selling. THANKS. BEEN A GRIND. NER THE END.

When do you think your platform will be ready for public use? NEXT WEEK THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER MAY START TWITCHING HIS TOES.
Are there any technical improvements that are still needed on the Bitcoin blockchain to support t0? SPEED. THROUGHPUT.
Would SEC and similar regulations be manageable to overcome? SO FAR (HARD AS THIS MAY BE TO BELIEVE), THEY HAVE BEEN UBER-PROFESSIONAL. WE ARE ON THE ONE YARD LINE, SO WE'LL SEE SHORTLY.

Thanks,

[HappyGeorge]

Do you like the new bitshares 2.0

[JuddBagley]

Do you like the new bitshares 2.0

(This is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick attends to company business.)

We are not familiar with the new Bitshares. But we will be checking it out.

[Shawshank]

Shawshank wrote:
When do you think your platform will be ready for public use? NEXT WEEK THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER MAY START TWITCHING HIS TOES.

Would SEC and similar regulations be manageable to overcome? SO FAR (HARD AS THIS MAY BE TO BELIEVE), THEY HAVE BEEN UBER-PROFESSIONAL. WE ARE ON THE ONE YARD LINE, SO WE'LL SEE SHORTLY.

That is huge news! You have always stated that T0 is blockchain-agnostic. Knowing now that the launch is in view, could you disclose if T0 will run on the Bitcoin blockchain?

When will normal individuals like myself be able to buy stocks on the blockchain? Is this service still many years away?

[JuddBagley]

Shawshank wrote:
When do you think your platform will be ready for public use? NEXT WEEK THE FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER MAY START TWITCHING HIS TOES.

Would SEC and similar regulations be manageable to overcome? SO FAR (HARD AS THIS MAY BE TO BELIEVE), THEY HAVE BEEN UBER-PROFESSIONAL. WE ARE ON THE ONE YARD LINE, SO WE'LL SEE SHORTLY.

That is huge news! You have always stated that T0 is blockchain-agnostic. Knowing now that the launch is in view, could you disclose if T0 will run on the Bitcoin blockchain?

When will normal individuals like myself be able to buy stocks on the blockchain? Is this service still many years away?

(This is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick attends to company business.)

t0.com will truly be ledger agnostic, and as such will indeed be able to publish to the Bitcoin blockchain.

Your ability to buy stocks via the t0 platform depends on when we get regulator approval. Once that happens, trading could begin in a matter of weeks.

[greenabacus]

Thanks for joining Patrick, I'm fascinated by your ideas. My question:

Not receiving my paycheck in Bitcoin is a barrier to me buying from Overstock with BTC. It's easier to keep BTC as savings in my case.

So: how do you approach the challenge of the average joe having a steady stream of bitcoin, and do you have any predictions re the industry or regulations which will help or hinder this?

Or, if you would reframe the question/problem differently, I'd love to hear that.

[Shawshank]

(This is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick attends to company business.)

t0.com will truly be ledger agnostic, and as such will indeed be able to publish to the Bitcoin blockchain.

Your ability to buy stocks via the t0 platform depends on when we get regulator approval. Once that happens, trading could begin in a matter of weeks.

OK, thanks. I believe we are many individuals (not institutional investors) that would love to buy stocks without banks. Looking forward to that.

[JuddBagley]

Thanks for joining Patrick, I'm fascinated by your ideas. My question:

Not receiving my paycheck in Bitcoin is a barrier to me buying from Overstock with BTC. It's easier to keep BTC as savings in my case.

So: how do you approach the challenge of the average joe having a steady stream of bitcoin, and do you have any predictions re the industry or regulations which will help or hinder this?

Or, if you would reframe the question/problem differently, I'd love to hear that.

Hey Greenabacus, this is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick attends to company business. I'm going to leave this one for Patrick to answer when he returns because I'd like to get his impressions as well. They'll certainly be more interesting than mine. So please check back.

[JuddBagley]

(This is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick attends to company business.)

t0.com will truly be ledger agnostic, and as such will indeed be able to publish to the Bitcoin blockchain.

Your ability to buy stocks via the t0 platform depends on when we get regulator approval. Once that happens, trading could begin in a matter of weeks.

OK, thanks. I believe we are many individuals (not institutional investors) that would love to buy stocks without banks. Looking forward to that.

We agree. Something like this couldn't work without institutional support, but we're building t0 in such a way so as to make it totally accessible to retail investors as well. It should be easy for you to participate.

[PatrickByrne]

Thanks for joining Patrick, I'm fascinated by your ideas. My question:

Not receiving my paycheck in Bitcoin is a barrier to me buying from Overstock with BTC. It's easier to keep BTC as savings in my case.

So: how do you approach the challenge of the average joe having a steady stream of bitcoin, and do you have any predictions re the industry or regulations which will help or hinder this? YOUR INSTINCTS ARE CORRECT: "LIQUIDITY BEGETS LIQUIDITY," AS THEY SAY ON WALL STREET. WE CAN DO OUR PART BY FINDING A WAY TO PAY PEOPLE, BOTH SUPPLIERS AND COLLEAGUES, PARTIALLY IN BITCOIN. SHOULD BE HAPPENING IN THE COMING YEAR.

Or, if you would reframe the question/problem differently, I'd love to hear that.

[searchfortruth]

What kind of reporting do you have to do for users who spend a lot of Bitcoin on overstock?

[JuddBagley]

What kind of reporting do you have to do for users who spend a lot of Bitcoin on overstock?

(This is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick returns to company business.)

We have no reporting requirements for bitcoin purchases.

[notig]

Open bazaar is aimed to be a replacement of ebay. Is there a way that overstock can leverage open bazaar? As an example amazon currently hosts 3rd party sellers. Overstock might be able to tap into the reputation systems, or even the review systems that open bazaar could provide.

[JuddBagley]

Open bazaar is aimed to be a replacement of ebay. Is there a way that overstock can leverage open bazaar? As an example amazon currently hosts 3rd party sellers. Overstock might be able to tap into the reputation systems, or even the review systems that open bazaar could provide.

(This is Patrick's comms guy Judd Bagley stepping in while Patrick returns to company business.)

I'm looking at the site now and it's very interesting.

[LiteCoinGuy]

I guess iam too late but thanks Patrick for everything you have done for bitcoin!

[Joe]

A bit late on this one but here goes anyway:

Why are incumbent financial institutions against Bitcoin? Do you think the reason is political, fear of competition (it could pose a threat to their oligopolies) or something else?