Overstock CEO on Blockchain: 160 Industries Could be Disrupted
Overstock.com became the first major retailer to accept cryptocurrency in 2014 when bitcoin was trading under $500. Now, the company is tripling down on its bitcoin bet. Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com, was with us to explain the future of blockchain.
The Overstock.com CEO expresses why he is so bullish on blockchain. Byrne believes we can "remake society" using the technology. He believes that what the internet did to publishing, blockchain will do to 160 industries. When it comes to picking individual cryptocurrencies, Byrne is agnostic. He shares that he does not favor bitcoin over any of the others.
Wall Street has been hesitant to accept bitcoin. Byrne says it is appropriate to move cautiously and thinks firms have been reasonably defensive. He does, however, add that those who take the risk will be rewarded.
President Donald Trump says he will allow Nvidia to sell its H200 computer chip used in the development of artificial intelligence to “approved customers” in China. Trump said Monday on his social media site that he had informed China’s leader Xi Jinping and “President Xi responded positively!” There had been concerns about allowing advanced computer chips into China as it could help them to compete against the U.S. in building out AI capabilities. But there has also been a desire to develop the AI ecosystem with American companies such as chipmaker Nvidia.
The end of 2025 is almost upon us. And it’s time to unpack Spotify Wrapped. On Wednesday, the music streaming giant delivered its annual recap — giving its hundreds of millions of users worldwide a look at the top songs, artists, podcasts and other audio they listened to over the past year. Spotify isn’t the only platform to roll out a yearly glimpse of data collected from consumers’ online lives. But since its launch about a decade ago, Wrapped has become one of the most anticipated. And Spotify is billing the 2025 edition to be the biggest yet, with a host of new features it hopes may also address some disappointments users had last year.
Elon Musk’s X unveiled a feature that lets users see where an account is based. Online sleuths and experts quickly found that many popular accounts, often posting in support of the U.S. MAGA movement with thousands or hundreds of thousands of followers, are based outside the U.S. This raises concerns about foreign influence in U.S. politics.
The Enhanced Games is going public in two ways — with a new listing on the Nadsaq stock exchange and also by offering a direct-to-consumer business focused on performance products.
Real estate software company RealPage has agreed to stop sharing nonpublic information between landlords as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice.
2025’s top Black Friday tech deals from smart speakers to wearables. Tom’s Guide editor Kate Kozuch shares expert picks and tips for smart holiday shopping.
Computer chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly earnings report that is expected to either deepen a recent downturn in the stock market or prompt an ebullient sigh of relief among investors increasingly worried the world’s most valuable company is perched upon an artificial intelligence bubble about to burst.
