Overstock.com’s CEO denied reports the company suffered any significant losses because of a glitch in cryptocurrency systems, and said that, despite the media coverage, he still believes Bitcoin holds a lot of potential for the company.
“Right now we’re doing a tZero ICO raising $300 million...People are telling me that’s a business they think has a 3 billion or 4 billion value,” Patrick Byrne told Cheddar Friday.
“I literally have people on Wall St. saying, if I pull off the tZero ICO, and then over two years we do what we think we can do, they say that’s a $40 billion enterprise. People have no idea, yet how much of the financial system we intend to augment.”
Reports emerged earlier this week that a bug created a big opportunity for arbitrage, allowing customers to purchase items with Bitcoin Cash, which trades at roughly $2,500, and return them in exchange for Bitcoin, priced at more than $13,000.
Byrne said the issue was caused by the overwhelming trade volume at payment partner Coinbase. He claims the mix-up, which lasted milliseconds, did not result in any material losses.
For full interview [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/overstock-ceo-responds-to-bitcoin-mix-up).
The pandemic has supercharged the creator economy, and there are no signs of it slowing down no matter when the pandemic officially ends. Creators prove to be a key factor in driving purchasing decisions and retail sales, and an increasing amount of platforms are taking advantage of the social influence. Karissa Bell, senior editor at Engadget, joins cheddar news to discuss the creator economy boom.
The National Women's Soccer League is partnering with Voyager Digital as its first-ever cryptocurrency brokerage in a multi-year deal. Marla Messing, interim CEO of the NWSL, and Steve Ehrlich, CEO of Voyager Digital, joined Cheddar to discuss benefitting the league and educating players and fans as a way of democratizing cryptocurrency. Messing explained that the players themselves will own half the assets as part of how the deal is structured. "My hope is, just in terms of the expectations of crypto over the long term, that I hope a lot of them are able to just let it sit there," she said. "And that one day this will be a nice retirement account for them."
Howard Lorber, chairman, president, and CEO of Douglas Elliman Inc., and Scott Durkin, CEO of Douglas Elliman Realty, joined Cheddar's "Opening Bell" to talk about the real estate brokerage company's recent IPO launch on the New York Stock Exchange following the spinoff of its tobacco subsidiary Vector Group. "There are many investors that cannot buy tobacco because of their mandates," said Lorber. "And therefore splitting off Douglas Elliman the real estate, and there's a lot of people looking for real estate investments, so they'll be able to buy Douglas Elliman, and those that want tobacco can buy Vector alone." The pair also discuss the future of New York real estate and the auxiliary business the property broker sees as growth prospects.
Despite a champagne shortage ahead of New Year's Eve, adult beverage retailers are staying optimistic about 2022. Cathy Lewenberg, COO at online alcoholic beverages platform Drizly, joined Cheddar to talk about the sunny outlook for next year and the current state of the industry. She noted a 20 percent higher demand for champagne year-over-year has led to the holiday's shortfall and that the spirit category is continuing to thrive with tequila on pace to outsell vodka for the first time. "Tequila has just been on fire on our platform. It's grown 13 percent in share on our platform over the last couple of years where vodka obviously had been the leader," she said. "Tequila is the top thing in addition to bourbon that retailers are looking to give more shelf space to in 2022."
Travel expert Francesca Page joined Cheddar's Baker Machado to break down how the omicron-fueled COVID-19 surge of cases on cruise ships is impacting the industry, as the CDC is actively monitoring at least 92 ships for outbreaks. Page also talked about the upcoming expiration of the CDC's conditional sailing order mandating mask-wearing and addressed passenger concerns. "Everyone is asking, financially, should I cancel my cruise should COVID surges keep going, which it looks they are, and to a large degree I think that decision is very personal and is based on one's own risk tolerance," she said.
