Overstock’s New Blockchain President to Accelerate ‘Fight Against Wall Street’

By August 17, 2016Bitcoin Business

After 14 years working with Overstock.com, the e-commerce giant’s chairman of the board was asked to leave the room during a board meeting last month. For Jonathan Johnson, who had previously served in leadership roles, including a stint as Overstock ‘s CEO, it was an unusual moment. Johnson had just finished an unsuccessful bid to become the governor of Utah , and his future at the company was now in the board’s hands. But the board would return with good news, ultimately deciding to offer Johnson the chance to take over as president of Overstock subsidiary Medici and formally lead its efforts to reimagine finance using technology inspired by bitcoin. In Johnson’s first interview since taking the reigns, he explained that his goal for the company and its blockchain projects isn’t to change what CEO Patrick Byrne set in motion when he became the first major retailer to accept bitcoin, but to accelerate it. Johnson told CoinDesk: "We worked together shoulder to shoulder in the fight against Wall Street manipulation. I’m not here to change the course, I’m here to give it more focus and more attention and to help accelerate the process." Changing roles This shouldn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with Johnson’s work. Hired in 2002 to serve as the company’s general counsel, Johnson quickly moved through the ranks to become the fifth member of its executive team. During this time, he would help lead Byrne’s widely covered charge against Wall Street trading practices. Johnson was president of Overstock in 2014 when the company decided to first support bitcoin, and he says his interest in the disruptive power of the technology has only increased. As president of Medici, Johnson plans to help steer the direction of tØ, a blockchain post-trade settlement platform of which Overstock […]

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