US online retailer Overstock announced it has invested in Caribbean financial technology firm Bitt that advances cryptocurrencies in the region. The announcement was made at a press conference in Barbados.

Bitt intends to use the funding from Overstock to build a more citizen-friendly financial ecosystem in the Caribbean that would eliminate high fees from banks and make transnational transactions cheaper and more secure. The Barbados-based company aims at encouraging island nations in the region to digitise their conventional currencies and place them on the blockchain so as they could easily be traded among the islands.

"Our aim is to use crypto-technology to turn our regional citizens into global citizens, giving them the ability to send or receive money directly via their phones, in seconds, from all corners of the globe," explained Gabriel Abed, Bitt CEO and Co-Founder.

"A major impediment to economic advancement around the world is the fact that the vast majority of humans are unbanked. Yet mobile penetration in some countries exceeds 100%. Bitt has a vision for the Caribbean of frictionless mobile cash, beginning with central banks transparently issuing digital fiat which is then exchanged on a blockchain," said Patrick Byrne, Overstock CEO. "We respect and endorse that vision, and share a common desire to see online consensual exchange flourish globally," he added.

In February 2016, Bitt created the digital Barbadian dollar based on a blockchain system, backed by the Central Bank of Barbados. The company claimed it would focus on developing a teller and ATM network for the new currency.

Bitt was launched in March 2015 after attracting $1.5 million in seed funding from Avatar Capital. It is the first bitcoin exchange in the Caribbean.

Overstock is known to invest in bitcoin-related companies. A year ago in April 2015, Overstock invested $5 million in PeerNova, a cryptocurrency platform that works on integrating the blockchain into the healthcare, accounting, and finance industries.

Anna Lavinskaya