Share this article
US Judge U-Turns on Ruling in Overstock Digital Dividend Lawsuit
The plaintiff may now file an amended complaint against Overstock and former CEO Patrick Byrne.
Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:53 a.m. Published Jan 8, 2021, 9:33 a.m.
In this article
A senior district judge in the U.S. state of Utah has acknowledged he made a "mistake" when granting Overstock's motion to dismiss a lawsuit over its digital dividend issued in 2019.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
- In late September 2020, Overstock, the bitcoin-friendly e-commerce firm, was granted the motion to dismiss the case brought by the Mangrove Partners Master Fund.
- In the latest filing on Jan. 6, Judge Dale Kimball said he had "overlooked" a footnote from the plaintiff requesting permission to file an amended complaint if the motion was granted.
- The case hinges around the digital dividend that Overstock paid to investors, with Mangrove alleging it was deliberately designed to create an artificial squeeze on short sellers.
- The plaintiff also claimed Overstock had made false declarations about its financial future.
- The shareholder dividend took the form of a digital security listed on Overstock affiliate tZero’s trading platform.
- Patrick Byrne, Overstock’s CEO at the time and a defendant in the lawsuit, was famously anti-short sellers and reportedly first became interested in blockchain as a way to limit their actions.
- With Judge Kimball now acknowledging his error in granting Overstock's motion, he nullified the original ruling and granted Mangrove permission to file an amended complaint.
See also: Overstock Touts Voatz Blockchain Voting App as Solution to US Election Fracas
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Save the Children Introduces Bitcoin Fund to Streamline Crisis Response
New fund enables Save the Children to hold bitcoin, pilot digital wallets, and speed up emergency aid delivery.
What to know:
- Save the Children has launched a Bitcoin Fund to hold cryptocurrency donations for up to four years, allowing donors more control over conversion timing.
- The fund aims to enhance the speed and efficiency of aid delivery by utilizing blockchain technology and piloting new forms of direct assistance.
- This initiative reflects a growing interest in decentralized finance to reduce costs and increase transparency in humanitarian aid.
Top Stories
