US Judge U-Turns on Ruling in Overstock Digital Dividend Lawsuit

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.

• 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