E-tailer Overstock.com reported a $3m pretax loss for the third quarter of this year tied to its ongoing work building a blockchain-based stock exchange.

Overstock reported a pre-tax loss of $3.9m for the third quarter, of which $3m arose from Medici, its blockchain-focused division. The figure was included in the firm’s Q3 results, released yesterday. Overall, the company said it incurred a net loss of $3.1m for the quarter.

The Utah-based company reported $441m in revenue, up 13% from the same period last year when the firm said it earned $391m.

The news comes just over two years after Overstock began setting the stage to launch tØ, the trading platform it formally unveiled in August 2015. The company would ultimately spend $8m that year on blockchain projects.

According to founder and CEO Patrick Byrne, the latest expenses were "well worth it".

He noted in a statement:

Overstock has been pushing ahead with its plans, announcing this week that it has tapped Connecticut-based investment bank Source Capital Group, Inc to serve as dealer-manager for its planned stock offering via blockchain.

At the time, Overstock said it will sell as many as 1 million shares using the technology.

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