Bitcoin Payments Go Live At Overstock — Two Quarters Early

New submitter citab writes with news that "the first major retailer is now accepting bitcoins!" In December, Overstock.com announced that they would begin accepting Bitcoin for payment as early as the end of second quarter 2014, but decided to make it a priority task to avoid having someone else beat them to it. From the article: "Last Tuesday, the company struck a deal to handle Bitcoin payments through a service operated by the suddenly hot San Francisco startup Coinbase, and since then, a team of Overstock engineers has worked almost every waking hour to prepare the site for what is undeniably a key moment in the digital currency’s short history. ... [Overstock CEO] Byrne believes this can ultimately boost the company’s bottom line, but that’s not his only aim. For Byrne, a rather opinionated libertarian who’s unafraid to take his company places others fear to tread, embracing the cryptocurrency is as much a political statement as a business decision. Like so many others, he believes Bitcoin can free the world from the control of big banks and big government. 'It helps us fight the machine,' he says."

Comments

First major retailer to accept Bitcoin

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

was Silkroad.

Re:First major retailer to accept Bitcoin

[Archfeld]

Very well said. BitCoins resemble company scrip more than any other medium of exchange. They are NOT legal tender thus no-one has to exchange them. If I had mod-points I'd use them for you...very rarely do I see an AC post worth moding up...

This Is Huge! Game Changing Step

[Anonymous Coward]

This is the big game changer right here. This is what has been holding everything back, up until now. With this policy decision things are really going to take off. Clearly it has been the lack of Bitcoin that has been holding Overstock.com back for all this time.

Re:They don't actually accept bitcoins

[mythosaz]

Correct. They don't so much accept "bitcoins" as they allow Coinbase to be a payment method not unlike Paypal.

Re:Fantastic news

[Archangel Michael]

In addition to what the Parent said, there is going to be increased stability in BitCoins as the currency gains acceptance. That stability will cause the currency's value to rise as stability increases, to the point where it becomes THE currency people barter for, rather than USD or EURO. At that point, you'll see sudden decrease in value of the other FIAT currencies, and deflationary nature of BitCoin to start happening.