Earlier this month we reported that Bitcoin, the virtual currency, received a vote of confidence in a recent report from Bank Of America. While that didn’t start a huge surgence of Bitcoin commerce on a general public level, hearing about new companies accepting Bitcoin has become a weekly ritual.
Just before the Bank Of America story, wireless accessories giant Mobile Nations began accepting Bitcoin for payment. Now Windows Phone, Android, and iOS users can all buy their favorite accessories using Bitcoin.
On Friday, Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, told both the Financial Times and the LA Times that they hoped to start accepting Bitcoin by the middle of next year. They even hinted to getting Bitcoin acceptance off the ground as soon as four months from now. Overstock.com does over $1 billion dollars in annual sales by selling closeouts for other stores and manufacturers. It’s one of the top rated e-commerce websites in the world. The first being Amazon of course.
While it makes perfect sense for an online retailer to use any form of online payment, Byrne told the Los Angeles Times there’s a little more to it than just sales. “also philosophical, part and parcel with my belief in a limited government — that if you want limited government you can’t give it power to expand the monetary base.” he said.
Bitcoin’s fluctuation in value has many online retailers concerned. Overstock.com plans to convert Bitcoin to US dollars on a daily basis, reports The Verge. The LA Times reports that Bitcoinstore.com only accepts Bitcoin for payment. They list the US dollar price for all of their items, which stays the same. They also list the Bitcoin price/value which can change every time you refresh the screen. When you checkout at Bitcoinstore, it holds that Bitcoin price for 15 minutes but if a user doesn’t check out in 15 minutes they need to re-add the item to their cart so that they can get the most accurate pricing.
