Overstock.com to become first major retailer to accept Bitcoins

Even now, during the height of Bitcoin’s popularity (with one coin worth around $650 at the time of writing), it’s still not entirely easy to use them to buy things. Ever since the cryptocurrency’s inception, in order to purchase retail items, you generally had to go through a third party — you gave someone Bitcoins, then they went and spent their own legal tender on the items you wanted. Now, Overstock.com is cutting out that middleman, and will be the first major retailer to accept the digital currency.

The most famous “historic” Bitcoin purchase involved Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz paying someone 10,000BTC to order him two pizzas — a total cost $25 at the time. Now, those 10,000BTC are worth around $6.5 million. Perhaps this is why Overstock.com is willing to take a risk on Bitcoin. In an interview with reporters, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne said that the company will move toward accepting the virtual currency in the second half of 2014, making it the first major retailer to do so, and making it much easier to purchase household items using money you generated by making your computer solve math problems.

Interestingly, Overstock’s plan to accept Bitcoin came after the recent crash, which saw the currency drop around 50% in value in the matter of hours as a result of China’s largest BTC exchangeno longer accepting deposits in yuan. If you’re excited about being able to purchase some curtains and an office chair using your not-really-hard-earned Bitcoins, the stock market reflects your excitement, as Overstock’s shares jumped around 7.7% after the announcement.

The latter half of 2014 is far off, so much can change between now and then. Bitcoin could crash hard (like it always does) and force Overstock to abandon the idea, or soar to even greater heights (like it always does) and cause other major realtors to hop on board. So far, some of the most notable services to accept Bitcoin as payment are OkCupid and Humble Bundle. So, your Bitcoins can either help you get dates, or keep you cooped up in your room avoiding them.

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