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Overstock.com becomes first retail giant to accept Bitcoin worldwide

By Maria Santos

Last Updated: Jan 2, 2018

Overstock.com was not only the first major online retailer to embrace Bitcoin in the United States, but it is also now the first retail giant to accept cryptocurrency across the world

The American company, headquartered in Salt Lake City, started accepting BTC earlier this year, in January. Since then, Overstock.com has earned millions in BTC with products exclusively ordered by United States-based clients.

But from now on all Overstock.com customers from foreign countries where the company operates are going to be able to use Bitcoin to pay for their orders. “As long as you can get on the internet, you can order and pay in Bitcoin. You can order in North Korea if you want — as long as you’re having things delivered to, say, Singapore”, says Overstock founder and CEO Patrick Byrne, quoted by Wired.

Overstock’s decision to accept cryptocurrency was boosted by Byrne, who sees Bitcoin as a tool to free the current money system from the control of banks and governments. Actually, the entrepreneur recently announced his company would donate four percent of all Overstock BTC sales to non-profit organizations working to promote Bitcoin

According to Byrne, “we swim in assumptions about how things should work, and we don’t understand the assumptions. We don’t understand the functions of governments, our legal and financial institutions. We don’t need them. We can use the internet”.

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Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.
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Maria Santos
Maria Santos
Crypto Writer

Maria is an experienced journalist currently living in the UK. She has been writing about Bitcoin and the altcoin universe since 2013. She is also a member of the Lifeboat Foundation's New Money Systems Board and a big cryptocurrency supporter. Read More

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