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Bitcoin Week: Overstock Takes BTC, BitPay Payroll, PayPal Sentiment
Bitcoin Week
Here is a roundup of the top Bitcoin news from last week.
PayPal President David Marcus tweeted about his belief in Bitcoin, even though his company has yet to integrate the digital currency and is blocking the sale of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin payment processor BitPay announced a new payroll API. “For the longest time the hard question was ‘How do I buy bitcoin?’” said Tony Gallippi, co-founder and CEO of BitPay. “Now the answer is easy: ‘Ask your employer.’”
Overstock.com now accepts Bitcoin, making it the first major online retailer to support Bitcoin. @BitcoinLeah contributed this story.
And more!
PayPal President David Marcus Believer in Bitcoin
Many people see PayPal and Bitcoin as mortal enemies tied up in an eternal struggle for digital currency domination. PayPal President David Marcus doesn’t feel that way, at least a few recent tweets he made would suggest.
Part of the conflict lies in PayPal’s existing policies against selling currency due to regulatory issues.
This was highlighted in a take-down email received by a PayPal user.
We have reviewed your PayPal account and found that you have been involved in the sale of electronic media exchange (such as electronic money or digital currency). Per our current Acceptable Use Policy for Money Service Businesses, PayPal may not be used for currency exchange including the sale of Bitcoin Miners, Lite Coins [sic] and Bit Coins [sic].
Marcus responded online via a tweet saying that equipment was okay, just not currency. Perhaps Bitcoin miners are a gray area as they can be used to generate currency once plugged in.
To clarify: we have no policies against using PayPal to sell Bitcoin mining rigs. We don’t support any currency txn whether fiat or BTC…
— David Marcus (@davidmarcus) January 13, 2014
He continued.
…for a host of regulatory issues. But we treat BTC and any FX txn the same way. We’re believers in BTC though.
— David Marcus (@davidmarcus) January 13, 2014
It’s great to see the executive sharing positive sentiment about Bitcoin, but clearly it will take time to work out the details. Stay tuned for further developments.
Get Paid in Bitcoin: BitPay Announces Payroll API
Want Bitcoin? Now Ask Your Employer, Says BitPay CEO Tony Gallippi
Bitcoin payment processor BitPay announced a beta release of their bitcoin payroll API for employers, which allows their W-2 employees to receive a portion of their net pay in bitcoin.
The Bitcoin Payroll API is designed for employers and payroll service providers. For employers using the service, their individual employees can opt-in to receive a net payroll deduction paid in bitcoin, on a recurring basis each pay period.
“For the longest time the hard question was ‘How do I buy bitcoin?’” said Tony Gallippi, co-founder and CEO of BitPay. “Now the answer is easy: ‘Ask your employer.’”
BitPay developed the bitcoin payroll API for its own use at the request of its employees, and has been using it with their payroll provider for over six months. BitPay is pleased to announce that they have 100% participation from their employees, meaning every BitPay employee receives some of their net pay in bitcoin. Four BitPay employees, including Gallippi, receive 100% of their net pay in bitcoin.
“This also clarifies the tax question around bitcoin,” added Bryan Krohn, BitPay’s CFO. “Since all payroll and withholding taxes are taken out first from the employee’s gross income, bitcoins can be sent from the net pay tax-free, and the employer’s gross income reporting to the IRS remains unchanged.”
BitPay also announced that it has surpassed 20,000 approved merchants using its service to accept bitcoin, and is adding new merchants at a pace of 1,000 per week. Some of the recently added merchants include social game maker Zynga (ZNGA), private jet charter service PrivateFly.com, The Clevelander Hotel in South Beach Miami, and online travel agency BTCTrip.com.
Overstock.com Becomes First Major Online Retailer to Accept Bitcoin
This week, Overstock.com became the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin for online purchases.
In December, Overstock.com CEO Patrick M. Byrne announced plans to begin accepting Bitcoin as payment in the second half of 2014. Obviously anxious to get the show on the road, less than a month later, the online retailer, which sells everything from electronics to jewelry to bedspreads, is open for Bitcoin business.
Overstock.com’s website lists the following as benefits to paying in Bitcoin:
- Ability to send and receive any amount of money instantly, anywhere, and at any time.
- Full control of your money. Bitcoin can be managed directly from your Bitcoin wallet.
- Full control of transactions. With Bitcoin, you control all your transactions. No one can process unwanted or unnoticed charges.
- Secure transactions. You are not required to provide sensitive or personal information with Bitcoin.
Still in the early adopter phase, the price of Bitcoin remains volatile. Overstock.com CEO Byrne explains, “There’s no risk for [Overstock.com]. We’re not holding [Bitcoin]. It’s not so much a bet on the value of Bitcoin and how it bounces around, it’s a bet that there’s a market there.”
The risks and rewards of Bitcoin market volatility will be assumed by Overstock.com partner Coinbase.com.
Coinbase is a Bitcoin wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact with the new digital currency bitcoin. Boasting a $25 million investment from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, 771,000 consumer wallets, and 19,000 merchants, Coinbase is helping Overstock.com make Bitcoin accessible to the mainstream.
Coinbase fixes the exchange rate for each transaction and instantly converts the buyer’s bitcoins into dollars. Overstock never actually holds Bitcoin, at this stage.
Pleased to announce that #Bitcoin is live at #Overstock.com! http://t.co/mx9TFc8KNQ
— Overstock.com (@Overstock) January 9, 2014
Presently, Overstock.com only accepts Bitcoin as payment from within the United States, but on Twitter, has stated it’s intentions of going global. They’re well on their way, as only two hours after Overstock.com’s Twitter announcement, Byrne announced that about $10,000 worth of Bitcoin from about 100 purchasers had already been spent.
Bitcoin Week: William Shatner, James Hong, BitGo, Blockchain, CES 2014
Bitcoin Week
Here is a roundup of the top Bitcoin news from last week.
We are at CES 2014 this week! Read our preview of Bitcoin companies attending and exhibiting CES 2014. The presence of Bitcoin companies is small, but it’s an important milestone for the digital currency.
Serial entrepreneur and angel investor James Hong weighed in on his thoughts about storing Bitcoin securely. His wallet of choice was BitGo, which uses multi-signature technology so that no single key can be used to steal funds.
The Blockchain turned 5 last week. We looked back at the Genesis Block, the first 50 BTC sent to Satoshi.
And William Shatner started a tweetfest about Bitcoin. He said he’s going to buy some of the digital currency soon.
