1200 merchants expected to participate in this year’s Bitcoin Black Friday

This year’s Bitcoin Black Friday is expected to be the biggest yet.

In the campaign’s first year in 2012, the day started off with only 20 merchants, which grew to 50 by day’s end. Last year, the number ballooned to 600, with $6 million worth of sales. This year, participating merchant count is expected to double to 1200.

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This year will be so busy that organizer Jon Holmquist has said that he’s had to bring in a small staff to organize it for two months. He described what’s new for this year:

“We have two things planned. First is the ability to instantly purchase bitcoin with your credit card: a small amount, like $25 worth. For most people, that’s not too much of a risk. And we’re also going to have a section [of the site] where you can purchase something for a small amount of money.”

He added that most merchants don’t decide to come onboard until the last minute.

Overstock, arguably the company best known for its Bitcoin acceptance, will not be taking part. Instead, it will be having its own Black Friday deals on its site, where Bitcoin is accepted for all listings.

Some bigger names taking part this year include Newegg and Gyft.