Overstock.com, BitPay, Verotel & Coinbase contribute to Bitcoin’s strong start in 2014

2014 just started, and it would seem Bitcoin is off to a good start with more big names accepting the cryptocurrency.

Overstock.com officially began accepting Bitcoin this last Thursday, raking in over $130,000 in Bitcoin transactions. According to a recent tweet from Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, over 840 Bitcoin transactions were placed averaging at $150 (0.17 BTC) per order. Byrne also mentioned the top US states that used Bitcoin on Overstock.com, which are California, Florida, Texas and Washington. Overstock.com averages $3.4 million in daily sales, meaning Bitcoin accounted for around 4 % of sales during the first day it was accepted.

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Bitcoin acceptance does not stop there, with adult payment service provider Verotel partnering with Bitpay to pilot a Bitcoin payment feature for select merchants. The partnership with Verotel marks Bitpay’s second entry into the adult payment arena, after providing Bitcoin payment support for Porn.com. If all aspects of the pilot go according to plan, the Bitcoin payment option will be made available to all Verotel high risk merchants by March 15^th 2014.

The adult industry is known for mainstreaming the formats it decides to support, much like VHS and Blu-ray as opposed to BetaMax and HD-DVD. If looking back at the adult industry, as more reputable adult sites and services begin to support Bitcoin, we should see it become more prominent in mainstream society, eventually transforming Bitcoin into a more viable currency and method of payment.

Bitcoin processor Coinbase is also expanding their offering with the release of their new Android SDK. The SDK will allow Android developers to integrate in-app Bitcoin purchases through Coinbase’s API. An SDK is only available for Android, with no word on when or if an iOS SDK will be made available. Our guess is an iOS SDK will not be made available anytime soon given Apple’s recent opposition against the Cryptocurrency.

With Zynga also piloting a Bitcoin payment feature, it looks like Bitcoin moves toward a slow but general recognition as a payment method in 2014. Even with resistance from the Taiwanese government, and recent congressional reports it would seem there is no stopping Bitcoin’s rise in popularity.

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