Overstock.com, the first major company to begin accepting bitcoin in the United States (and world, for that matter), has just opened up the doors to international customers.
What that means is if you’re living outside of the United States, you’ll be able to shop on the Overstock website, which boasts a catalog of nearly two million products. Everything from mobile phone cases to rugs (which incidentally happen to be very popular items amongst bitcoin shoppers).
“Bitcoin has been readily adopted in countries outside the United States, yet the opportunities to spend Bitcoin internationally are extremely limited,” said Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com’s CEO. “We’re pleased to offer this service to the millions of Bitcoin users in other countries and believe they will respond enthusiastically. With this move, Bitcoin has indeed become a borderless currency that permits its holders to buy and take delivery of millions of products.”
The news is great for consumers, many of which outside of the United States have been struggling to find a reliable website to purchase products with their digital currency.
Services that allow users to purchase gift cards with bitcoin, and then spend those cards are available, but consumers have proven they would rather go to the source and purchase directly from an online shop like Overstock.
Overstock encountered a slight delay in getting the international bitcoin payments system working. Original reports indicated that the company was to enable the payments on the 1st of September.
That, of course, didn’t happen. But at this point, it probably doesn’t matter.
Overstock.com has sold over $1.5 million worth of items paid for in the digital currency. They are partnered with Coinbase out of San Francisco in order to process the high volume of payments.
