Overstock.com Now Accepts All Cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrencies just made a huge leap from use in the financial arena to mainstream. Though currencies like bitcoin and Ethereum have been typically reserved for higher-level interactions, this new development is pulling it farther into more everyday uses.

This week, Overstock.com shared news of its partnership integration with digital asset exchange company ShapeShift. Through this pairing, any one of Overstock’s customers will now have the option of making a purchase by using any one of the cryptocurrencies available, including Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash and Bitcoin Cash.

With this move, Overstock is now the first major retailer to accept multiple forms of cryptocurrencies as payment. To help nudge Overstock in this decision to open up its cryptocurrency acceptance, which began in 2014 with bitcoin, the representation of bitcoin in the market fell from 80 percent to under 50 percent. As such, it should come as no surprise that Overstock decided to diversify its cyrptocurrency acceptance with this ShapeShift integration partnership.

Through this joint effort, Overstock customers will not only be able to make purchases using cryptocurrencies but convert digital currencies between different coin types thanks to ShapeShift. So this means that if an Overstock consumer has Ethereum coins, they will be able to convert those to bitcoin using ShapeShift’s technology during the checkout process.

Overstock CEO Patrick M. Byrne commented on this new strategic partnership and shared how it opens up new opportunity for customers in the company’s news release. “Overstock is pro-freedom, including the freedom of individuals to communicate information about value and scarcity without relying on a medium created through the fiat of unaccountable government mandarins,” Byrne said. “For that reason, we have been an early proponent and adopter of cryptocurrencies. ShapeShift has provided an elegant way for users of any digital currency to transact seamlessly and privately across chains, and we’re excited to harness that ability to the benefit of our customers.”