Overstock.com among early Bitcoin adapters in retail market

At Coin World we like to regularly bring our readers information on virtual currencies and their growth and popularity because of the implications that they have for traditional coinage and, therefore, the future collector’s market.

In addition to highlighting traditional collector content from around the web, my Money Bytes blog will keep Coin World readers abreast of what's going on in the world of virtual currency.

A recent development could be a biggie for the prospect of it becoming a border-ignoring form of payment:

Overstock.com? is set to expand its acceptance of Bitcoin next month, when it will give non-U.S. customers the ability to pay for everything from furniture, to jewelry, to electronics with the virtual currency.

By mid-September, Overstock.com plans to begin allowing international customers to make purchases with Bitcoin, according to an Aug. 13 Reuters report, and will devote 4 percent of revenue brought in by Bitcoin sales to promoting the virtual currency.

Overstock.com was among the first major online retailers to accept Bitcoin, it explained in a Jan. 9, 2014, press release. The company partners with Coinbase.com, which processes Bitcoin payments and handles the conversion of Bitcoin into U.S. dollars. 

"Bitcoin is well suited for online transactions," CEO Patrick Byrne said in that release. "It has no transaction fees and works well for international customers. Providing this convenience for the cult-following Bitcoin customer is the smart thing to do."

It didn't take long for the online retailer to hit the $1 million mark for items sold to Bitcoin-using purchasers. That happened in March.

Overstock.com even explains to its customers how to make a purchase with Bitcoin.

One bitcoin is currently valued at $510.23, according to Google Finance. That number is down from the $599.86 a bitcoin was worth on Aug. 1, but up from Aug. 18, when one was valued at $460.67.

Do you think Bitcoin will ever become a reliable global currency? Do you even consider it when making traditional coinage purchases? I'm curious as to what you think about this so please tell me in the comments!

Other virtual currency news we're interested in: 

• The Bitcoin Foundation, a trade organization supporting the virtual currency, has asked for additional public comment period in New York as officials in that state mull over potential virtual currency regulations, according to The New York Times.
• The New York Daily News reported on a new virtual currency in the Czech Republic called CzechCrownCoin.
• A family recently took a 4,400-mile road trip around the U.S. in their minivan and paid for everything with Bitcoin. They documented their entire experience in a Bitcoin Magazine blog.