Dell Becomes the Largest E-Commerce Merchant To Accept Bitcoin


DellBitcoinBitcoin is a software-based payment system introduced back in 2009. Payments work peer-to-peer without a central repository or single administrator (Wikipedia). On Friday, Michael Dell used Twitter to announce that it will allow customers to use Bitcoin to make purchases on its website. This makes Dell the biggest retailer yet to accept the virtual currency. Dell is the third largest PC seller in the world with yearly revenue of $57 billion. Dell spokesman David Frink says, “We put this together quickly as a result of listening to our customers. It’s another way for customers to have a relationship with Dell”.

DellBitcoin1Among the benefits of using crypto-currencies, Bitcoin offers the convenience of being able to make online purchases from anywhere in the world with zero or low payment processing costs. Buying digital with digital will also give consumers an additional 10 percent discount on all Alienware-brand products bought with Bitcoin. The company is partnering with Coinbase, an international digital wallet that allows consumers and businesses to securely buy, use, and accept Bitcoin currency, to handle its transactions on the Bitcoin network. Coinbase currently has about 35,000 merchants. It was reported that Coinbase reached out to Dell few months back regarding this proposition. Dell reached back two weeks ago.

DellBitcoin2Bitcoin payment options will be available on the Dell website in the next two weeks, says the company. As of Monday, it has been confirmed that the option will only be available to U.S. customers. Dell’s decision comes right after a boom of other major companies that have recently began accepting Bitcoin through Coinbase, such as Overstock.com, Expedia, and Dish Network. Dell’s move could pave the way for other large retailers to ride the Bitcoin train. It is only a matter of time before it’s widely adopted as a viable form of payment.

Topics: Technology News Dell Inventions & Innovations

Join the conversation!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.