[2017-07-17] Overstock Chairman: It’s ‘Crazy’ More Retailers Don’t Accept Bitcoi

[Terraformer]

Champion of Bitcoin in the online retail space Overstock.com is flummoxed that the adoption of Bitcoin in their marketplace has regressed rather than exploded with the digital currency boom.


Jonathan Johnson, chairman of the board at Overstock, has said it is ‘crazy’ that more retailers are not accepting Bitcoin as his company continues to see growth in digital currency transactions in their store.

In recent research, brought out by banking group Morgan Stanley, it was found that since last year, the boom in Bitcoin’s price, as well as its move into the mass market, has actually regressed the adoption of the digital currency for the top online retailers.

There are currently only three retailers in the world’s top 500 that accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, with Overstock.com being one of them. This figure is actually down from 2016 when the number sat at five.

The disparity between the merchant acceptance of Bitcoin and its rapid rise to be a major player in digital currencies, ideal for online retailers, has been hard to explain and has confused traditional institutions such as Morgan Stanley.

More = http://bitcoinist.com/overstock-chariman-retail-bitcoin/

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[Vishnu.Reang]

The Overstock guys were not happy when the exchange rates were hovering at around $200 per coin in 2016. More so, because they were keeping around 10% of all their Bitcoin revenue in cold storage. But now they will be in green and quite happy about the decision to accept BTC.

[Kprawn]

He makes a good point... people who are not familiar with payment processors will think the Bitcoin volatility is too much of a hassle. They do not

know that ALL payment received, can be converted to cash instantly, without you losing a cent on volatility. I am glad to see that Overstock has

increase the percentage of coins that they keep in Bitcoin. { Coins that are not converted to cash } 

[richardsNY]

It's not crazy at all. Main point of importance is that people aren't looking to spend their coins in the same way as they are doing with fiat. That alone is already a big factor that doesn't incentivize merchants to bother diving into the Bitcoin river. Another important aspect is the lack of knowledge from the side of merchants, as has also been pointed out by above post. Merchants think they will be exposed to the high level of volatility, and thus potentially lose at the time the price goes down. But seriously, aside from a few geeks, no one really cares that there aren't more merchants accepting Bitcoin as payment solution....

[cleavey]

It's not crazy at all. Main point of importance is that people aren't looking to spend their coins in the same way as they are doing with fiat. That alone is already a big factor that doesn't incentivize merchants to bother diving into the Bitcoin river. Another important aspect is the lack of knowledge from the side of merchants, as has also been pointed out by above post. Merchants think they will be exposed to the high level of volatility, and thus potentially lose at the time the price goes down. But seriously, aside from a few geeks, no one really cares that there aren't more merchants accepting Bitcoin as payment solution....

I spend Bitcoin on computer hardware, which luckily is catered for, doesn't seem viable for small purchases though. I'd do a fortnightly grocery shop with BTC as long as the fee isn't too high, can't see that being an option anytime soon though. The only "problem" with multiple currency options is for the consumer, the onus is on them to pick the one that is best for them at the time (if there is volatility at time of purchase).

[richardsNY]

The only "problem" with multiple currency options is for the consumer, the onus is on them to pick the one that is best for them at the time (if there is volatility at time of purchase).

When it comes to online shopping, Bitcoin and basically any other crypto currencies might be a decent option in case people don't have a credit/debit card or PayPal. But in terms of local shopping, it's pointless to even consider using crypto. I can buy anything online and offline in an instant at any time, plus I enjoy buyers protection and insurance on top of that. Best of all, no transaction costs are involved. In order to make it worthwhile for people to take crypto seriously as payment solution, it has to offer an equal form of convenience and usability, and exactly that is something that I can't see become reality.

[iram1011]

It's not crazy at all. Main point of importance is that people aren't looking to spend their coins in the same way as they are doing with fiat. That alone is already a big factor that doesn't incentivize merchants to bother diving into the Bitcoin river. Another important aspect is the lack of knowledge from the side of merchants, as has also been pointed out by above post. Merchants think they will be exposed to the high level of volatility, and thus potentially lose at the time the price goes down. But seriously, aside from a few geeks, no one really cares that there aren't more merchants accepting Bitcoin as payment solution....

Bitcoin has limited supply and there is a surge in demand which qualifies it as deflationary currency, however, it is not but has inbuilt deflation. This make people consider bitcoin as a investment asset rather than a currency. so, people doesn't really use Bitcoin for everyday transactions instead of its inflationary counterpart, fiat. There is very small percentage of people who are wiling to spend their Bitcoin on everyday things. Thus, if merchants aren't accepting Bitcoin, they ARE not in anyway encountering any specific kind of loss for not accepting Bitcoin. And all the hassle (transaction time, volatility) added to that.

[tspacepilot]

[There are currently only three retailers in the world’s top 500 that accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, with Overstock.com being one of them. This figure is actually down from 2016 when the number sat at five.

Does anyone know who the other two are?

[buwaytress]

The only issue I have (it's just a small one perhaps) is how sites like these champion Bitcoin but actually only accept Bitcoin through a payment processor like Coinbase (which is what Overstock does). To me, what merchants like these actually they mean is, they only accept fiat but they provide a way for you to exchange your Bitcoin to fiat via their 3rd party (Coinbase pays merchants in fiat after converting the bitcoins you pay).

That's like a shop telling you: oh, of course we accept any currency you want to use, but please pay through the moneychanger next door.

Of course there are added costs to that. That's my beef.

[Netnox]

Overstock was perhaps the first international online retail site to accept Bitcoin, and its CEO was one of the most ardent supporters of the crypto-currency ever since 2013. They will be in a good deal of profit now, due to the price rise of BTC.

[MeridianMDN]

Champion of Bitcoin in the online retail space Overstock.com is flummoxed that the adoption of Bitcoin in their marketplace has regressed rather than exploded with the digital currency boom.


Jonathan Johnson, chairman of the board at Overstock, has said it is ‘crazy’ that more retailers are not accepting Bitcoin as his company continues to see growth in digital currency transactions in their store.

In recent research, brought out by banking group Morgan Stanley, it was found that since last year, the boom in Bitcoin’s price, as well as its move into the mass market, has actually regressed the adoption of the digital currency for the top online retailers.

There are currently only three retailers in the world’s top 500 that accept Bitcoin as a form of payment, with Overstock.com being one of them. This figure is actually down from 2016 when the number sat at five.

The disparity between the merchant acceptance of Bitcoin and its rapid rise to be a major player in digital currencies, ideal for online retailers, has been hard to explain and has confused traditional institutions such as Morgan Stanley.

More = http://bitcoinist.com/overstock-chariman-retail-bitcoin/

Not surprising actually.

I guess the 'idea' of Bitcoin being 'just a currency' had to be applied practically before we could gauge whether or not this was true.

For some reason, I feel that most retailers aren't seeing any specific reason to adopt bitcoin in much the same way as they do not see any reason to begin to accept nuggets of gold as payment for goods.. or apple shares as payment for goods.

Even though there are companies out there that will process these bitcoin payments, and convert them instantly into fiat to avoid slippage - most retailers are still scared to adopt this new technology.

They are frightened by the ability of bitcoin to gain and/or shed 10% of it's value within a time span of only 24 hours.

This is a very frightening concept for retailers, and they seem not to be put at ease even though there are bitcoin payment processing firms out there that provide instant, point of sale conversion to fiat - which actually negates risk.

Never the less, the value of bitcoin continues to grow.

For some strange reason, I don't believe that bitcoin requires massive retailer adoption to continue to succeed and grow.

In the future, Person to Person transactions may prove to be much more important than Person to Business transactions - as such, bitcoin and the other digital assets will continue on this non-permission seeking path to continued growth

[1Referee]

That's like a shop telling you: oh, of course we accept any currency you want to use, but please pay through the moneychanger next door.

It's a normal thing I guess. After all, we can't blame merchants for making Bitcoin payments possible through whatever third party payment processor. It's the volatility they mainly try to avoid, and also the fact that they mostly aren't interested in Bitcoin at all. It's just a way to *potentially* increase their revenue. Just look at things from this point -> if there weren't any third party payment processors such as Coinbase, or BitPay, 99.9% of the merchants wouldn't even consider adding Bitcoin as payment option.

[buwaytress]

That's like a shop telling you: oh, of course we accept any currency you want to use, but please pay through the moneychanger next door.

It's a normal thing I guess. After all, we can't blame merchants for making Bitcoin payments possible through whatever third party payment processor. It's the volatility they mainly try to avoid, and also the fact that they mostly aren't interested in Bitcoin at all. It's just a way to *potentially* increase their revenue. Just look at things from this point -> if there weren't any third party payment processors such as Coinbase, or BitPay, 99.9% of the merchants wouldn't even consider adding Bitcoin as payment option.

Oh, I totally get it, which is why I recognise that this is my personal beef. What I'm saying is that I don't consider this true adoption, as this type of merchant isn't keeping any Bitcoin value from customers at all, merely exchanging the value. I wouldn't be able to say that top 10 retailers in the world accept my local currency (Malaysian ringgit) because I can use Visa/Mastercard/Paypal to transfer a USD value to them, nor would a retailer announce that they proudly accept Malaysian ringgit as payment if I pay through Visa/Mastercard/Paypal.

I know it's semantics, but yeah

This point is also important to consider when viewing actual adoption rates in the retail industry.

[spoon-bender]

I get paid a salary in bitcoin.  I would prefer to hodl all of it, but I have expenses.  When I see stores that accept bitcoin I prefer them over stores that force me to convert.  Capital gains tax is avoidable if you buy stuff priced in bitcoin.