http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/05/29/for-bitcoin-a-tasty-dish/Dish Network, the big U.S. satellite TV company, announced this morning that it will add bitcoin as a payment option for its subscribers, beginning in July, becoming what appears to be the biggest company yet to signal its adoption of the cryptocurrency.
It’s not likely that all 14 million Dish subscribers are going to rush into their account pages and switch to bitcoin. Like most bitcoin-related things, this is a move with an eye on the future. “Bitcoin is becoming a preferred way for some people to transact and we want to accommodate those individuals,” the company said in a press release. It’s a cautious statement, really, when you break it down: “some people” and “those individuals” aren’t exactly gushing praise.
Still, Dish joins a growing number of merchants that accept digital currencies. BitPay, one of the big processing-services providers, has 30,000 merchants that use its services, and announced on Tuesday it is processing more than $1 million a day in payments. Coinbase, another big processor, has more than 31,000 merchants, including the Chicago Sun-Times, the Sacramento Kings – and now Dish Network.
It’s a notable but not overwhelming piece of news. Think of it this way: If bitcoiners are building a Yellow Brick Road, then this Dish Network news is one more brick in that road. The Emerald City, though, remains off on the horizon (assuming the city represents widespread, mainstream adoption; if you’re a cryptoanarchist, this news has a completely different connotation.) Bitcoin prices didn’t move on the news: the price is actually down about 2% on Thursday around $563, according to CoinDesk.
What follows is a comparison of some other big companies to take the cryptocurrency. (Note that we’re providing sales figures here to illustrate the size of the companies; those are not bitcoin sales.)
Dish Network. Beginning in July, Dish Network’s 14 million subscribers will have the option to pay their subscription fees with bitcoin. Dish’s current market cap is about $27.2 billion, and its 2013 revenue was $13.9 billion.
Overstock.com. Overstock adopted bitcoin as a payment method in December 2013, becoming the first big retailer to do so. The company has a $368 million market cap and had 2013 revenue of $1.3 billion. Patrick Byrne, the company’s CEO, said on Fox Business on Tuesday the company has sold more than $1.6 million worth of goods in bitcoin so far.
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Virgin Galactic. Sir Richard Branson announced in November 2013 that his space tourism company would accept bitcoin. Now, on the one hand, Virgin Galactic is part of Sir Richard’s sprawling Virgin Group, which had north of $24 billion in revenue in 2012. That’s big.
On the other hand, Virgin Galactic is the only part of that sprawling conglomerate that is taking bitcoin – and has sold only a few tickets via bitcoin.
Etsy. The online arts-and-craft marketplace has had a bitcoin option for its merchants since at least 2011. The site’s overall revenue topped $1 billion in 2013.
Gyft. The online service that allows users to buy gift-cards started taking bitcoin about a year ago.
Square. A payment system itself, Square starting offering a bitcoin option for it merchants in March.
McLaughlin & Stern. Dish wasn’t the only going concern to make a bitcoin announcement on Thursday. The New York law firm McLaughlin & Stern announced it will accept bitcoin as payment, becoming one of the first big-time law firms to do so.
