Overstock Offers It's Staff The Option To Be Paid In Bitcoin

[Jordan23]

Overstock.com employees have a new option when it comes to their paychecks: bitcoin.

The online discount retailer announced Friday that it will give employees the option of being paid in the digital currency — a sign of continuing support for bitcoin from Overstock. Almost exactly a year ago, the company announced it would be accepting bitcoin as a form of payment on its website, and in the release today Overstock said more than $3 million worth of Bitcoin purchases have been made to date.

Allowing employees to receive their salaries in bitcoin will be a step toward making the currency more mainstream, said CEO Patrick Byrne. In fact, the company is taking another step: it’s installing a bitcoin ATM in its Salt Lake City, Utah, headquarters.

“Moving cryptocurrencies out of the realm of geeks and into the realm of the rest of us requires making changes at all levels of the financial ecosystem,” Byrne said in a release. “An important part of this effort is making digital money ATM accessible.”

The ATM will be available to the public too, allowing users to convert U.S. dollars into bitcoin, and vice-versa. It will be open 24 hours a day.

Bitcoin is becoming increasingly popular for retailers, with major companies such as Microsoft  MSFT -0.84%  and Fortune publisher Time Inc.  TIME -0.40%  announcing in recent months that they’ll be accepting the cryptocurrency.

This is a far cry from the early days of the bitcoin craze, when the currency was largely linked with the now-shut down “Silk Road,” which was allegedly used to sell drugs and other illicit items.


http://fortune.com/2015/01/09/overstock-com-offers-its-staff-the-option-of-being-paid-in-bitcoin/

[OgNasty]

Finally!


I always wanted to post this gif.

[gjgjg]

i hope we get follow up info on how many take them up on the offer...

could be a smart ploy to get staff to spend more wages in store lol like bar tenders who get one free drink after work ;p

[Remember remember the 5th of November]

i hope we get follow up info on how many take them up on the offer...

could be a smart ploy to get staff to spend more wages in store lol like bar tenders who get one free drink after work ;p

My guess? None. The price is too volatile right now for this.

[Braedo]

Now we have two big players allowing their staff to acceptBTC as their salary. I doubt the price will move from this news but it's another push in the right direction.

[flipstyle]

That's quite cool.  But nobody in their right mind (keyword: right) would take that offer right now unless they plan to spend or convert it immediately, lol. 

[knight22]

i hope we get follow up info on how many take them up on the offer...

could be a smart ploy to get staff to spend more wages in store lol like bar tenders who get one free drink after work ;p

My guess? None. The price is too volatile right now for this.

I'm not so sure about that 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2rw5iy/my_work_installed_this_kiosk_this_morning/

[knight22]

That's quite cool.  But nobody in their right mind (keyword: right) would take that offer right now unless they plan to spend or convert it immediately, lol.  

I'm converting some of my salary in bitcoin since I can mitigate volatility risks using https://bitreserve.org

[freedomno1]

Another good reason to visit Salt Lake City Utah
That said its nice they are offering Bitcoin to their employees a good call.

[cryptworld]

these are great news!

it is really good to see these big companies involving bitcoin in their structures, this way they make feel they see that bitcoin is a revolutionary technology

[cryptosky]

nice news
 it seems that this company has made a hard bet on bitcoin

[Chef Ramsay]

I assume that there's an option to be able to get a % of one's paycheck in bitcoin rather than the whole thing as this would make the most sense for those looking to test the waters. Kind of like the option to add to one's 401k every check yet keeping the bulk of it in fiat to pay certain monthly and weekly bills until these said bills can be paid in bitcoin altogether. Perhaps the next step would be for O-stock to match employees up to a certain % if they were to put a portion into bitcoin and hold it for X amount of time. It's like a way for the employer to look out for the future finances of their employees even if they aren't savvy enough to do so, like bribing.

[lyth0s]

I assume that there's an option to be able to get a % of one's paycheck in bitcoin rather than the whole thing as this would make the most sense for those looking to test the waters. Kind of like the option to add to one's 401k every check yet keeping the bulk of it in fiat to pay certain monthly and weekly bills until these said bills can be paid in bitcoin altogether. Perhaps the next step would be for O-stock to match employees up to a certain % if they were to put a portion into bitcoin and hold it for X amount of time. It's like a way for the employer to look out for the future finances of their employees even if they aren't savvy enough to do so, like bribing.

Yeah it appears that one overstock employee is going to start with 5% of his salary in bitcoin, so I assume they have that as an option: http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2rw5iy/my_work_installed_this_kiosk_this_morning/

[Q7]

That's great news indeed! There was a post where Amagi Metals did the same to offer options for their staff to get paid in bitcoin and now, it's Overstock. It's good to see we are making progress, step-by-step towards more adoption.

[steelhouse]

i hope we get follow up info on how many take them up on the offer...

could be a smart ploy to get staff to spend more wages in store lol like bar tenders who get one free drink after work ;p

My guess? None. The price is too volatile right now for this.

This is when to buy when the crowd is scared.

[Comic Book Coin]

Wow, that's very interesting. It doesn't really matter if it is just a gimmick or that few (may) take them up on it. It is still a good signal!

[gjgjg]

Now we have two big players allowing their staff to acceptBTC as their salary. I doubt the price will move from this news but it's another push in the right direction.

in terms of news, i think large price moves from now on will only be achieved by something monumental, like a new territory buying into it - viral style or an official adoption by a nation/government or bank.
last time good news moved the market in a big way was 2013. if MS adoption only causes a tiny bump, were now swimming with the technical trading sharks waiting for them to move price...



PS getting part of your paycheck is an option for everyone right now, you dont need to wait for an employer or get approval from the bank:
https://www.bitwage.co/

[knight22]

Now we have two big players allowing their staff to acceptBTC as their salary. I doubt the price will move from this news but it's another push in the right direction.

in terms of news, i think large price moves from now on will only be achieved by something monumental, like a new territory buying into it - viral style or an official adoption by a nation/government or bank.
last time good news moved the market in a big way was 2013. if MS adoption only causes a tiny bump, were now swimming with the technical trading sharks waiting for them to move price...



PS getting part of your paycheck is an option for everyone right now, you dont need to wait for an employer or get approval from the bank:
https://www.bitwage.co/

Not for everyone though, bitwage.co only works for US employers at the moment...

[Guido]

no wonder Patrick Byrne is such a winner.
he just goes full bore into everything, up to his nuts

what a legend. beat cancer three times too

[botany]

That's quite cool.  But nobody in their right mind (keyword: right) would take that offer right now unless they plan to spend or convert it immediately, lol. 

I guess people could take up this offer instead of starting an SIP in Bitcoin.