Recent events which have generated tremendous confidence in the future of what had spent most of last year as a precarious and risky means of either losing vast sums of capital or committing illicit commercial activities have spurred a renewed interest in Bitcoin from large corporations, regulatory authorities and venture capital investors.
The latest in a line of large companies to seek the virtues of the virtual currency is Dell, the world’s third largest computer hardware vendor, which has followed in the footsteps of many North American retailers as it prepares to accept Bitcoin as a method of payment online.
In recent months businesses including Expedia and Overstock.com have started to accept Bitcoin, many of which have opted to use the payment processor start-up Coinbase. But Dell is by far the largest company to have made the move so far, potentially dragging the crypto-currency closer towards mainstream adoption.
Dell, which has an annual revenue of around $57 billion, made its intentions clear via employee Laura Thomas who made the announcement in a blog post on the company website, saying that it was “excited to bring you the choice and flexibility this payment option offers”.
The company’s website also lists some benefits of using crypto-currencies: “Bitcoin payments can be made easily from anywhere in the world, and offer reduced payment processing costs. “You have complete control over your Bitcoin, so your Bitcoin account isn’t tied to any financial institutions, can’t be frozen and carries lower transaction fees than most major credit cards,” the statement continues.
When this service becomes available, it will be reserved solely to customers in the United States, and although the company has not announced any plans to expand it to other regions, the move by Dell further reinforces the widely held perspective in the United States that Bitcoin is a method of conducting business, encouraging business and forming new innovations in methods of payment.