Positive news about BTC

Newegg Expands Its Bitcoin Payment Option to Canadian Customers


Major computer hardware e-commerce site Newegg is now allowing Canadian customers to pay for products with bitcoin. Newegg primarily sells computer parts and consumer electronics. The majority of Neweggs’ customers are located in the United States, which has been the only group eligible to pay with Bitcoin until now. They started accepting payments in bitcoin for US customers in August 2014. Newegg has over 36 million registered users.

The company cites ‘increasing mainstream awareness of cryptocurrencies’ as the reason for the expansion of the payment option to Canada. Newegg’s CEO Danny Lee made comments about the development:

“IN 2014 NEWEGG WAS AMONG THE FIRST MAJOR COMPANIES TO OFFER CUSTOMERS A BITCOIN PAYMENT OPTION. SINCE THAT TIME THE VALUE OF BITCOIN HAS SKYROCKETED AND CUSTOMERS HOLDING BITCOIN HAVE CONSIDERABLY MORE PURCHASING POWER. WE BELIEVE THAT THE TIME IS RIGHT TO BROADEN OUR ACCEPTANCE OF BITCOIN TO CUSTOMERS IN CANADA.”

Newegg uses a third-party payment processor, BitPay, to convert coins into fiat at the time of transaction. BitPay receives a small commission fee for this service. BitPay’s CEO Stephen Pair also commented on the news, saying “We’re seeing a lot of traction in Canada, and we’re happy to see Newegg extend its bitcoin payment option north of the border.” Newegg uses BitPay’s API for creation and management of invoices, bills, refunds, and other services. They have praised BitPay for its excellent service and noted that they have provided ‘unrivaled reliability in the industry.’

The news comes as other online services have recently stopped accepting bitcoin as payment due to rising transaction fees, most notably Reddit and Stripe. Increased usage of the Bitcoin network leads to increased transaction fees. Moving forward, it will be interesting to see whether Newegg and other online retailers begin to accept cryptocurrencies besides bitcoin as payment.

Source