Overstock CEO: Bitcoin Isn't Just A Publicity Stunt

Overstock.com’s CEO Patrick Byrne was profiled on Forbes today, speaking at length about his views on the future of Bitcoin. One of the most interesting revelations is that Byrne personally cashed out “several million dollars worth” of gold to convert to Bitcoin. This appears to directly contradict speculation that Overstock and other companies were adopting Bitcoin largely as a publicity stunt.

I’m holding it like I hold gold. I want a robust safety net as things play out. I’ve always had misgivings about fiat currencies. Gold was the answer but it doesn’t translate as well in the digital age,” [Byrne] says.”

Byrne certainly talks the talk of the Bitcoin faithful. He’s even considering using Bitcoin as an internal payment system, rather than fiat, which would be an industry first if deployed on such a large scale.

I want to be able to pay vendors and employees in Bitcoin too if they choose,” says Byrne. “I’m doing this because I want to further the cause of Bitcoin.”

Forbes writer Kashmir Hill notes that Byrne isn’t limiting his view to just Bitcoin, either.

And not just Bitcoin, but all stateless cryptocurrency. Byrne says he wants to accept other alt-coins, such as Litecoin, as soon as cryptocurrency payment processors add them to their rolls. Representatives from Coinbase and Bitpay said they have no plans to do that anytime soon.”

The profile also claims that Overstock.com is nearing $1 million in total Bitcoin sales since launching the payment option just over a month ago.