Overstock CEO claims bitcoin sales will add 4 cents per share to year-end earnings

According to a report published today by Reuters, Overstock CEO Patrick Byrne estimates that bitcoin sales will account for 4 cents in profit per share of the company in 2014. Byrne told the news outlet that current EPS projections for the company are 75-80 cents per share, making bitcoin’s contribution far from insignificant. The company launched its bitcoin payment option in January, and Overstock currently estimates that about 0.25% of total sales, or about $2 million, have come from bitcoin payments.

Byrne told Reuters that Overstock sees an average of $15,000 in bitcoin sales every day, or around $300,000 per month. Those numbers have varied considerably over the last eight months, with the bulk of those purchases coming shortly after Overstock launched its payment option. With the holiday season around the corner, Byrne said that he expects Overstock to see around $1 million per month in BTC-backed sales by the end of the year.

“When technology comes along like crypto-currency, which can replace [traditional payments] at a far lower cost … I am all for supporting it,” Byrne told Reuters. Clearly he means it: Overstock recently extended its bitcoin-payment option to its global operation, after months of testing in the U.S.

Earlier this month, Overstock confirmed that it was planning on offering employees the option to receive their year-end bonuses in bitcoin. Byrne said last month that the company was also exploring the possibility of offering a blockchain-based digital stock offering.