TigerDirect is Now Accepting Bitcoin As Payment

By Jane McEntegart
published

TigerDirect is joining up with BitPay to accept Bitcoin.

Between wallet services, ATMs, and mining hardware, you'd have to be blind to miss the Bitcoin trend at CES 2014. Butterfly Labs, a company that specializes in mining hardware, even teamed up with BitPay, which helps merchants adopt the new currency, even forked over the cash for a nice looking booth at the show.

The digital currency continues to thrive outside of the world's biggest consumer electronics show, too. This week, TigerDirect became the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. The company will now be accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment on over 200,000 of its products via BitPay.

"TigerDirect has always been on the forefront of alternative online payment methods and delivering the most convenient ways for our customers to shop,” says Steven Leeds, Director of Corporate Marketing at TigerDirect. "With individuals building their own high-powered PCs with parts offered on our site to mine Bitcoins, it's a logical fit."

Though it may seem like a logical fit, users hoping to mine Bitcoin as a means of funding their next build are likely going to be disappointed. With the value of Bitcoin where it is, mining any meaningful amount on money takes a while. If you want Bitcoin right away, your best bet is to buy it, a process that's never been easier, especially if you're lucky enough to have a Bitcoin ATM near you.

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Jane McEntegart
25 Comments Comment from the forums
  • danwat1234
    It's a far better use of computing resources to crunch for Folding@Home or other worthy distributed computing projects to help science. bits of coins becomes less valuable over time I believe, so more hardware is needed to generate as much income and it's all just a waste of electricity as far as the benefits to humanity.
    Reply
  • pills161
    "TigerDirect became the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.", correction, Overstock.com was the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin.
    Reply
  • wdmfiber
    "TigerDirect became the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.", correction, Overstock.com was the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin.
    Never heard of overstock, let alone made a purchase from them.Sorry pills, they're far from major.
    Reply
  • chumly
    It's a far better use of computing resources to crunch for Folding@Home or other worthy distributed computing projects to help science. bits of coins becomes less valuable over time I believe, so more hardware is needed to generate as much income and it's all just a waste of electricity as far as the benefits to humanity.
    Getting rid of banks is a priority. The current monetary exchange system is so entirely obfuscated that no individual alive can begin to tell you how it works. There is no help for the little man in the equation. A completely open money system is the way to go. Granted, proof-of-work derived from energy suction is a little irresponsible. You should look into solar coin. The pay out coins for proof-of-work in the form of you showing them your physical energy offset, basically, they give you coins based on the amount of energy you make.Despite the electrical cost, the benefits of the crypto exchange system far exceed that of its counterpart. Just the fact that you don't have to worry about distribution any longer. There will be no production cost. Valuable resources can be diverted.Furthermore, IT'S DRIVING TECHNOLOGY.Bitcoin mining efficiency with ASIC technology is exponential. ASICs for non SHA-256 coins, based on FPGAs are coming out soon as well.People are figuring a way around the electricity problems posed by CPU/GPU mining. This is amazing. They are creating a market and jobs and developing new technology faster than anyone could have hoped.There are far worse things that people waste energy on: cars making left turns.
    Reply
  • cyiwin
    Though it may seem like a logical fit, users hoping to mine Bitcoin as a means of funding their next build are likely going to be disappointed. With the value of Bitcoin where it is, mining any meaningful amount on money takes a while.

    People won't make money mining bitcoin from Tiger Direct purchases, they will make money mining Scrypt coins like Litecoin.
    Reply
  • west7
    this great better start minig now
    Reply
  • lp231
    Looks like their desperate to make some sales?
    Reply
  • Grandmastersexsay
    I don't see bitcoins replacing the major fiat currencies. Unfortunate in a way, as the stability and economic boon that would result from the worldwide adoption of a currency not controlled by private central banks would be immense. The value of a currency is directly tied to man's faith in that currency. It is just too hard to have faith in something without a physical presence.
    Reply
  • Grandmastersexsay
    I don't see bitcoins replacing the major fiat currencies. Unfortunate in a way, as the stability and economic boon that would result from the worldwide adoption of a currency not controlled by private central banks would be immense. The value of a currency is directly tied to man's faith in that currency. It is just too hard to have faith in something without a physical presence.
    Reply
  • megiv
    I don't see bitcoins replacing the major fiat currencies. Unfortunate in a way, as the stability and economic boon that would result from the worldwide adoption of a currency not controlled by private central banks would be immense. The value of a currency is directly tied to man's faith in that currency. It is just too hard to have faith in something without a physical presence.
    Do you think your money got physical presence? think again.Your money is just a line in your bank's database. It's digital money, just like bit coin. The difference is that it's centralized and fully controlled by your bank, unlike bit coin.And if you are talking about these coins and papers you call cash, then FYI - you can print bit coin on paper, and it will still be encrypted (unlike your fiat cash).
    Reply