Which e-commerce company was the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin payments?

The e-commerce company that became the first major retailer to accept Bitcoin payments was Overstock.com.

Overstock.com began accepting Bitcoin for merchandise on January 9, 2014, making it an early milestone in mainstream cryptocurrency adoption. The company worked with Coinbase to process the payments, allowing customers to use Bitcoin while Overstock could receive the proceeds in conventional currency.

The launch generated immediate attention: during its first 22 hours, Overstock reportedly received more than 800 Bitcoin orders worth about US$126,000. That figure was small compared with the company’s ordinary daily sales, but it demonstrated that a large online retailer was willing to integrate cryptocurrency into normal checkout operations.

Several other recognizable retailers followed in 2014, including TigerDirect, Newegg, and Dell, which explains why those names can look plausible in a quiz. They were later adopters, however. “First major retailer” refers to Overstock’s 2014 launch, not to the first merchant of any size ever to accept Bitcoin. Small businesses and online services had accepted Bitcoin earlier.