Crypto Future of E-Commerce Is in The Hands of Asian Players

In January 2014, Overstock.com, an online retailer led by a "Scourge of Wall Street" and crypto enthusiast Patrick Byrne, became the first large stock company to accept Bitcoin.

Curiously, the pioneering transition for Bitcoin's integration into mainstream e-commerce was somewhat accidental: In December 2013, Byrne mentioned to a journalist that his company might start accepting Bitcoin.

Back in 2013, a Canada-based e-commerce platform for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems called Shopify announced a Bitcoin payment option for its sellers.

In July 2014, Shopify expanded its crypto integration by announcing a partnership with Coinbase: "Coinbase offers a two-click checkout experience and simple refunds that make accepting Bitcoin payments easy and convenient. All Shopify merchants can currently use Coinbase to accept Bitcoin and anyone with a U.S. bank account can convert their Bitcoin to USD.".

Shopify website mentions that "Unlike processing credit cards, Bitcoin payments have low to no fees," while frauds and chargebacks are allegedly non-existent due to the nature of blockchain.

In November 2013, Calabasas-based company CheapAir.com became the first online travel agency in the world to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for flight tickets.

Cheapair.com's CEO stressed that Bitcoin might make the transaction between the company and customers cheaper, albeit on their end: "Consumers don't know this, but there's a three percent cost embedded into everything you buy. Bitcoin does not have those. The transaction fees are much lower."

In June 2014, Expedia.com, a travel booking website owned by U.S.-based Expedia Group, joined the ranks of crypto-friendly businesses by announcing it would accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for hotel bookings, also via a partnership with Coinbase.

Interestingly, the Coinbase move could also be the reason why Expedia quietly stopped accepting Bitcoin circa June 10.Chinese approach: Blockchain over Bitcoin.

In late August 2018, Rakuten revealed a 265 million yen deal to acquire domestic crypto exchange Everybody's Bitcoin.