Accounting Issues Related to Accepting Bitcoins

COMPANY HISTORY On January 9, 2014 Overstock.com started accepting Bitcoin as payment (Metz, 2014). The initial day indicated that accepting Bitcoins could lead to significant new business for Overstock. The success of the rollout can be seen from the following tweet from the CEO of Overstock.com, Partick M. Byrne: "#Bitcoin's first full day on @overstock.com was a huge success: 840 orders, $130,000 in sales. Almost all new customers. #stunned." More than $5,000 in sales occurred within the first thirty minutes of Overstock.com's acceptance of Bitcoins. The first full month brought continued success with over $870,000 in sales stemming from 4,000 orders. (Hill, 2014) "For Byrne, a rather opinionated libertarian who's unafraid to take his company places others fear to tread, embracing the cryptocurrency is as much a political statement as a business decision. Like so many others, he believes Bitcoin can break the world from the control of big banks and big government. It helps us fight the machine he said" (Wired). According to Forbes.com, to further demonstrate his optimism for Bitcoins Byrne recently, "cashed in several million dollars worth of gold" for the digital currency. In addition, Byrne has publicly stated an interest in paying his vendors as well as his employees in Bitcoins in the future if they so choose. Byrne started Overstock.com in 1999 and the company went public with an IPO in 2002. The company is an online retailer, based out of Salt Lake City, Utah that specializes in selling excess inventory discount prices. With diverse product offerings ranging from clothing, furniture, and fine jewelry to automobiles, the Consumer Usage Report rated Overstock.com as one of the five most visited mass merchandiser websites. Overstock prides itself on its high level of customer service, with the NRF/Foundation/American Express Customer Choice Awards ranking Overstock.com in the Top 10 in customer service among all U.S. retailers. The company currently has nearly 1,300 employees and offers nearly one million products at prices that have saved Overstock customers millions of dollars. In the most recent year, Overstock reported more than $1 billion in revenue, up from $1.1 million at the company's inception. Byrne feels that the decision of Overstock.com to accept Bitcoin could help Overstock.com compete against other online retailers such as Amazon, in the $60 billion market. (Murphy, 2014) "Yes, I actually think that this forces the hand of Amazon and some other big players. They have to follow suit. You will see them follow suit. I'll be stunned if you don't, because they can't just cede that part of the market to us, if we're the only main, large retail site taking Bitcoin, Either they have to start taking it, or they're just giving away a piece of the market." Forbes (Phillips, 2014). In addition, the strategic decision appears to be attracting a different clientele to Overstock.com, which could ultimately increase market share. A recent list of the top 25 products customers have bought with Bitcoins differs greatly from the top 25 products purchased by all Overstock.com customers during the same time period. For example, sheets were the most prevalent purchase for customers paying with Bitcoins, while area rugs were the most common purchase for all Overstock.com customers. Only a few products made both lists. The most common products purchased with Bitcoins includes: cell phone accessories, A/V accessories, appliances, computer accessories, computers, men's shoes, hard drives, bedroom furniture, keyboards & mice, and men's watches. Byrne describes his rationale for Overstock.com's acceptance of Bitcoins. He states, "We are on a crazy strategy with our central bank. It's good to have alternative ecosystems. It's not that the dollar will go away, but we need other options if it crashes or wildly inflates." Former U.S. Congressman and Presidential Candidate, Ron Paul has a stronger opinion, telling CNNMoney, "There will alternatives to the dollar, and this might be one of them. …