Dell starts accepting Bitcoin for online purchases from consumers and small businesses in the US

Dell today announced it has started accepting Bitcoin for all items available on Dell.com (including Alienware products). The company says it is “piloting” the digital currency for consumer and small business shoppers in the US; presumably if the test goes well, the option will be expanded internationally.

Dell teamed up with Bitcoin payment processor Coinbase to provide the new payment option. Dell touted the two managed to add Bitcoin support to Dell.com in just 14 days while Coinbase declared that Dell is “the largest ecommerce company to officially accept Bitcoin, with nearly $60 billion in annual sales.”

Paying with Bitcoin on Dell.com can be done in three steps:

1. When you’re ready to make a purchase, just add your items to your cart, fill out your shipping details and choose Bitcoin as your payment method. When you submit your order, you’ll be taken to Coinbase.com to complete your purchase.
2. From here, you can choose to pay directly from your bitcoin wallet by using the generated payment address or by scanning the QR code with your smartphone. Or, if you have a Coinbase account, you can log in and send payment directly.
3. Once your payment has been processed, you’ll be returned to Dell.com for order confirmation. It’s as simple as that!

For those who don’t know, Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, currently the most-widely used alternative to common forms of money. Because it has no central issuer, unlike credit cards and PayPal, it has no single authority and thus no way to lock out entire countries out of the network.

Dell offers its own introduction:

Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer network offering a payment system based on a completely digital currency. Bitcoin payments can be made easily from anywhere in the world, and offer reduced payment processing costs. Bitcoins can be transferred instantly and securely between any two people in the world.

To celebrate the move, Dell is offering a promotion to save customers 10 percent off a new Alienware system (up to $150 limit) when checking out with Bitcoin. Not exactly a crazy deal (the limit seems unnecessary), but it certainly won’t hurt.

See also – TigerDirect now accepts Bitcoin, claims to be first major US electronics retailer and largest company to do so and Square now lets sellers accept Bitcoin on their own storefronts

Top Image Credit: zcopley/Flickr