Start your drooling, crypto-currency aficionados: A second major online retailer now accepts Bitcoin as an alternative to good old fashioned greenbacks. TigerDirect announced Thursday that it would accept the digital currency via Bitcoin payment processor BitPay on more than 200,000 products available on the TigerDirect.com website.
Bitcoin will be accepted on the desktop and mobile versions of TigerDirect’s website, but not at physical TigerDirect shops.
TigerDirect was not the first major U.S. online retailer to start accepting Bitcoin—that distinction belongs to Overstock.com—but TigerDirect is the first major electronics retailer to hop on the Bitcoin bandwagon.
Our CEO just signed the contract http://t.co/WQpMk8In6x is NOW officially accepting #Bitcoins #TigerBitcoin pic.twitter.com/62MNkYKmTD
— TigerDirect (@TigerDirect) January 23, 2014
As a favorite online destination for PC components, TigerDirect’s vote for Bitcoin is particularly appropriate. “With individuals building their own high-powered PCs with parts offered on our site to mine Bitcoins, it’s a logical fit.” Steven Leeds, TigerDirect’s marketing chief said in the company’s announcement.
TigerDirect is also using its Bitcoin acceptance as a chance to hype its Bitcoin mining catalog, saying the company has partnered with AMD to offer a large assortment of mining-friendly graphics cards. The company is emphasizing six different graphics card it thinks would be ideal for Bitcoin mining—although Bitcoin miners are rapidly dumping GPU mining for specialized ASIC-based rigs these days.
The retailer’s Bitcoin information page also has a helpful primer on how to get started with Bitcoin mining.
I’ll leave it to you to decide whether TigerDirect’s decision to jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon is really about supporting the burgeoning currency, or simply grasping an opportunity to try and sell more graphics cards. Whatever TigerDirect’s ultimate motivations are, fans of Bitcoin now have one more online retailer where they can spend their crypto bucks.