Dive Brief:

• Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne told the Financial Times that his company will begin accepting bitcoin payments in 2014.
• The company would be the first major retailer in the U.S. to start accepting the currency, which has generated controversy and headline-grabbing fluctuations in value in 2013.

Dive Insight:

Countries and companies across the globe have been reluctant to give their blessings to bitcoins, but Overstock would join OKCupid and an assortment of other sites that have agreed to give it a try. Bitcoins represent a non-traditional currency that trades internationally and anonymously without being backed by physical assets.