Expedia, one of the world’s largest online travel agencies, has announced that they will begin accepting Bitcoin payment transactions.
It will limit the payments to hotel bookings initially and will only be available to those using the US version of their online store during its trial of the new payment service.
Bitcoin payments are already accepted by other, smaller online travel companies such as Travel Keys and CheapAir, but Expedia is the first company of its size to adopt Bitcoin.
A statement released by Expedia yesterday included Michael Gulmann, Vice President of Expedia Global Product, saying:
“We’re continually looking at ways consumers want to pay for their travel; bitcoin is a great example of how Expedia is investing early in an array of payment options to give our customers and partners more choice in the ways they interact with us.”
The Bitcoin currency has encountered much controversy, particularly during the past 6 months where there have been several cases of Bitcoin exchanges being hacked and hundreds of thousands of bitcoins being stolen.
This move by Expedia is expected to bring the digital currency back into the mainstream again in a positive light, encouraging its acceptance by the public.
