Overstock.com becomes the first major U.S. company to pay taxes in bitcoin

In November of 2018, Ohio has officially become the first U.S. state to accept business tax payments in bitcoin. For the convenience of taxpayers, the state government has even launched a special tax payment platform, called OhioCrypto.com. According to the state legislators, the service is planned to be later expanded to individual taxes as well. In the meantime, more and more businesses take advantage of the innovation.

Overstock.com has officially become the first major U.S. company to pay a portion of its business taxes in bitcoin, according to the company’s official press release on January 3rd. Patrick M. Byrne, Overstock.com CEO, embraced the innovative move by the state government, explaining that adoption of crypto within tax payments is one of the best moves to ensure the U.S. wouldn’t be left behind in cryptocurrency adoption.

“We are proud to partner with forward-thinking governments and officials like Ohio and Treasurer Mandel to help usher in an era of trust through technology for our nation’s essential financial systems,” added Byrne.

Overstock.com started its partnership with the blockchain and crypto industry long before this tax season. In fact, they were the first major U.S. company to accept cryptocurrency payments for their merchandise, back in 2014. Additionally, later that same year the company founded its blockchain arm called Medici Ventures, aimed at further developing applications of blockchain.

With the New York state bill on cryptocurrencies signed by the governor late last month, and the recently formed first U.S. Cryptocurrency Task Force, a lot of industry experts anticipate that New York will become next to adopt crypto on a state level, with others to follow.