Global ecommerce provider Digital River now accepting Bitcoin via Coinbase

The Minneapolis-based global Commerce-as-a-Service solutions provider Digital River announced this morning the addition of a Bitcoin payment option for merchants that are selling online in the US using its small to mid-sized commerce solution.

“Bitcoin will now be available along with other international payment options, such as credit and debit cards, wire transfers, bank transfers and third-party wallets,” according to a press release sent out this morning.

Digital River partnered with San Francisco-based Coinbase “to handle the conversion of Bitcoin into U.S. dollars and process the payments.” There are currently over 1.3 million consumer wallets and 33 000 merchants on Coinbase.

Digital River, which netted “more than $30 billion in online transactions” in 2013, cites Bitcoin’s heightening popularity as a reason for its move.

“Bitcoin continues to attract more mainstream attention,” said Tom Peterson, executive vice president and general manager of commerce at Digital River. “We’re excited to be among the first pure play ecommerce providers to make the cryptocurrency available for small to mid-sized businesses.”

In addition to payment processing, Bitcoin volatility and normalization are also reported to be some of the reasons for the partnership of Digital River and Coinbase.

Souheil Badran, senior vice president of Digital River World Payments, stated, “One of the bigger risks faced by merchants is dealing with the volatility of the digital currency market. Partnering with Coinbase allows Digital River to help mitigate that risk for our customers.”

Adam White, director of business development and sales at Coinbase, further supported the alliance, saying, “This partnership is another positive step forward in bringing Bitcoin payments to the everyday consumer.”

According to Digital River, their small to mid-sized ecommerce solution provides online merchants with “multiple platforms and tools to successfully build, manage and grow profitable ebusinesses on a worldwide basis.”