Expedia Now Accepting Bitcoin

Expedia (NASDAQ:EXPE) said Wednesday it is now accepting Bitcoin for hotel payments.

“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,” said Michael Gulmann, vice president at Expedia. “We’re continually looking at ways consumers want to pay for their travel.”

Bitcoin was introduced in 2009, in an effort to form a currency that operated independent of government. A volatile currency, in the past three months Bitcoin has exchanged for as little as $395 and as high as $659.

Expedia is partnering with Coinbase, a Bitcoin payment processor, to facilitate the transactions. “We are pleased to partner with Expedia.com to welcome them into the growing community of forward-thinking companies that have opened their businesses to accept Bitcoin payments,” said Fred Ehrsam, co-founder of Coinbase.

In a sign that the digital currency is becoming more mainstream, Overstock (NASDAQ:OSTK) and Dish Networks (NASDAQ:DISH) have begun accepting Bitcoin as well.

Founded in 1996, Expedia is headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The company went public in 1999 and spun off TripAdvisor (NASDAQ:TRIP)  in 2011. Expedia.com allows users to search for transportation and lodging for travel destinations. Other Expedia brands include Hotels.com, Hotwire and trivago.

Expedia shares are up 1% this year. They are currently trading around $76, with a market cap of $9.9 billion.