TigerDirect, Overstock.com, Expedia.com. What do they all have in common? They’re huge and they accept bitcoin. And according to Charlie Shrem, another big company is planning to get in on the fun — but not quite in large scale.
Shrem says that a major hotel chain with 3400+ locations will be running a bitcoin trial at a single location — New York City, to be precise. But don’t ask who it is, because Shrem won’t be divulging the information until this Sunday at the NYC Bitcoin Fair (which is being hosted by the Hester Street Fair).
Going to be announcing a MAJOR hotel chain piloting Bitcoin at a NYC location, this Sunday at @NYCbitcoinfair 3400+ locations #bitcoin
— Charlie Shrem (@CharlieShrem) June 13, 2014
This pre-announcement coincides with some rather big news we heard this week from Expedia.com’s camp.
The company is also running a trial with bitcoin payments, allowing travelers to book hotel rooms with the digital currency.
Based on performance, the company will then decide whether or not they wan’t to expand bitcoin payments to flights, car rentals, and other services.
Expedia is one of the larger online travel agencies today.
Such is the case with this unnamed hotel chain, we imagine. If it’s worthwhile at one location, it could be worth the effort and time to get bitcoin payments going at other hotels.
The move in itself is smart, too. Often times companies with many locations will pilot programs to find out what works and what doesn’t.
Certainly should be an interesting revelation. We’ll have more information on it just as soon as it becomes available this Sunday.