Online retailer Showroomprive.com has become the largest European company to start accepting payment in bitcoin.
The merchant, which sells a variety of products including clothes, fashion accessories, cosmetics and homeware, is to accept bitcoin via European cryptocurrency company Paymium.
Gonzague Grandval, co-founder and CEO of Paymium, labelled the move as a “major event for e-commerce in Europe”.
He added:
“By accepting bitcoin, Showroomprive.com shows its ability to innovate, and we are delighted to support such a prestigious retailer in this process.”
http://t.co/uCCd5kcobI now accepting #Bitcoin payments with @Paymium https://t.co/kvh4uPJVx8 (PDF) #PressRelease pic.twitter.com/hx3Wtidrgp
— PAYMIUM (@Bitcoin_Central) September 30, 2014
Showroomprive.com, which is based in Paris and was founded in 2006, registered a €350m turnover in 2013.
Having raised $46.9m in funding in 2010, the company now employs more than 600 people.
Thierry Petit, Showroomprive.com co-CEO and co-founder, said: “To integrate bitcoin as a new payment option, we had to find a reliable bitcoin payment solution that could also convert bitcoins to local currencies in all the countries where Showroomprive.com operates.”
He added:
“Paymium delivers the comprehensive solution that suits our need. Thus, we can safely offer bitcoin payments on all our websites, in France and abroad.”
Customers using the company’s French (Showroomprive.com) and Dutch (Showroomprive.nl) websites can already pay with bitcoin. The firm will roll out the payment option to its sites in Spain, Italy, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Poland in the coming weeks.
European bitcoin interest
Paymium, which was founded in 2011, claims to have a user base of 60,000, from all across Europe. It operates both a bitcoin exchange and a package of merchant solutions, which enable companies to accept cryptocurrency.
A number of relatively large companies in Europe have already started accepting bitcoin, including online food ordering site Takeaway.com. This company, which employs over 100 people, reported a revenue of over €100m in 2012.
It announced back in November last year that its website in the Netherlands was accepting payment in bitcoin via payment processor BitPay.