NEWS
NEWS
NEWS
Comedian Louis CK now accepting Bitcoin through BitPay payment integration
Comedian Louis CK may be divisive to some, but there’s one section of the broad market who is now solidly supporting the artist: Bitcoin users.
Although not officially announced, CK first added Bitcoin as a payment option for a download of his comedy on a listing for Live at Madison Square Garden, where he adds that “We have the price set to 5 dollars, but you can lower it to 1 dollar or raise it to 85. that’s the maximum, because beyond that, I don’t want your crazy money.”
A quick look at other offers from the comedian finds that all his shows now offer Bitcoin payment through the addition of Bitcoin payment processor BitPay, Inc.’s merchant payments gateway.
To acquire a Louis CK recording using Bitcoin, users enter their email address twice, nominate the amount they are willing to pay for it (as mentioned previously, a minimum of $1) then choose BitPay for their payment.
On the following screen (pictured right), users are then presented with a link provided by BitPay, along with a QR Code they can scan using a mobile Bitcoin wallet to make the payment for the goods ordered.
The move by Louis CK is claimed to be the first by a comedian to accept Bitcoin for payments for show downloads.
Well received
It’s without question a sign of the times that new sections of the online economy move into Bitcoin as the advantages of accepting payments via the cryptocurrency become better known, in particular the lower costs involved in accepting payments versus traditional fiat currency merchant services or even companies like PayPay Holdings, Inc.
Although whether there will also be a long term increase in sales by taking Bitcoin payments isn’t clear, there certainly will be at least a temporary bounce in sales for CK as the offering is well received by Bitcoin users across various Bitcoin discussion forums, such as the Reddit subreddit r/Bitcoin and BitcoinTalk.org.
“Just spent $40 in bitcoin and just got all my Louis C.K. to add to my library. No more falling asleep to YouTube videos. Super great move, Louis,” one user noted among many who said that they had happily purchased shows from the comedian once learning of the announcement.
For payment provider BitPay, the deal to provide payment services to Louis CK may be a small one, but it can only help the company in furthering its brand exposure to new audiences.
Image credit: vcalzone/Flickr/CC by 2.0
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