Speculation has been running wild as of late, but we can now officially confirm Rakuten is accepting Bitcoin as a payment method. Or to be more precise, Rakuten.com customers can sue Bitcoin to pay for goods sold in the US marketplace. Other global Rakuten marketplaces are set to follow in these footsteps in the near future.

BitNet Payment Processor Integration

Bitcoin enthusiasts around the world will rejoice at the news of Rakuten finally adopting Bitcoin as an alternative payment method. However, there was even more speculation as to which Bitcoin payment processing company Rakuten would choose, as there are quite a few different offerings to pick from.

Hardly anyone expected that it would not be one of the major names such as Coinbase or BitPay. But In the world of Bitcoin and digital currencies, nothing is ever set in stone, and Rakuten’s choice of BitNet to process Bitcoin payments is just one of the many examples. But who is this BitNet and where do they come from?

You may recall the BitNet name from the headlines the company made after their successful round of seed funding in 2014. A total of US$14 million was raised from investors such as Highland Capital Partners, Rakuten itself and investors who already had a prior investment in the BitNet company.

Rakuten becomes one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world to accept Bitcoin as a payment method, which can only be beneficial to Bitcoin awareness and adoption on a global scale. On the flipside, Rakuten merchants will also experience the many benefits stemming from accepting this digital currency as a payment method, such as lower fees, no price volatility and most importantly, no chargebacks.

“Rakuten’s mission is to empower the world through the Internet. Not only can bitcoin support this vision by helping our merchants better compete globally, but it also has the potential to benefit society by enhancing the security, privacy, and convenience of financial transactions. This is one of the reasons why we invested in Bitnet last year and we look forward to working with them in our US marketplace.”

• Yaz Iida, President of Rakuten USA 

Rakuten.com First, Germany and Austria To Follow

In order to get the ball rolling with Bitcoin payments, Rakuten.com [available only to the USA and Canada] has started accepting bitcoin as of today. Additional major Rakuten marketplaces, such as Germany and Austria, will follow in the near future. No official ETA has been provided in regards to when this will take place though.

“Rakuten’s global marketplaces are great examples of how digital currencies can impact global commerce. We’re excited to join with Rakuten in helping both merchants and shoppers reap the benefits of this new technology,” John McDonnell, Co-Founder & CEO of BitNet told BTCFeed.

Source : http://global.rakuten.com/corp/news/press/2015/0317_01.html