[UPDATE 10/19/17] Due to low demand, Bitcoin is no longer available as a form of payment. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. You can still complete your purchase through a number of alternative payment options such as PayPal, all major Credit Cards, and Dell Financial Services.
Now you can buy digital with digital – starting today, we’re accepting bitcoin on Dell.com.
We’re piloting bitcoin, the world’s most widely used digital currency, as a purchase option on Dell.com for consumer and small business shoppers in the U.S. We’re excited to bring you the choice and flexibility this payment option offers and have partnered with Coinbase, a trusted and secure third party payment processor, to make this possible.
I’m excited to share in the coming days we’ll be offering a special Alienware promotion wherein customers can save 10 percent off a new Alienware system purchase (up to $150 limit) when checking out with bitcoin. Stay tuned to Dell.com/bitcoin for more information on this exciting offer.
When you are ready to make a purchase, simply add the items to your cart and choose Bitcoin as the payment method. Checkout our special video guide on Dell.com/bitcoin to see the bitcoin payment process in action.
We are moving more quickly to meet your needs. In fact, we were able to work with Coinbase to integrate bitcoin payment in just 14 days!
“We’ve fostered a close partnership with the Dell team and that’s been instrumental in getting the Coinbase integration up and running in such a short timeframe. We look forward to continuing to support the team as they explore other ways to offer even more functionality when it comes to bitcoin payments,” said Fred Ehrsam, Co-Founder of Coinbase.
We know you have some questions. We’ve tried our best to answer some of them below, but if you have others, be sure to check out the Terms & Conditions and our FAQ, or feel free to leave them in the comments below.
So just what is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a distributed peer-to-peer network offering a payment system based on a completely digital currency. Bitcoin payments can be made easily from anywhere in the world, and offer reduced payment processing costs. Bitcoins can be transferred instantly and securely between any two people in the world.
We have teamed with Coinbase to handle the processing of Dell.com transactions on the bitcoin network. Founded in June of 2012, Coinbase is an international digital wallet that allows you to securely buy, use, and accept bitcoin currency. Many other companies such as Overstock and Expedia are already using Coinbase to accept bitcoin.
How do I get started with bitcoin?
To acquire bitcoin, you’ll need to create a bitcoin wallet on a site such as Coinbase. This is the account from which you can send and receive bitcoin. Once you have a wallet, you can purchase bitcoin from Coinbase directly. Bitcoin can also be mined, though this requires high levels of processing power. This is something Dell Services customer Bitcoin ASIC Hosting found to be true, and is why they partnered with us to provide a large scale and high density crypto-currency hosting facility available to the Bitcoin mining community.
The process of selecting products and services on Dell.com remains the same for bitcoin users as for everyone. Once your selections are made and you are ready to make a purchase, simply add the items to your cart and choose bitcoin as the payment method. You can send payment from your bitcoin wallet by using the generated bitcoin address, by scanning the QR code from your smartphone, or by using a Coinbase account.
You can use bitcoin to purchase any products on Dell’s consumer, EPP or small/medium business sites in the U.S. Bitcoin will only be accepted online at the point of sale, not on existing invoices.
Didn’t Dell already accept Bitcoin?
While it was noted earlier this year that you could purchase Gyft cards with bitcoin and use those to shop on Dell.com, we are now pleased to accept bitcoin as a direct payment option via Coinbase.
Wasn’t Dell Security warning about Bitcoin malware earlier this year?
Our SonicWALL researchers did observe an increase in bitcoin mining botnets in our 2013 Threat Report. However, bitcoin adopters can take precautions to ensure security. We’ve enlisted Coinbase, one of the most secure, reputable and widely used bitcoin platforms in North America to help with this. Information on their security protection can be found here.
[UPDATE 7/20/14]
Based on feedback from one of our commenters below, here are some additional precautions bitcoin adopters can take for security:
Dell SecureWorks’ BitCoin security experts Joe Stewart, director of Malware Research for the CTU, and Pat Litke, CTU security researcher, recommend:
- Use a non-web-based wallet, always back up and encrypt your wallet, and ensure that the machine that is used to store the bitcoin wallet is malware free. After all, all other precautions are for naught if the machine is compromised by malware.
- Consider using open-source and trusted wallet software (Electrum, Armory) – Use only in deterministic mode.
- If holding a large sum of currency, consider moving the majority of it over to a cold-storage wallet. When access to those funds is needed, move them back to your “hot” wallet where they can then be spent.
[UPDATE 7/24/14]
Our Alienware promotion mentioned above is now live!
You can now save 10 percent (up to $150 limit) when checking out with bitcoin. The discount will apply to all Alienware computer purchases and select Alienware accessories purchased. The total amount of the discount will be noted during checkout when purchasing with bitcoin. Here’s a sample of what the would look like:
[UPDATE 7/24/14]
Note: This Alienware promotion ends August 14, 2014.
