Virgin Galactic will accept Bitcoin as payment: Richard Branson

staff reporter, Tech Times 23 November 2013, 08:11 am

CEO of Virgin Galactic, Richard Branson, seems to believe heavily in Bitcoin as he announced that his space startup company will now receive Bitcoin as payment for future space flights.

This is another big win for the virtual currency, as only recently the University of Nicosia in Cyprus had announced it would accept Bitcoin payments as tuition fees. If this acceptance continues, Bitcoin could become just as powerful as the U.S. dollar.

"Virgin Galactic is a company looking into the future, so is Bitcoin. So it makes sense we would offer Bitcoin as a way to pay for your journey to space. A lot of the people who have joined Bitcoin are tech-minded people, as are many of our current future astronauts," read a statement on Virgin blog. "We would be delighted to welcome more of the Bitcoin community as future astronauts."

Bitcoin is a virtual currency that came on the scene back in 2009. It was created by a pseudonymous programmer and was built on the open source protocol. This means anyone can read the code, which should account for higher security.

The Bitcoin virtual currency has since captivated many from around the world due to its person-to-person payment system that doesn't incorporate the same high fees as payment processors. At the moment, Bitcoin is also accepted by well known Internet properties such as Wordpress and Reddit.

While Bitcoin is experiencing support from many businesses and institutions, there wasn't a single high profile business to endorse the currency. However, with Branson's backing, Bitcoin might just become a true currency powerhouse in the years to come.

"I have invested in some bitcoins myself," said Branson, "and find it fascinating how a whole new global currency has been created. For people who can afford to invest a little in bitcoins, it's worth looking into. Many people and organisations are."

Bitcoin is valued at around $700 today, compared to the $10 it was valued two years ago. This should be an important indication on the rise of Bitcoin and what the future might entail for the virtual currency.