At WordPress.com, our mission is making publishing democratic — accessible and easy for anyone, anywhere. And while anyone can start a free blog here, not everyone can access upgrades (like going ad-free or enabling custom design) because of limits on traditional payment networks.
Today, that changes: you can now buy WordPress.com upgrades with bitcoins.
PayPal alone blocks access from over 60 countries, and many credit card companies have similar restrictions. Some are blocked for political reasons, some because of higher fraud rates, and some for other financial reasons. Whatever the reason, we don’t think an individual blogger from Haiti, Ethiopia, or Kenya should have diminished access to the blogosphere because of payment issues they can’t control. Our goal is to enable people, not block them.
Bitcoin is a digital currency that enables instant payments over the internet. Unlike credit cards and PayPal, Bitcoin has no central authority and no way to lock entire countries out of the network. Merchants who accept Bitcoin payments can do business with anyone.
If you’re already using Bitcoin you’ll find this payment method even easier than paying by credit card. Our store’s checkout area has a Bitcoin section that shows the amount due in BTC and the address of a wallet created just for your transaction. As soon as we receive notification of the transaction, your purchase is complete. It typically processes in a few seconds, less time than it takes to fill in a credit card form.
If you’re new to Bitcoin you’ll need to get your hands on some bitcoins (BTC) first, which is currently the hardest part of using Bitcoin. Learn more on getting started with BTC at We Use Coins, and check out the answers to some common questions at the end of this post.
With Bitcoin we join a new digital economy that doesn’t leave anyone behind, essentially making financial transactions open source — something WordPress.com is behind 100%. We’re proud to support bloggers from all over the world by providing a Bitcoin option.
Common Questions
How does Bitcoin work? How do I get started? Where can I get BTC?
We won’t cover these details here. Good documentation already exists at We Use Coins along with links to places where you can get BTC.
How do you handle BTC? Are you participating in the bitcoin network? Mining?
We aren’t mining or handling BTC at all, actually. Our payment processing partner for Bitcoin is BitPay.com. They track the exchange rates, generate the quotes and the wallets, receive your BTC and finally send us USD.
How many times is the transaction confirmed before I get my upgrade?
Zero! We could wait for the first confirmation (typically 5-10 minutes) but we prefer to make the customer experience as smooth as possible. Making you wait for confirmations would virtually eliminate our risk but we’re confident that with digital products like ours the risk is already acceptably low.
Sometimes Bitcoin isn’t an option in your store. What gives?
Affected products include domains and themes when not purchased in bundles, and any purchases made while you have credits already on account. We’re sorry! There are some technical complications. We decided to go now with what we have because, as we said at the beginning, this launch is about enabling people. Bitcoin should be accepted for all purchases within two or three months.
What about refunds?
Bitcoin is famous for its irreversible transactions but we will still honor our refund policy. If a refund is granted on a purchase made with BTC we will work with BitPay to issue a refund in BTC.
WordPress.com News 
This is fantastic! Thanks for the visionary adoption of a cutting-edge technology, and a beautifully worded announcement.
Reblogged this on 12-inch pianist and commented:
WP.com now accepts Bitcoin! This is pretty rad, actually.
Reblogged this on this is not my real blog and commented:
This is awesome. Good going WordPress!
This is very interesting. I didn’t know of Bitcoin… thank you!
Way to go WordPress!
Reblogged this on The Harbinger Owl of Syn and commented:
Bump for justice and freedom of speech. I know this may and will help me, so maybe it will help others too!
Thanks for this interesting alternative.
Great news, thank you WP
This is fantastic! With a place to spend Bitcoins, we can now begin accepting them from our readers. Thanks, WordPress!
Fantastic. Do you have any plans to accept other payment methods in the future? I’m thinking about paysafecard for example. It’s widely accepted in europe and more or less anonymous. Would be a lot easier than credit cards and bitcoins.
Incredible, both WordPress and Bitcoin will never regret that day
Excellent strategy for increasing annual revenue. This way both parties win (WordPress employees & users).
This is a truly revolutionary move, which will pave the way to momentous worldwide changes. The educational aspect is the most important, with tens of millions of people learning about Bitcoin through WordPress. Once a large user base is in place, new generations of applications are going to come that are only possible thanks to Bitcoin. And the fun will start…
I wrote about this a little more at length on FB: https://www.facebook.com/dorban/posts/437736906286572
And gave a talk at TEDx Bologna (in Italian with English subtitles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxDnQK95GXE
I am so pleased about this. My website was the first in Asia to accept bitcoins over a year ago.
This is a great decision to accept bitcoin and your statement about paypal and creditcards is very true. WordPress you have truly earned my respect and my support.
This is awesome guys. Thanks.
Awesome! I hope we’ll see more unique blogs from all over the world. I had no idea that there were restrictions on PayPal in so many places.
This is great! I’ve heard about bitcoin but this article made me ‘know’ it
Reblogged this on Learning Network and commented:
But coin is wicked,
This is epic! thank you!!
………………this is beyond fantastic. I imagine the bigger bitcoins get, the more angry the big corporations will get. I hope this is the predominant thing though, nevertheless!
Go Bitcoin!
Wow! This is EXCELLENT. The resistance is growing Power to the people.
Great going WP as always way ahead of the pack !
Reblogged this on Paolo Belcastro and commented:
Add your thoughts here… (optional)
Reblogged this on John James Jacoby and commented:
Add your thoughts here… (optional)
I think I might just cry thank you!!!
Finally!!
Check out the effect you had on the Bitcoin system: http://cl.ly/image/0J090W0I2M3a 15-cent rise and almost 10x the transactions when this hit the news!
Reblogged this on Egill and commented:
My coworkers making my proud once again! Great job!
Very brave of you and important precedence.
Great news from WordPress, great news for the world 😉
One step closer to financial freedom. THANK YOU WordPress!
Yes indeed! Another development that will dominate the world of ecommerce. Exciting…
I don’t have a WordPress.com blog, but this is still awesome.
Reblogged this on SwampMonster Games and commented:
Wow, this is revolutionary! Way to go WordPress!
As appealing an idea is for a cryptocurrency, how will WP pay its bills since infastructure providers still only accept money backed by governments?
Also, the exchange rate for BTCs fluctuate wildly from time to time.
As stated in the post: “Our payment processing partner for Bitcoin is BitPay.com. They track the exchange rates, generate the quotes and the wallets, receive your BTC and finally send us USD.”
As eksith commented, how will this help WP grow, or even sustain it’s current size? BitCoins are sort of a laughing manner and most service provider will quite literally laugh at you if you ask to pay using a fictional currency such as this.
@Egill, that still doesn’t answer how you pay your bills with BTC 😉
Yes you get USDs from them, but BTC payments (provided enough people switch to that) still won’t come close to what you make with conventional dollars, which is what your infastructure accepts. And since the exchange rate fluctuates so much, no company can match your expectations of dollar return from day to day which in turn may lead you to increase the BTC fee for upgrades since you still need to pay your bills.
This is the problem with cryptocurrency: Very secure, but ephemeral.
So, back to my question, how will WP pay its bills?
My point is that BTCs are unstable.
Thank you for doing this, and thank you for not waiting until it was 100% integrated to do it. Not only are you opening access to people who otherwise could not purchase your service, you’re advancing the cause of Liberty in the world by a measurable amount.
Reblogged this on leslee hare and commented:
Feels like yet another step in a light direction.
WordPress, would you be interested in a plugin that would allow bloggers to accept donations that DIRECTLY paid their membership fees? If so, I’d be happy to donate my development skill for no charge. Please let me know if there’s any way I can help this great cause!
Go wordpress go! Thats cool
Simply the most amazing news. This was a great move to make, WordPress!
Posted to BitcoinTrading!
http://www.bitcointrading.com/forum/talk-bitcoin/wordpress-now-accepting-bitcoin!!!/
it might work in the near future here… but right now i found out that the transaction’s kindda dark and confusing. i honestly didn’t trust any bitcoin seller that i contacted today. didn’t seem very reliable to me. 😛
but in the other hand, i’m glad wordpress opens up for other payment methods. 🙂 makes things easier for people that live in other countries
Reblogged this on Joey Kudish and commented:
WordPress.com now accepts Bitcoin as a way to pay. How many companies do you know who go out and build ways to accommodate users in otherwise restricted countries? Pretty awesome I think.
@eksith
Absolutely nothing changes for them. Since they will never see actual bitcoins, the whole thing is totally transparent for them. To answer your question, they will still pay their bills in USD as they do now.
This movement will incite an avalanche of adoption and increased awareness of the only currency that is run by the people for the people. This could end up being considered a watershed day for commerce, finance, economics and ultimately politics.
Thank you WordPress for this bold and brave decision.
In my best Mr. Burns voice, “Ecellent!”
Looks interesting. I’ve never heard of it. However, I prefer to still pay by Paypal. Please tell me you’re not removing that option?
Reblogged this on Who Plans Whom? and commented:
Good news.
I am so pleased about this.
nice gift by…. ,, http://bhardwajsk.wordpress.com
Reblogged this on All Things Bitcoin and commented:
Sweet
This makes me feel i want to start using wordpress.
Great news, thank you WP. Yes you are the best.
Wow this is actually new to me. Did someone already tried this? Anyway, I’d like to share this interesting video about buying coins Check it out!
This is truly awesome and shows that WordPress is cutting edge!
Simply the most amazing news
Reblogged this on brosinfo and commented:
This is the other easy way to pay. now I have easy way to access upgrades ,thanks for this.
Reblogged this on Pooriast Engage and commented:
Wordpress.com Supports Bitcoin
Means:
– Bitcoin is the winner bet in virtual money league.
– WordPress again take a decision which distinguishes it from Large Enterprises.
– Reuters VEN is now more of a failure
Oooo, wordpress just got even easier 🙂 this rocks!
Wow, this is great news!
Way to go wordpress, I will be paying my upgrade in bitcoins 🙂
Bravo! Well Done! And not least for the news-spreading effect this will have.
We who are about to live in a new world salute you!
That’s awesome news! It will be a major milestone in the history of Bitcoin. Just made a german post about this on http://www.bitcoinnews.org/2012/11/wordpress-com-akzeptiert-bitcoin-fur-upgrades-ad-free-und-custom-design/
Reblogged this on danuramadhan.
Wow, congrats on the this good move!
I hope that will have huge impact on BitCoin adoption
Reblogged this on boierescu and commented:
First big name I know of, to accept Bitcoin. This is major!
Masterly move in the right direction.
Bit coin goes Epic!