03 June 2014 / Wall Street Journal – Bitcoin got itself some street cred Tuesday, when top-selling rap star 50 Cent announced that his new album, Animal Ambition, would be available for purchase with the digital currency.
Fans of 50 Cent, aka Curtis Jackson III, will be able to click on a bitcoin payment option when they check out of his Shopify store, according to a statement from Atlanta-based processor Bitpay, which will process the transaction. As with all Bitpay’s clients, the artist will have the option of settling in bitcoin, dollars or a combination of both.
50 Cent could not be immediately reached for comment.
The deal follows announcements from a number of high-profile vendors saying they will accept bitcoin. Last week, satellite TV provider Dish Network Corp. added its name to a list that includes online retailer Overstock.com Inc., National Basketball Association team the Sacramento Kings, space-tourism provider Virgin Galactic and online computer outlet TigerDirect.
These announcements have helped sustain investor interest in bitcoin, whose price has rallied sharply during the past month. It was most recently quoted by Coindesk at $667.93 per bitcoin, which would translate Curtis Jackson’s stage name to BTC 0.0007458 in bitcoin terms.
Various independent artists have made their music available in bitcion and some lesser-known figures have embraced the digital currency by singing about it. But 50 Cent, is by far the biggest name to jump on this bandwagon. With album sales in the 30-million range after more than a decade of recording, he is one of the biggest-selling hip hop artists of all time. Animal Ambition is his fifth studio album….. Read more
