TLDR: See screenshot at the bottom-most image link.
I think this research by u/Cr1N into bitcoin being removed by Overstock deserved more visibility. The original report by u/H0BB5 at r/cc was censored which for a while made our conversation here inconclusive.
From r/btc/comments/vxtnti/overstockcom_stops_accepting_bitcoin/ig0magh/
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Glad to see someone else noticed. Their support people have either been ignorant, insisting they do accept Bitcoin, or have simply acknowledged it's disabled but don't know why or whether it's permanent or temporary. Since Overstock has been a pioneer in terms of Crypto acceptance, I thought it was a little strange and did some digging.
Their source code still shows the ability to accept Bitcoin and other crypto is there, it's just been toggled off. Their checkout is initialized by some embedded JSON, which shows the various flags that are used to disable rendering of crypto/btc payment options.
https://coinmarketdot.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/localimages/zRHit17.png
You can also see their legacy checkout page by going to “checkout?ostklgcy=true” instead of the regular checkout page, which actually displays the crypto option but shows it as “temporarily unavailable.”
https://coinmarketdot.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/localimages/VhJsRgW.png
So it doesn't seem they have removed the ability as much as they have disabled it. This would be somewhat inconclusive by itself, but a quick google search found an interview with their CEO Jonathan Johnson from last week.
Here's what he had to say:
JONATHAN JOHNSON: Yeah, we're still holding, or HODLing, our Bitcoin. One thing I monitor is the amount of Bitcoin that's spent on Overstock each week. It's always been less than a percent, a very small percent of our revenue. But during crypto winter, it's really dried up to where almost no one is spending Bitcoin or crypto to buy goods on Overstock. So I think people are– traders will trade in and out. HODLers aren't spending like they were when Bitcoin was at a higher price.
BRAD SMITH: If they stopped spending in Bitcoin, is that something that Overstock thinks about sunsetting at that point?
JONATHAN JOHNSON: No, it's an easy program for us to keep. We like it. It keeps our toe in the water in this space. If it went to 0 for a long period of time, sure, we might turn it off. But I don't see that in the future. I think Bitcoin's taken a pause. And as you know, more than cryptocurrency, we're really bullish on blockchain technology. We have a portfolio of companies. We have a venture capital firm managing. We think tZERO, Bit, GrainChain. These blockchain technology companies have a bright, bright future.
The full interview is here: https://finance.yahoo.com/video/overstock-com-ceo-details-tough-141103848.html
My theory is they're probably doing some maintenance and this period of low BTC transaction volume is an ideal time in which to do it. I imagine it'll be back fairly soon.
Any notion that accepting BTC is prohibitive is generally FUD. Previously they have used Coinbase as their payment processor, who charge a flat 1% fee on all crypto settlements. Credit cards in comparison typically charge the merchant in the region of 3-4%. There's very little downside to continuing to accept Bitcoin.
Edit: I was wrong. I spoke again with their chat and they confirm it is permanent. https://coinmarketdot.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/localimages/ctoYMYE.png
Yikes.”