Domestic online shopping platform accepts Bitcoin

Chinese online shopping platform LightInTheBox Holding Co announced on Monday that it has started to accept Bitcoin as a payment option on its two shopping platforms, ligtinthebox.com and miniinthebox.com.

LightInTheBox, which delivers products directly from producers to consumers around the world, became the first among top e-commerce platforms in China to accept the virtual currency, which has yet to gain regulatory approval in many countries, including China.

The Beijing-based online retailer said that it made the decision to accept Bitcoin because of the potential for the technology behind Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies known as blockchain, the company said in a press release on Monday.

"We think blockchain could potentially be an important technology for us. We are intrigued to study and adapt this technology in the future," Guo Quji, chairman and CEO of LightInTheBox, was quoted as saying in the press release.

The company said that it started to accept Bitcoin on Friday and Bitcoin payments are being processed through BitPay, but it did not reveal the initial value of Bitcoin payments.

Nevertheless, the announcement fueled a big jump in LightInTheBox's share price on the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. At the market close on Monday, the shares were up 13.31 percent at $2.81.