Dish Network to start accepting bitcoin payments

Dish Network Corp. says it will become the largest company yet to accept payment in bitcoin.

The satellite TV company says it will begin accepting the digital coins through payment processor Coinbase by September. Coinbase will instantly convert the bitcoins into cash, eliminating the risk of price fluctuations to Dish.

Dish's chief operating officer, Bernie Han, says the idea came from company employees who had become avid bitcoin users.

While Han says demand for the payment system is unclear, it aligns the Englewood, Colorado, company's high-tech offerings such as the ability to watch live TV on mobile devices with the tech-savvy customers it is trying to reach.

He also said Coinbase's payment processing fee is attractive compared to the average of what it pays to other processors.

Dish is one of thelargest pay-television operators in the U.S. with about 14 million subscribers.