Did you hear about LEGO offering delivery service via a turtle? How about Honda releasing a do-it-yourself vehicle? Sony Electronics will be releasing its newest line of “power food.” You could look fashionable wearing Men’s Wearhouse’s “Ultra Skinny Tie.”
If you didn’t know, these were all April Fools’ Day jokes.
With bitcoin becoming the newest sensation in the marketplace today, an April Fools’ Day wouldn’t be complete without the digital currency getting involved in the foray. A handful of news publications and companies got in on the bitcoin joke.
Here are a few of them:
Edmonton Sun
After Alberta Premier Alison Redford resigned from office, the Alberta government decided to launch AltaCoin, a cryptocurrency that would compete against bitcoin. The province would offer $325,000 in direct funding to assist in the formation of the digital currency. The Internet cash would only be available to Albertans.
The purpose of the AltaCoin was to help get the contentious Keystone XL pipeline approved and the virtual currency could have been the best step moving forward. It was “reported” that the coins would be launched in Calgary and Edmonton late next month, but people were already making money off of it.
“I don’t really know how it works but it’s real money, I think,” WEM shopper Penny Manship told the news outlet, who made $620 off the coins.
The author, Matt Dykstra, confirmed it was a joke at noon Tuesday.
Zappos Refunds
Zappos.com CEO Tony Hsieh made a special announcement Tuesday telling customers that all refunds would be issued in bitcoin and employees’ salaries would be paid in the digital currency as well. The online clothing and shoe store published a breaking news story and a video outlining the new move following the Internal Revenue Service’s announcement.
“CEO Tony Hsieh broke the news in front of the company’s Customer Loyalty Team to silence and a few coughs. One employee jumped up in excitement, realizing his digital currency would finally prove to be valuable and not just a hobby as his mom told the neighbors,” the article stated.
With Overstock.com permitting bitcoin payment options, this seemed like legitimate news at first. Of course, with April Fools’ Day, it was pretty clear that it was just a joke.
Glassdoor Pays in Bitcoin
Glassdoor is a job and career website located in the United States. It provides job advertisements, company reviews, employee salaries, interview questions and reviews and allows readers to write reviews on employers.
The company “confirmed” in a blog post and on Twitter that it has decided to transition its staff pay into bitcoin.
“Our CEO knows #bitcoin is the future. That’s why he’s paying all employees in bitcoin, starting today,” the website tweeted.
It would also show other jobs’ salaries in bitcoins. For instance, a software engineer would earn 265 bitcoins a year, while a Starbucks barista would be paid an hourly wage of 0.019 bitcoin. These features would be applied to its global website and Android app.
“With this innovative feature, there’s no longer a need to convert salaries from dollars to euros to rupees – the app speaks a global language,” the company wrote in its statement.
“This will allow job seekers to compare apples to apples (or coconuts to coconuts) when negotiating a pay raise or trying to land a new job in any market, regardless of where it is in the world. No conversion necessary! The app updates in real time, with current market value, so employees always know just how many bitcoins they can earn in a specific job at a particular company.”
Some comments showed disappointment as many felt it would have been a good idea to actually show how much salaries were worth in bitcoin.
