50 Cent announced today that he will sell his new album Animal Ambition for bitcoin through BitPay. As 50 Cent will not be the only artist interested in providing bitcoin as a payment option, BitPay makes it easy for artists to accept bitcoin. 50 Cent is using a Shopify store to sell his latest album and can, through BitPay’s partnership with Shopify, accept payment in bitcoin.

There could not be a better combination of innovation in music and payment. We look forward to seeing which other musicians follow suite. With 50 Cent as the first large independent artist to accept bitcoin as a payment and Tatiana Moroz’s recent launch of her artist coin, we can expect many more musicians to recognize the promise of cryptocurrency in payment for and promotion of their work.

BitPay issued the following press release:

Animal Ambition from 50 Cent will be available for purchase using Bitcoin

ATLANTA, GA — June 3, 2014 — BitPay, world leader in business solutions for the Bitcoin digital currency announces today that 50 Cent’s new album Animal Ambition can be purchased at http://shop.50cent.com with bitcoin.

BitPay makes it easy for artists to accept bitcoin as a form of payment. When a customer checks out of 50’s Shopify store and chooses the option to pay in bitcoin, BitPay processes the transaction accepting the bitcoin from the customer and letting the merchant know the order had been paid. BitPay settles the next business day and offers the merchant the option of depositing dollars, bitcoins or a percentage split between the two.

“We are excited to see high profile independent artists use bitcoin and 50 Cent’s trail as an innovator is outstanding” said Tony Gallippi, Executive Chairman of BitPay.”

As one of hip hop’s most prolific artists, 50 Cent has sold over 30 million records worldwide and is one of rap’s most successful businessmen with SMS Audio, SK Energy, and SMS Promotions among his ventures.