Key Insights
- Major e-commerce marketplace eBay could soon make an announcement about cryptocurrency payments
- The firm had dabbled with Bitcoin payments back in 2014 too
- Since Gen-Z are a priority target for eBay, CEO Jamie Iannone believes evolving technology could be used to cater to the masses
Multinational eCommerce giant eBay is reportedly looking into accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment, said CEO Jamie Iannone in a recent interview.
Appeasing Gen-Z and Millennials
The e-commerce marketplace, which aims to be a place for Gen-Z and millennials, is studying the possibility of adding cryptocurrencies as possible means of payment. In a recent interview, Iannone said that the firm could announce on March 10 during its day dedicated to investors.
Iannone said:
“We’re just completing our transition to manage payments where we’re now managing $85 billion of volume on our platform directly. This gives us the ability to open up new forms of payment.”
Interestingly, over the last few months, quite a few surveys have highlighted that millennials tend to be the most crypto-friendly demographic, which explains eBay’s upcoming venture into the crypto-verse.
Until now, the e-commerce platform had shied away from fully embracing cryptocurrencies even though it embraced non-fungible tokens (NFTs) last year May. Without making any official announcement, Iannone pointed out the growing popularity of NFT trading on its platform.
Furthermore, talking about eBay’s stance on emerging technology such as blockchain and cryptocurrencies, Iannone said that the company altered its policies last year to make the e-commerce platform a place to buy and sell anything. He added that the firm has been looking to integrate crypto payment options for quite some time, owing to the growing demand of the asset class.
Another Shot at Cryptos
While eBay’s decision to integrate cryptos would be much appreciated in the market, this wouldn’t be the company’s first dabble with cryptos. Notably, eBay first tried integrating BTC payments back in 2014, when BTC was still in its nascent stages.
Last year in May, there were speculations that eBay was exploring Bitcoin payment integration and NFT trading. Seemingly, the crypto payment integration plan could now see the light of the day as crypto adoption becomes mainstream.
eBay accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum could further aid mainstream adoption. In the recent interview when Iannone was asked whether eBay will add digital currencies such as BTC and ETH to the means of payment, he pointed out highlighting the platform’s goals that:
“eBay will be the place where people trade goods, whether they be physical or digital. So over time, you know, we want this to be the marketplace for sustainability.”
