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downloadThe CEO of Uber, the company that offers a private cab service, Dara Khosrowshahi, said during an interview with Bloomberg on Friday that the company will “absolutely” accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, though not in the immediate future.
Uber toward cryptocurrency payment
While in a previous interview with CNBC, the CEO had ruled out, as opposed to Tesla thinking about investing in Bitcoin, to Bloomberg, when asked if it would accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment, Khosrowshahi responded by saying:
“It definitely could. We’re having conversations all the time. I think right now, what we see with bitcoin and some of the other cryptos, they are quite valuable as a store of value. The exchange mechanism is expensive, it’s not great for the environment. As the exchange mechanism becomes less expensive, becomes more environmentally friendly, I think you will see us lean into crypto a little bit more. So we’re absolutely watching it. And if you say, is Uber going to accept crypto in the future? Absolutely. At some point. This isn’t the right point, but we will.”
At the same time, however, he said that this fact would not happen in the immediate future but more likely in the next year. That’s because the Uber CEO still expressed doubts about the efficiency of cryptocurrencies as a means of payment. He talked about the problems with both high transaction costs and excessive electricity consumption for mining.
“As the exchange mechanism becomes less expensive, becomes more environmentally friendly, I think you will see us lean into crypto a little bit more,” he added in this regard.
Uber is preparing to accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment
Main companies already accepting cryptocurrencies
There are already several companies, however, that accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. According to recent research by HSB of the insurance group Munich Re, 36% of small and medium-sized American companies already accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment.
But even big giants, such as Microsoft, KFC, Subway, Overstock, Pizza Hut, Virgin, Burger King, AT&T, and AMC, have long accepted major cryptocurrencies as a form of payment in their stores.
According to research by consulting firm Gartner, in December 2021, about 20 percent of the world’s large companies will accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment by 2024.
The report reads:
“Increasing mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies on traditional payment platforms and the rise of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) will push many large enterprises to incorporate digital currencies into their applications in the coming years. Digital currencies will be primarily used by these organizations for payment, a store of value and the ability to leverage high-yield investments available in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.”
In this regard, Paypal announced in late November that it would also accept cryptocurrency transfers and payments on its digital platform. While in early January, it had announced that it was working on a project of its own stablecoin.