eBay Could Accept Cryptocurrencies as Payments in Future: Report

eBay is open to accepting cryptocurrencies as a payment option in the future, the company’s CEO has revealed. The e-commerce giant is even exploring ways to utilize the non-fungible token market (NFT).

eBay Could Accept Cryptocurrencies in the Future: CEO

In an interview with CNBC, the CEO of eBay, Jamie Iannone, has said that the company is open to the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency as a payment option and is looking at ways to get non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platform.

“We are expanding the types of payments that we take. We now take Apple Pay and Google Pay. More choice for buyers. We will continue to look at other options, like cryptocurrency.” he adds

Remarking on how eBay can enable NFT on its platform, the CEO said:

“One of the great things about Ebay is that when there is a new trend, it just shows up on Ebay. That’s what we are seeing in areas like NFTs, which we are looking at how we can explore that better. We’re exploring opportunities on how we can enable it (NFTs) on eBay in an easy way. Everything that’s collectible has been on eBay for decades and will continue to be for the next few decades.”

eBay Accepted Bitcoin in 2013

eBay originally started accepting Bitcoin for payments back in 2013 but ended up discarding the plan.

In a statement to Reuters, eBay clarified that there is no specific timeline on when the crypto service will be launched but that the company is keeping a close eye on the crypto market:

“We are always looking at the most relevant forms of payment and will continue to assess that going forward. We have no immediate plans, but it (cryptocurrency) is something we are keeping an eye on.”

Until 2015, the e-commerce giant was PayPal’s subsidiary, when the company spun off the payments giant to its shareholders.

The online payment service itself started allowing its U.S. customers to hold and trade cryptocurrencies last year before enabling crypto merchant payments in late March.

Its mobile service app also launched “Crypto on Venmo,” where users could buy, sell, and hold crypto within the application.