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eBay Is Exploring NFTs and Looking at Crypto Payments | CoinCodex

source-logo  coincodex.com 04 May 2021 08:33, UTC

Key highlights:

  • E-commerce giant eBay is exploring NFTs and is looking at the possibility of supporting crypto payments
  • eBay CEO Jamie Iannone explained that eBay is already a popular platform for collectibles, which is one of the main use cases for NFTs
  • The company doesn't have immediate plans for cryptocurrency but is keeping its options open

eBay is exploring NFTs and considering cryptocurrency

Major e-commerce company eBay is exploring NFTs and is open to supporting cryptocurrency payments, according to a Reuters report.  

In a statement to Reuters, an eBay representative told the publication that eBay has no "immediate plans" related to supporting cryptocurrency as a form of payment, but that it is keeping an eye on crypto.

Meanwhile, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone briefly touched on NFTs in an interview with CNBC. Iannone noted that eBay is already an established platform for buying and selling collectibles, which is why the company is looking at how it can integrate NFTs in an "easy way". He also stated:

"One of the great things about eBay is when there’s a new trend, it just shows up on eBay. That’s what we’re seeing in areas like NFT, which we’re looking at how can we explore that better, because eBay is really known as the place to transact goods."

Non-fungible tokens are blockchain-based tokens with unique identifiers that can be used to represent both digital and physical objects. NFTs are now commonly used by digital artists to sell their art, but they are also popular as a way to represent ownership of unique collectibles like CryptoPunks or NBA Top Shot highlights. NFTs being introduced eBay’s base of over 180 million users could certainly help the NFT phenomenon reach its next stage of mainstream appeal.

The 2020/2021 cryptocurrency bull run has been characterized by mainstream names embracing cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. Perhaps the biggest news on this front came in October last year, when PayPal (which was previously a subsidiary of eBay) introduced the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on its platform, and PayPal’s subsidiary Venmo followed suit this year. Leading financial services players like Visa and Mastercard have been also openly engaging with crypto and blockchain, and automaker Tesla is now accepting payments in Bitcoin. 

coincodex.com