eBay Might Soon Accept Crypto Payments After NFTs
According to Jamie Iannone in a phone interview, eBay aspires to be the marketplace for Gen-Z and millennials. Therefore, it’s looking forward to adjusting to newer ways and attracting the younger generation.
Let’s take you into the details of this new move.
eBay to accept Crypto payments
The biggest e-commerce sites have still not embraced cryptocurrencies. Nearly none of them accept digital currency as payment.
However, it’s reasonable to say that whoever does it first would be at the top of the conversation in the crypto sphere. And eBay knows this very well.
EBay (EBAY) – Get Free Report is looking into the potential of accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
But, why?
The e-commerce platform hopes to attract Gen-Z and millennial customers. Therefore, it’s looking at the potential of accepting bitcoins as a form of payment. The company made an announcement on its day for investors. Moreover, it might share additional details later.
Interestingly, several surveys conducted in the past few months have shown that millennials are generally the demographic group most inclined to support cryptocurrencies. This accounts for eBay’s imminent entry into the space.
The e-commerce site accepted non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in May of last year. However, it had been hesitant to embrace cryptocurrencies in their entirety until recently. Without announcing it formally, Iannone brought up the rising use of NFT trading on its platform.
Furthermore, Iannone mentioned that the business changed its policy last year while discussing eBay’s position on cutting-edge technologies. For example, blockchain and cryptocurrency. The platform is making efforts to make the e-commerce platform a place to buy and sell anything. Due to the increasing demand for this asset class, he continued, the company has been trying to integrate crypto payment methods for quite some time.
What does the statement say?
Iannone told TheStreet that the company is just finishing off its shift to manage payments where they’re now managing $85 billion of volume on the platform directly. This enables them to provide new payment methods.
They have enabled Apple Pay and Google Pay. Besides, the company has a partnership with Afterpay in Australia. It’s a buy-now, pay-later marketplace platform that caters to GenZ.
As a result, eBay keeps considering whether to accept additional payment methods on the platform. However, on the platform, they don’t yet accept cryptocurrency.
Iannone argues that Gen-Z is his platform’s top priority demographic. For example, he cites the several steps eBay has done to appeal to the consumers of today and the future. Moreover, eBay is focusing especially on sales of sneakers, one of its growth sectors.
Iannone asserted that by focusing on sneakers, they are catering to the younger generation. There they’re coming in selling their sneakers, becoming collectible collectors on the platform. Moreover, they’re establishing new marketing skills.
The Street once more questioned whether this meant that eBay will accept bitcoin and Ethereum as forms of payment.
Will eBay accept Bitcoin and Ethereum?
Iannone stated that they don’t accept cryptocurrency right now. But the company is going to go further on all of these things, payments, advertising, and emphasis areas.
He continued by observing that non-fungible token (NFT) transactions were occurring on eBay despite the corporation making no specific announcements.
eBay is fundamentally a place where people have something to sell. So, they did update the company’s standards last year so that one could trade NFT on the platform.
Iannone said, “So even without stating anything or taking any action, people started trading NFT on a platform. It brought to mind a time when we didn’t even have a car business yet and people were just starting to sell vehicles. Consequently, [with NFT] we are observing the same pattern.”
And in his conclusion, he said that people will exchange products on eBay, whether physical or digital. Thus, in the long run, we hope that this will serve as the marketplace for sustainability.
Final words
NFTs are deeds of ownership for many types of digital goods based on blockchain technology. It ranges from pricey monkey illustrations to collectibles like celebrity autographs. Moreover, they can often serve as certificates for tangible things as well.
According to blockchain analytics firm DappRadar, the NFT business boomed in 2021. It produced over $23 billion in trade volume the previous year. From less than $100 million the year before, that sum increased.
