eBay CEO says the company could soon diversify towards crypto payments

eBay, one of the largest digital marketplaces, could soon accept cryptocurrencies. eBay targets millennials and Gen Z, hence it is a good business move to accept alternative means of payments such as cryptocurrencies.

eBay could accept crypto payments

eBay is expected to make this major announcement during an investor meeting on March 10. The CEO of eBay, Jamie Iannone, said that the company was now looking to diversify into alternative payments, as it is now managing $85 billion worth of trading volumes.

The marketplace has already made major decisions to support Gen Z and millennials on the platform. To make it possible, it has partnered with Afterpay, a firm based in Australia, whose main target audience is Gen Z. Afterpay supports a “Buy now pay later” framework.

“And so we continue to evaluate other forms of payments that we should take on the platform,” Iannone said. “We don’t currently accept cryptocurrency on the platform.” the other strategies being taken to attract this generation include collectibles and transforming its marketing capabilities.

Iannone stressed that the platform does not currently support cryptocurrency payments. However, during the investor meeting on March 10, he said that eBay was “going to go deeper on all these things, payments, advertising, our focus categories.”

NFTs on eBay

Iannone also said that non-fungible tokens (NFTs) were already being supported on eBay, while the company had not made any official announcement regarding the same. He noted that in 2021, eBay had changed its policies to allow NFT trading. He added that eBay was a platform where “people have something to sell, and people have something by show up.”

“So even without announcing anything or doing anything, people started trading NFT on a platform,” he said. “It reminded me of many years ago when people just started selling cars when we didn’t have a vehicle business at that point. So we’re seeing the same type of thing [with NFT].”

Iannone further added that eBay’s vision was to become a platform where people could trade physical and digital items. As an NFT marketplace, eBay will have a chance to grab a share of the market that has seen major growth in adoption.

NFTs became highly popular in 2021, and the sector is currently valued at billions of dollars. More than $23 billion worth of trading volumes for NFTs were recorded in 2021, which is a significant increase from the $100 million recorded in 2020.

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