eBay Could Soon Integrate Crypto Payments on its Platform, Hints CEO

American multinational e-commerce giant eBay is eyeing to integrate crypto payments. In a recent interview, CEO Jamie Iannone said the firm might leap very soon. Primarily, eBay wants to capture the GenZ and millennial audiences.

Appealing to the Younger Generation

eBay is one of the oldest e-commerce corporations. It was founded in 1995. In an exclusive interview with The Street, Iannone said the official announcement for the much-anticipated crypto integration platform could be revealed during the upcoming investor’s day on March 10. According to the exec, the marketplace aims to transform as a go-to place for Gen-Z and millennials.

Iannone said,

“We’re just completing our transition to managing payments where we’re now managing $85 billion of volume on our platform directly. This gives us the ability to open up new forms of payment.”

So far, eBay has enabled Google Pay and Apple Pay on its platform. It has also scored a partnership with a fintech company, Afterpay in Australia, “which is a platform that appeals to Gen Z,” Iannone hinted that now is the time to evaluate other forms of payments. The founder also said he is keen on exploring new avenues.

“And so we continue to evaluate other forms of payments that we should take on the platform. We don’t currently accept cryptocurrency on the platform.”

Big Bets on NFTs

Back in 2014, eBay was considering adding Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment mode to its retail platform. Six years later, Iannone said that the e-commerce giant was in no hurry to other payment options such as cryptocurrency but noted that it wanted to continue exploring more.

Even though eBay is yet to roll out the crypto payment feature, it placed big bets on the burgeoning NFT sector in May last year. As reported by CryptoPotato, the firm enabled the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platform. Only whitelisted sellers were allowed to list and sell NFTs.

eBay wasn’t the only reputed platform to have interfaced with emerging tech like NFTs and blockchain. Online payment processors PayPal and Chinese e-commerce company JD.com also dived into the NFT space last year.

Featured Image Courtesy of Reuters