Uber Plans to Accept Crypto Payments, CEO Says

The San Francisco-based transport giant will “absolutely” accept crypto payments, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said in an interview with Bloomberg. 

Among many things — fares, food delivery, stocks, etc. — the CEO said that Uber users will be allowed to pay fares in digital assets without disclosing an exact date. He added that there are “conversations all the time” about cryptocurrencies within the firm.

“I think right now what we see with Bitcoin [BTC] and some of the other cryptos that they are quite valuable as a store of value,” Khosrowshahi said. “The exchange mechanism is expensive, it’s not great for the environment.”

Just a matter of time

Moreover, Uber’s CEO pointed out challenges such as pollution and the expensiveness of the exchange mechanism. He said “as the exchange mechanism becomes less expensive and more environmentally friendly” the company will “absolutely” go further with digital currencies, and they are “absolutely watching it [crypto].”

According to Khosrowshahi, it’s just a matter of time for Uber to accept crypto, but “this isn’t the right point.” 

The $68 billion company’s stock price dropped 6.52% in the past 24 hours and is being traded at $35.29 at press time. The CEO, meanwhile, said they have more long-term goals as the interest rates and “inflation expectations [are] increasing.”

Some major companies have already started accepting cryptocurrency payments. 

The digital payments Beast, PayPal, was one of the first crypto users in the world. PayPal onboarded Bitcoin in Sep 2014. Soon after PayPal, Microsoft adopted Bitcoin in Dec 2014 even when cryptocurrencies were largely unknown. 

The first major brand to accept Bitcoin was Overstock. The American internet retailer adopted Bitcoin nearly nine months before PayPal. According to a 2018 report by CNN, Overstock is “basically a crypto company now.”

It’s not only the companies that want to accept the inevitable, but the governments too. Bitcoin is a legal tender in El Salvador and many countries including China, Iran, Russia, Japan, etc. are working on their central bank digital currencies, also known as CBDCs.

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