eBay has experienced tremendous success as a US-based global online marketplace. The eCommerce company is a leader and trendsetter in facilitating consumers, sellers, and businesses worldwide. By the end of the first quarter of 2022, there were speculations that eBay would be considering adding crypto as a payment method.
eBay Payment Methods
For the first couple of decades, eBay had a traditional payment method limited to debits and credit cards. Some sellers ceded to payments via checks, cash, and money orders, and the only notable deviation from the conservative transactional approach was PayPal.
In 2018, eBay upgraded its payment methods, including Google Pay and Apple Pay. Including these payment options made life easier for customers and raised the company’s volume of transactions.
eBay has constantly evolved to maintain its position in the current market, and money management has been at par with customer practices. It is safe to assume that as digital wallets and currencies become more stable, eBay won’t shy away from incorporating them into its roster.
President and CEO Jamie Iannone expressed how the transition to alternative payment methods was an ongoing process. eBay holds a strong position in goods trading, both physical and digital. He emphasized ensuring this remains a “marketplace for sustainability.”
As a result, there won’t be any immediate changes to the payment methods, but there is hope for the future. The future of crypto exchanges, the volatility of cryptocurrencies, and the prevalence of crypto payments would determine whether or not eBay would go that route.
The Current Crypto Market
The major downside of cryptocurrencies is that they are not platform-compatible for many of our everyday expenditures. They don’t work in supermarkets or even popular marketplaces like Amazon.
The BTC (Bitcoin) has seen short spikes and multiple collapses in the past few years, as have several other cryptocurrencies. Crypto platforms have defaulted, and stricter regulations have made the business community wary of its stability.
BTC, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and Cardano have all seen muted growth, stagnation, and even long-term downtrends in the past year. FTX closed down, and thousands of users were pulled out of the platform.
Crypto experts predict that precarious and uncertain trends will continue to dictate the crypto market. In such a scenario, any indication of being heralded as a valid payment method will boost the crypto market substantially.
It’s speculated that the rumor of Amazon posting a crypto-related job played a part in redeeming Bitcoin in the summer of 2021. Any inclusion by a major retailer of cryptocurrencies is sure to improve the current standing of the crypto market.
eBay’s Digital Wallet and The Future of Crypto Payment
eBay has emphasized that they don’t accept cryptocurrency as a payment method but left the door open for changes in the future. The mid-March investor meeting in 2022 revealed their new digital wallet.
The goal is to facilitate sellers and make it simpler to spend their earnings. Given that the company’s direction is to facilitate more consumers and go digital, crypto payments have a strong chance of being incorporated into the mainstream.
