eBay open to cryptocurrency payments and exploring NFTs

eBay will continue to look at the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment in the future.

The online marketplace is also exploring ways to get non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on its platform.

In an interview with CNBC, eBay CEO Jamie Iannone commented: “One of the great things about eBay is when there’s a new trend, it just shows up on eBay.”

“That’s what we’re seeing in areas like NFT, and we’re looking at how can we explore that better.”

He added that the company was always looking at the most relevant forms of payment.

It had no immediate crypto plans, but nonetheless was keeping an eye on this space.

PayPal

The demand for cryptocurrency exceeded PayPal’s initial expectations following a major move by the firm last year.

PayPal announced in October that its customers would soon be able to use cryptocurrencies to shop at the 26 million merchants on its network.

It would also allow people to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin and other virtual coins using its online wallets.

“Demand on the crypto side has been multiple-fold to what we initially expected. There’s a lot of excitement,” PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman recently told Time magazine.

He added: “Ten years from now, you will see a tremendous decline in the use of cash. All form factors of payment will collapse into the mobile phone.”

“Credit cards as a form factor will go away, and you will use your phone because a phone can add much more value than just tapping your credit card.”