eBay considering to accept bitcoin as payment

Senior vice president of eBay Scott Cutler is ‘seriously considering’ accepting bitcoin as payment. Payments in bitcoin aren’t implemented in many retaliers just yet, but we could see changes very soon.

Cryptocurrencies are gaining global attention with an accumulated market cap of 416 billion at the time of writing this article. However, due to it’s volatility, which may be great for investors, most bitcoin supporters are largely looking at it as investment, not currency. People are reluctant to spend or transact during a surge.

eBay Incorporated is already offering several bitcoin-related items. From Complete Cryptocurrency GPU minning Rig, to ‘Just Hodl’ hoodie, you can even purchase a collectible bitcoin gift coin. You just can’t pay them in bitcoin.

Yahoo Finance reported on the internet company’s attempts to compete with Amazon. Report based on speculation from eBay officials regarding cryptocurrency payment systems. Scott Cutler, senior vice president told Yahoo Finance in an interview in mid December that the online retalier is »seriously considering« accepting bitcoin, but »we’re not quite there yet.«

The first major retailer to accept bitcoin back in 2014 was Overstock, becoming first billion-dollar business to take the step. They were up more than 320% in the last year, as they were riding the bitcoin wave. Their secret? Taking 50% in U.S. dollars, and 50% in bitcoins, to facilitate transactions, Overstock used Coinbase’s exchange to convert digital currency in real-time.

eBay on the other hand, publicized its plan to discountinue PayPal as a payment option from its webiste, reflecting poorly on PayPal’s stock. EBay users will still be able to process payments through PayPal. These two companies are bound by agreement which ends in 2020.

End of January, eBay announced that it has instead signed an accord with Adyen, an Amsterdam-based payment service company, to become eBay’s primary processor. Adyen is also partner of BitPay, popular cryptocurrency payment platform, which will allow all Ayden clients to use their service. It will be interesting to see, if eBay does make the step in to the cryptocurrency world, which currency will they choose for its platform.