Currently, EBay does not accept Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, however news broke today of the possibility that a change is on the way. EBay Inc. is looking at new payment options for customers, including cryptocurrency, Chief Executive Officer Jamie Lannone said in a CNBC interview on Monday. The e-commerce firm is also exploring ways to get into the business of non-fungible tokens (NFTs), Lannone said.
Back in March, Payments processing giant PayPal announced that it will let users “checkout with Crypto,” offering options such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum or Bitcoin Cash. Users who have enough cryptocurrency to cover a potential purchase on a website that accepts PayPal Checkout will see it pop up as a payment option. This move has sparked a fire with others online retail companies. Payments giants like Mastercard and Visa have also been making strides to integrate cryptocurrencies into their payment networks.
EBay disappointed investors with a weak second-quarter profit forecast last week due to stiff online competition. EBay forecast second-quarter adjusted profit in the range of 91 cents to 96 cents per share. Analysts had expected a profit of $1.02 per share, according to Refinitiv IBES data. Revenue rose to $3.02 billion from $2.13 billion in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates of $2.97 billion.
“We are right on track to where we want to be from an overall margin standpoint of the business,” Iannone said in an interview.
The company has successfully focuses on its advertising, its payments business, and a simpler e-commerce platform, which has benefited its business. Online payments are changing, cryptocurrencies are among the new payment option methods for companies, therefore, by opening the door to cryptocurrency and NFT’s would also increase revenue.
