eBay could be accepting cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and altcoins, if the promotional material spotted at the Consensus 2019 conference is to be believed. As CCN reported, “eBay is readying support for ‘virtual currencies’ and ‘digital collectables’” as the banners at the New York conference suggest.
According to photographs from the Consensus 2019 conference in New York, eBay, is entering the cryptocurrency and cryptopayments arena. Using banners with such messages as “Virtual Currency. It’s happening on eBay,” eBay sought to spark the imagination of attendees and create some buzz around the possibility of its adoption of cryptopayments.
After images with the slogan were seen online, various theories were shared on social media, including a special deal with Binance Coin, the new token of the eponymous exchange. The Telegram channel, @PatronsOfTheMoon, was first to show the images, but the rumors have not yet been confirmed.
What is happening?
As Australian news magazine, Micky, reported, online users have suggested that most possibly this is a partnership between eBay and bitcoin payment gateway UTRUST. This can then be connected to last year’s news where the cryptopayments platform, UTRUST, secured former PayPal and eBay executive Sanja Kon as the Vice President of Global Partnerships. UTRUST offers a cryptopayment solution for instant transactions, buyer protection and crypto to cash settlements.
Micky wrote: “It’s not hard to imagine that one of the first partnerships Kon would attempt to make would be at the company she was a senior executive at for five years.”
eBay’s interest in Bitcoin also dates back in 2017 when Scott Cutler, senior vice president of eBay Americas, said that eBay was considering adopting cryptopayments: “This is a trend that everybody is talking about, but sadly, at eBay, we don’t currently accept bitcoin as a form of payment. We’re seriously considering it as these cryptocurrencies become more of a mainstream payment instrument, but we’re not quite there yet.”
Whether, the conference slogan, “Virtual Currency. It’s happening on eBay,” is really happening, we cannot be sure. But, as Micky also suggested, it would be very disappointing if the slogan merely refers to “Virtual Currency”, a category on eBay where users can buy and sell cryptocurrencies for fiat anonymously.
Sources: CCN, Micky