Is eBay looking to add Bitcoin as a payment option?
Posted by: J. McMahon on 11/04/2013 08:48 AM
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Bitcoin, the peer-to-peer digital currency has been gaining popularity as an alternative to world fiat currencies. Early this year, Germany was the first country to recognize Bitcoin as a currency and recently ATM's with Bitcoin options have been popping up in coffee houses in Vancouver, Canada
"Ebay is preparing to expand the range of digital currencies it accepts and said that its payments unit PayPal may one day incorporate Bitcoin.
“Digital currency is going to be a very powerful thing,” John Donahoe, eBay chief executive, said in an interview with the Financial Times. The ecommerce group, which has more than 124m active users, is initially focusing on incorporating reward points from retailers’ loyalty schemes into its PayPal wallet.
“We are building the container so any retailer could put their loyalty points into the PayPal wallet,” Mr Donahoe said.
“There is a limit to how many cards you will carry, or remembering what points you have or don’t have,” he said. “But in a digital wallet, you can put 50 different loyalty cards.”
From reading, it looks as if the interviewer extrapolated the whole Bitcoin idea. Mr. Donahoe is discussing adding things like a target gift card to your digital wallet, he doesn't mention Bitcoin at all. So if you are looking to spend your Bitcoin stash for some Muppet collectables - it may be a few years off. That said, you can buy Bitcoins from eBay you just can't spend them there...yet.
"Ebay is preparing to expand the range of digital currencies it accepts and said that its payments unit PayPal may one day incorporate Bitcoin.
“Digital currency is going to be a very powerful thing,” John Donahoe, eBay chief executive, said in an interview with the Financial Times. The ecommerce group, which has more than 124m active users, is initially focusing on incorporating reward points from retailers’ loyalty schemes into its PayPal wallet.
“We are building the container so any retailer could put their loyalty points into the PayPal wallet,” Mr Donahoe said.
“There is a limit to how many cards you will carry, or remembering what points you have or don’t have,” he said. “But in a digital wallet, you can put 50 different loyalty cards.”
From reading, it looks as if the interviewer extrapolated the whole Bitcoin idea. Mr. Donahoe is discussing adding things like a target gift card to your digital wallet, he doesn't mention Bitcoin at all. So if you are looking to spend your Bitcoin stash for some Muppet collectables - it may be a few years off. That said, you can buy Bitcoins from eBay you just can't spend them there...yet.
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