Uber could join the list of companies that accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in the near future. The company's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, has just said that he is open to this possibility under certain conditions. He nevertheless assured that this payment option will eventually be adopted by Uber in the near future.

Uber may accept cryptocurrency as payment

Uber could join the list of companies that accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment in the near future. The company's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, has just said that he is open to this possibility under certain conditions. He nevertheless assured that this payment option will eventually be adopted by Uber in the near future.



A solution that is too expensive and not sufficiently ecological

In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Dara Khosrowshahi cited two factors that currently prevent Uber from approving cryptocurrencies for paying for their rides. He notably tackled the high cost of crypto transactions and their impact on the environment. “  It could definitely happen. We have conversations all the time. I think right now what we're seeing with bitcoin and some of the other cryptocurrencies are that they have great value as a store of value, but the exchange mechanism is expensive. It's not great for the environment,” he said.


Mr. Khosrowshahi then claimed that cheaper and greener crypto transactions could push Uber to look closely at these assets for payments. It is moreover, according to him, an inevitable outcome. “  As the exchange gets cheaper, gets greener, I think you'll see Uber lean into crypto a bit more. We are absolutely attentive to this. Will Uber accept cryptocurrencies in the future? absolutely, at some point,” he said.


Uber will not expose its cash to bitcoin

The reservations expressed by Mr. Khosrowshahi surely come from his experience within the travel reservation site Expedia, of which he was CEO from 2005 to 2017. Indeed, Expedia had become in 2014, one of the first companies to accept bitcoin to handle payment processing. It partnered with Coinbase at the time to offer this solution to its customers.


Despite acknowledging bitcoin as a store of value, Uber's CEO still isn't ready to expose his company's cash to cryptocurrency. Exactly a year ago, Khosrowshahi said he had no plans to follow other companies like Tesla that converted some of their cash holdings into bitcoin. However, he had previously hinted that he was open to the possibility of accepting cryptocurrency as a form of payment.


Uber is therefore waiting for crypto transactions to become cheaper and more environmentally friendly to accept them as a means of payment for its services. Cryptocurrencies fulfilling these two criteria should be the first to be accepted by society. 

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