Are we on the verge of mainstream adoption for digital currencies? The list of companies accepting payment in Bitcoin is steadily growing and now one of the biggest e-commerce sites is hinting at joining that list. Global e-retailing giant, Ebay, has stirred rumors via its latest promotional adverts.
Let’s check this out.
Mainstream Adoption – Ebay to Support Digital Assets?
At the Consensus conference in New York, Ebay’s banners suggested the company is about to enter the cryptocurrency space.
In a photo leaked on Telegram channel @PatronsOfTheMoon, the two banners read the following:
“Virtual Currency. it’s happening on Ebay”.
And:
“Reach 179 million active buyers in the world’s largest marketplace”
The photos have caused a stir, because if eBay is readying support for virtual currencies then it would be a major breakthrough for mainstream adoption. Bitcoin would be opened up to a network of potentially 180 million buyers.
But don’t get too excited just yet. The company has yet to confirm that the posters are legitimate and hasn’t made any official statement regarding its cryptocurrency plans.
Other Mainstream Adoption
Ebay isn’t the only major brand hinting at mainstream adoption. Elsewhere, a new initiative is aiming to make big name retailers such as Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom, and Amazon’s Whole Foods, accept Bitcoin and three other types of digital currency.
The initiative comes from a partnership between payments startup, Flexa, and Gemini crypto-exchange. The pair have created a cryptocurrency payments app called Spedn.
The app is already active and works by “piggy-backing on the digital scanners that many big retailers use to accept phone-based payments from their apps and from digital wallets like Apple Pay”.
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The partnership has asked various major retailers to “configure their scanners to recognize payments” from the Spedn app. Then a customer simply pays with the app and the merchant will receive a real-time payment in the form of the customers choosing—either cryptocurreny of dollars.
The app holds support for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and, the Gemini Dollar stablecoin. Currently, the app is still under experiment by the retailers that are using it. As such, it remains to be seen if it will be a success.
The volatility of Bitcoin and the risk of hacking, has always been a major issue that has culled mainstream involvement. But might Spedn work? What do you think? Is mainstream adoption on the horizon?
Featured Image: Deposit Photos/hello.artmagination.com
