According to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber may accept cryptocurrencies as a form of payment sooner or later. The cab booking platform has been considering the integration of cryptocurrency as a payment option on its platform, however, the company has not revealed an exact timeline for adding cryptocurrency as a payment option. Will Uber accept cryptocurrency in the future? Definitely. In an interview with Bloomberg, Khosrowshahi said, sooner or later.
For Khosrowshahi, introducing cryptocurrency as a payment method now isn’t the right time. The CEO believes that the high transaction fees charged by cryptocurrency exchanges, as well as the environmental effect of crypto mining, are the reasons for Uber not integrating cryptocurrency payments into its platform.
Cryptocurrency mining, also known as crypto mining, is the process of adding a new block to a blockchain by running a series of complex algorithms that necessitate the use of high-power consumption devices such as GPUs. Mining cryptocurrency necessitates a large amount of computing power, and thus a large amount of electricity. Many people believe that such global energy consumption is causing more harm than good.
Khosrowshahi continued that they are having conversations constantly, and thinks that people will witness them leaning into cryptocurrency a little bit more as the exchange mechanism turns into less expensive and more environmentally friendly.
Earlier this month, Uber told CNBC that the company is investigating ways for accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. The company even discussed purchasing bitcoin with corporate cash, similar to other companies like Tesla, but the idea was dismissed quickly.
If Uber does join the cryptocurrency bandwagon, it will be joining several other tech companies such as Microsoft, AT&T, and Wikipedia. Tesla Inc recently declared that it will be accepting Dogecoin – the meme-based cryptocurrency as payment for its products like the “Giga Texas” belt buckle and mini electric vehicle models.
