In a recent interview published on February 27th president and chief executive officer of eBay, Jamie Iannone discussed the possibility of adding digital currency as possible means of payment on the online auction website and non-fungible token (NFT) sales.

After being questioned regarding crypto acceptance Iannone highlighted that currently, eBay is not accepting cryptocurrencies. Although the firm is planning to focus and evaluate other forms of payments that can be taken on the platform including advertising.  On March 10 the firm could make an announcement to its investors regarding this.

Iannone also said the firm has opened Google Pay and Apple Pay. eBay has also partnered with Afterpay which is based in Australia. Afterpay is a platform that appeals to Gen Z, and that is a buy now pay later platform on the marketplace. Iannone highlighted that Gen-Z is a priority target for his platform.

Iannone revealed that even before the platform had made any particular announcement, people began trading non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on eBay. The online exchange of items by individuals will remain a major business on eBay, according to Iannone. As Iannone further revealed, the company focuses and places a premium on transactions related to the youth and trends like the collectible sneakers industry. Through this, the company is appealing to the younger generation who are selling their sneakers on the platform, becoming a collectible collector and building new marketing capabilities.

He further added eBay will remain one of the most prominent businesses where people can exchange goods online. It will be the place where people trade goods are it physical or digital. Iannone said, “So over time, you know, we want this to be the marketplace for sustainability.”

Iannone told, "We're just completing our transition to manage payments where we're now managing $85 billion of volume on our platform directly," "This gives us the ability to open up new forms of payment."

In 2020 eBay showed a record of generating $10.27 billion in revenue which revealed that in the world of internet commerce, eBay has retained a huge position. As compared to Amazon the revenue was significant which generated $386.1 billion in the same year.

As per a report on May 11, 2021, eBay had allowed NFT sales on the auction site. eBay CEO Jamie Iannone explained that the NFT sales simply materialized without much thought.

Indrani Bose

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA