Uber Technologies CEO Dara Khosrowshahi recently made statements that the ride-sharing company will be accepting crypto in the future as the industry becomes “environmentally friendly” and less expensive.
In an interview with Bloomberg, Khosrowshahi said that the firm will “at some point” accept cryptocurrencies, but acknowledged that it still has reservations on the matter because crypto’s “exchange mechanism is expensive,” adding that such a method is also “not great for the environment.”
Khosrowshahi says that Uber is still evaluating crypto payments integration for its ride-sharing services, which has a global footprint.
“Is Uber going to accept crypto in the future? Absolutely. At some point. This isn’t the right point, but we will.” Khosrowshahi notes.
The executive noted that Bitcoin, alongside other cryptocurrencies, have become valuable over time. Khosrowshahi has been known as an early Bitcoin advocate. During his 12-year tenure with Expedia, a travel-bookings platform, Khosrowshahi turned the platform into one of the first mainstream merchants to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment in 2014.
“I think right now what we see with bitcoin and some of the other [cryptocurrencies] is that they are quite valuable as a store of value,” Khosrowshahi said. “As the exchange mechanism becomes less expensive, becomes more environmentally friendly, I think you will see us lean into crypto a little bit more.” he adds.
Uber has not made any definite statements on the matter aside from those mentioned by its chief. Since its inception, Uber has not made any moves into the crypto space. Notably, however, Uber co-founder Oscar Salazar has shifted to the crypto industry by founding Voyager, a crypto exchange, in July 2018.
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