CEO of Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi, has announced that Uber will accept cryptocurrency as payment soon. During an interview at Bloomberg Television, Khosrowshahi explained why Uber has not yet stepped into the cryptocurrency world. Reasons that hold back Uber to make this step has most to do with environmental concerns and hefty transaction costs. However, he stated that Uber will surely study crypto payments later.
In his statement, Khosrowshahi emphasizes their discussions about this topic. The company will lean into crypto when the exchange mechanism becomes more affordable and less harmful to the environment. There have been many hints from Uber about their interest in digital currency. Additionally, back in 2021, Khosrowshahi revealed to CNBC that the company was contemplating investing in Bitcoin with corporate capital and looking to step into digital currencies.
Reasons That Holds Back Uber To Join Crypto Space
Uber’s CEO cited worries about Bitcoin’s energy efficiency as one of the reasons for Uber’s delay in accepting cryptocurrencies. The Bitcoin mining process involves solving hard cryptographic problems to validate blocks of transactions, which consumes a lot of energy. The electricity used by Bitcoin is comparable to that necessary to power whole countries. Nonetheless, this is a problem that the industry is fully aware of, leading to increased attempts to improve energy efficiency.
Furthermore, Uber’s position on Bitcoin is a positive sign since this demonstrates that Uber is eager to join the cryptocurrency market. The company will join the crypto space after they properly address some worries of their users.
In contrast to Tesla, Mastercard, and Microsoft, which have already entered the cryptocurrency market, Khosrowshahi’s recent statements seem to be bright for the future of their app. According to the company’s recent remarks, it is nearly certain that the firm will join the market at some point in the future. Uber’s decision towards accepting cryptocurrency is also influenced by the adoption of crypto by giant worldwide companies.