eBay Mulls Bitcoin As A Payment Method

Online retailer eBay, following in the footsteps of Overstock.com, is contemplating allowing bitcoin as a payment method.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance, Scott Cutler, SVP of eBay Americas, said the eCommerce retailer is “seriously considering” accepting bitcoin payments but noted the company is “not quite there yet.” He noted that eBay is currently focused on the holiday shopping season, which is turning out to be a strong one for online retailers.  

While eBay isn’t accepting bitcoin for purchases yet, Overstock has been for some time now, which has been a boon to its stock price. In August, Overstock announced a partnership with digital asset exchange company ShapeShift. Through their collaboration, any one of Overstock’s customers has the option of making a purchase by using cryptocurrencies, including Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash and Bitcoin Cash.

Overstock became the first major retailer to accept multiple forms of cryptocurrencies as payment. Yahoo Finance pointed out that the company’s shares were up more than 250 percent in the past six months, as the bitcoin frenzy ensues unabated.

With bitcoin trading above $17,000 after starting the year at $1,000, all sorts of people are suddenly interested in the cryptocurrency market — from those who want to trade the tokens to those who want to make purchases with them. Overstock’s shares received another boost after it announced it would launch a digital coin trading platform via its tZERO subsidiary, raising money via an initial coin offering (ICO).

Earlier this week, CNBC reported news that Morgan Stanley Investment Management had acquired an 11.4 percent stake in Overstock. The Morgan Stanley unit said in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing late last week that it now owns close to 2.87 million shares of Overstock as of the end of November. A 13G filing is usually required for passive investors possessing a stake between 5 and 20 percent, but neither Morgan Stanley Investment Management nor Overstock.com has commented on it.