Bitcoin Forum

EBay, one of the world’s largest e-commerce platforms, is considering making the leap into cryptocurrency payments, according to a high-ranking company executive.

Full article on: http://cryptobible.io/ebay-talking-adding-bitcoin-payments/

They're too late. The jokes on them. Bitcoin is no longer a payment system. You can't buy stuff with it anymore because now it's a "store of value". ;)

They should have decided on this two years ago and reap all the benefits that an association with Bitcoin can bring. Just look at Overstock of how it created some sort of goodwill for the company even if only a minute part of their sales is coming from Bitcoin. Anyway, this can be a good move for eBay and can be a good news for Bitcoin. We have to admit that there is a clogging problem with Bitcoin which resulted into ridiculously high transaction fees but I still believe than in the long run merchants can be benefited by Bitcoin in terms of exposure and marketing mileage. Hoping more and more merchants would be joining the Bitcoin Alliance and these merchants would be joining the call and clamor to make Bitcoin the way it should be: fast and cheap. 

Read this article but it clearly states "We’re seriously considering it as these Cryptocurrencies become more of a mainstream” payment instrument, but “we’re not quite there yet""

So I don't think this is gonna happen anytime soon. Now that even steam dropped BTC payment. Bitcoin isn't working out with these high fee and slower confirmation. But after LN is implemented then it should be a good leap forward. No one knows when this is going to happen though.

This is good. The announcement was made publicly so it's going to add to the legitimacy of Bitcoin as a currency, at least in the eyes of the general public.

It's also good that they're not there yet, because neither is Bitcoin. The scaling issue needs to be addressed first, so let's hope the Lightning Network works as well in practice as in theory. Bitcoin in its current state cannot handle the additional strain eBay can theoretically cause its networks.

By the time they implement it as a payment system, the Lightning Network might be in place and the scaling will be ready to

handle that kind of load. Bitcoin in it's current state, will not be able to handle transaction volumes that eBay would bring to

the network. Not even BCrash will be able to handle that kind of load. {..but Roger Ver will tell people that it will be possible}

Saying that the problem of transaction volume will soon be solved by the Lightning Network is like saying the traffic problem will soon be solved by flying cars.

What if I told you that it was a store of value all the time? Bitcoin is not superior to credit cards or Paypal
as a payment system, but it is superior to fiat currencies due to its unique monetary policy and censorship resistance.

The talk of "micropayments for the 3rd world" and "easy online payments" was just marketing or people, who misunderstood
the core purpose of Bitcoin. The world needs sound money more than yet another payment solution.

You don't really need a 10-minute confirmation do you? Give it a half day and you can drop the fees 7 or 8-fold. If people can load their accounts with BTC, I don't see on-chain payments as a big problem right now.

It can also be tempting to spend some of those bitcoin profits. Isn't that how the hodlers roll--never sell, hold until you can spend it? Not sure how much business eBay does, but if Amazon were to enter the foray, I think it would generate a lot of profit taking.


A specification for LN has now been released, and they've done mainnet transactions. How far off do you think we are? A year, two? Realistically, the next big step is building publicly available wallets.

I would say that you are confused and that you (like many others) seem desperate for something to justify your devotion to Bitcoin. If there is nothing to give bitcoins value, then there is no value to store. Sure, Bitcoin can be a store of value simply because people agree that it is a store of value, but they also need to agree on the value that it stores. That is where bitcoin is going to run into trouble.

A year or two seems reasonable for proof-of-concept. Building LN wallets is a big step, but don't forget that most wallets still don't do segwit yet, and then building up the network of LN nodes is another hurdle, as well as getting people to use LN.

Agreed considering that the buyer will incur additional cost when they prefer or choose Bitcoin payments over Paypal in which won't be a smart move for the Buyer. As an Ebay Shopper myself I won't even use my Bitcoin to pay goods as like what I said the transfer fee will be shouldered by me the buyer. If the Lightning Network will have good effects on Bitcoin in terms of how fast it will transfer and how cheap it will be then it is the time for Ebay to accept Bitcoin.

This has been long overdue, what have they been waiting for after so many requests from the crypto community?

With more of these boardroom meetings, this could take some time before it this technology is adopted.


I agree its definitely too late and this is the price you pay if you don't listen to your customers, and at the moment bitcoin payments are been enjoyed by its own customers who sell gifted cards at markup in exchange for bitcoin.

I share the same sentiments as some of you who posted here that it is quite late in the day for them to consider this. Nonetheless, this is still a good business judgment because through this mechanism, EBay will earn so much because of the ever increasing value of Bitcoin. On the flip side, I doubt if there are still people who would want to pay using their Bitcoins given the fact that they will lose opportunity costs, considering its value as of writing. These people, might I guess, would prefer holding their Bitcoins on the premise of earning huge bucks rather than using it as a mode of payment.   

First it was amazon talking about integrating cryptocurrency payments into the system and now eBay. I think it is time that theses companies should act rather than only talking and creating humors. cryptocurrency volatailty is not easy to control and integrating into the system is more difficult than we think, moreover these companies are linked for delivering goods which is further linked into states taxes matter thereby making it more difficult to integrate. So, I think companies should come with the news of inaugurating the payment system, rather than creating unnecessary hype.

Indeed it is, eBay's move should be a long time ago when bitcoin is just starting but right now that they are on the move to add bitcoin as one of their mode of payment, I think it's too late.

eBay wouldn't be the one that would talk to this kind, maybe many more other companies, organizations, institutions and something similar to them will make some move too.

The UI for the Lightning wallets that already exists is not so bad really. I'd use it. Maybe LN takeup will be no different to Bitcoin adoption: the first movers will be the people that are most willing to learn something.




Yeah, what's needed is a massive incentive for people to use the network, if you can think of one, let me know...


Oh look, I actually went back in time to invalidate your point, with something else you said that contradicts you! Which one do you actually believe (hint: it can't be both :D)

I too think that making people willing to use LN for smaller everyday transaction would be a big hurdle. Bitcoin has inbuilt deflation. People use it more as a store of value and investment asset than a currency. People are happily using inflationary fiat for these small transaction. People might use bitcoin for luxury items. But they can happily do onchain transactions by paying high fees.

With the price of bitcoin getting higher the more micro transactions of it is taking place and the more unconfirmed transactions are piling up. It might be best in EBays case to allow litecoin, doge etc due to this, so people can make fast transactions, otherwise nobody want to wait out the confirmations on BTC, by the time it arrives it might have even become less worth. Also on microtransactions the fee would become a killer on BTC.

I was being sarcastic.

High demand for on-chain transactions will obviously drive demand for off-chain transactions, it's just that there's no network (and hence no supply) for off-chain payment channels yet.

I think you could be right on this, when transaction fees start to how up higher than a $5 item being purchased it becomes an issue, perhaps litecoin will be more suited to Ebay now, bitcoin is onto other things with the big boys :)

It's just a temporary obstacle for now. It's just a matter of time before before Lightning Network will make sure that people can use Bitcoin as currency again. By the time Ebay at whatever time decides to implement Bitcoin payments into their market platform, we likely already have Lightning Network active. People will be able to spend $2 transactions basically for peanuts, which will stimulate people to conduct small purchases, and allow third world countries to utilize Bitcoin to the full. At that time there is only the volatility left that people can complain about, which is something we likely never see change for the better.

I know you're joking, but to to make things clear it's still a viable payment system, and a cheap one for that matter, provided that you're buying expensive stuff. Paying a fee of $10 to pay for a nice computer or a set of furniture worth $1000 or more is something you wouldn't think twice about.


It always depends on the value of the item. Remember that paypal takes a percent of your payment, not a fixed amount. If you tried to buy a car using it you'd get ripped off.

It's also a nice way of hiding the transactions and I'm not even talking about cheating or being dishonest. Sasy you want to buy a gift for your wife and you share the account. Cryptocurrencies are always a useful option.

That's what I was thinking as well. Adding bitcoin now is stupid, fees are way too high for people that actually want to buy something using bitcoin. And the number of people who want to actually use bitcoin is declining as well since all of a sudden everyone has become a super investor who is going to hold onto bitcoin for dear life. So from a pure practical stand point they should either wait before LN gets deployed or start accepting altcoins that are faster and cheaper to use (something like cripple or beetrash).


Do you really thing that volatility will still be a problem when LN is done and activated? At this rate we will have a trillion dollar market capitalization in no time. We're already half way there.

Paypal adding Bitcoin payments would be great although i'm worried that this piece of news is going to end up being just like all those Amazon teasers we've been hearing for years. They may be planning to accept it according to someone who overheard a conversation in the lounge and in  reality never do it or keep thinking and analysing for another year.

I am sure that the eBay management have already realized of the kind of goodwill which being connected with Bitcoin can bring to their brandname and business in general. I understand that with the scalability problem of Bitcoin many merchants are still have to get an avalanche of business from many Bitcoin holders (this can be changing in the future though) but the most important benefits is that goodwill or exposure that may follow just accepting Bitcoin as one of the mode of payments. In fact, there are now companies who experienced growth just accepting Bitcoin and I am not just talking about sales here. For eBay this can be a new chapter for the company and I am hoping they really push it now and not delay the decision.

It seems eBay was too late adopting this, Newegg and Overstock has been adopting it before.
I do agree with you, for now bitcoin not really compatible for setup as shop online payment, it's has been changes as 'store of values - investment asset'. Since fees of tx going high, it's not worth it spend bitcoin into shopping online.

And you can bet StubHub the ticket reseller (also part of the eBay family) are considering blockchain and crypto solutions too.  ;D

Why are they always so late to do such things .
To achieve this , they have to do a lot of innovations to settle down with the prices of bicoin and arrange the buying options according to that level .
If it happens , it will be a huge milestone

I believe it's just about strong will. If Ebay jumps crypto train then it's to do it ASAP.

This is 7 month old news guys. They still aren't accepting Bitcoin!
It was FUD and all that really has been said is that they would accept payments through a third party processor, which isn't really an acceptance. Amazon has been doing a similar thing for years now. Using a third party in a system that was supposed to give you full control of your money is a waste of time, politely speaking.

Earlier, some companies had stopped paying with bitcoin, claiming that bitcoin was volatile. If a large company like eBay accepts the payment system with bitcoin, it will be easier to take similar steps for other companies. By the way, I don't think volatility will be a problem. But if transfer fees are high like before, then this could be a serious problem.