Why Etsy will not accept Bitcoin as payment ‘right now’

Etsy Inc., which reported a strong revenue growth last year, alongside a surge in e-commerce amid the pandemic, does not intend to accept Bitcoin as payments on the leading e-commerce website, at least for now. According to President and CEO of Etsy, Josh Silverman until more people buy and also use the digital currency, he does not think that the Bitcoin payment integration will be very useful for the website.

However, the chief executive who admitted that he has held Bitcoin for the past six to seven years, believed that the asset can be “an interesting” store of value. In a recent interview with CNBC Squawk Box, Silverman explained his stance on the asset:

I’ve held Bitcoin for 6-7 years now on the theory that I think it can be an interesting stored value. 

It could be an interesting tender some day. We need a whole lot more people to buy it and own it before I think it’s really useful  

Although Etsy does not accept Bitcoins currently, users seem to have found a way around to accept crypto payments. A popular crypto influencer pointed out how some users make use of the ‘Other’ payment method as means to connect with users who will accept Bitcoin. Customers usually mention in a note that they prefer to pay in BTC and contact the customer directly with a Bitcoin payment address and amount. 

This goes to show that if the company were to integrate the asset as a payment option on its website, it could tap into a new market.

Moreover, the user base of cryptocurrencies is only growing, with 106 million global crypto users as of January 2021. A surge in crypto adoption has already influenced some institutions to integrate the payment network. As in the case of one Massachusetts-based hospital that set up a Bitcoin wallet to receive a donation of $800,000 BTC recently. 

In fact, many believe that firms like Tesla, MasterCard and the BNY Mellon Bank, which have already pushed Bitcoin toward mainstream adoption will attract others to mirror the firms’ BTC investment strategies.