Global ride-hailing and delivery giant Uber is evaluating the integration of stablecoins into its massive global payment system, marking the third time since 2021 that the company has publicly expressed strong interest in cryptocurrency payment options.
CEO Explains: Stablecoins Are Attractive
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi clearly stated at the Bloomberg Tech Conference held in San Francisco on the 5th that the company is currently in the "research phase", actively evaluating the application scenarios of stablecoins at Uber.
According to Bloomberg, this global service giant is particularly focused on the "practical benefits" of stablecoins in reducing cross-border payment costs and improving fund circulation efficiency.
I think stablecoins are one of the more interesting examples in cryptocurrencies, with practical benefits beyond value storage.
You can have your views on Bit (Bitcoin), which is a verified commodity with differing opinions about its direction.
But stablecoins seem very promising, especially for global companies transferring funds internationally.
Uber's strategic consideration focuses on improving operational efficiency. For a company operating in over 70 countries and needing to handle multiple currencies, the appeal of stablecoins lies in simplifying complex exchange processes.
Considering Uber's massive operational scale, with 171 million Monthly Active Platform Consumers by the end of December 2024, even tiny cost savings per transaction would accumulate to significant total benefits.
Uber Has Explored Crypto Payments "Many Times"
Uber had already joined the Diem Association (formerly Libra) in 2019, supporting the stablecoin project initiated by Meta Platforms Inc. (then Facebook), which, although ultimately unrealized, demonstrated Uber's early interest in this concept.
CEO Khosrowshahi first revealed in a September 2021 CNBC interview that the company would "research" the possibility of accepting Bit and other cryptocurrencies as payment methods, but he explicitly excluded holding crypto assets on the company's balance sheet.
Subsequently, in February 2022, he told Bloomberg that Uber would "absolutely" accept cryptocurrency payments at "some point" in the future, while emphasizing that the timing was not yet right.
That "time" might be approaching soon.
