Uber CEO says cryptocurrencies need to become more efficient for the ride-hailing company to accept them as payment

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Uber CEO says cryptocurrencies need to become more efficient for the ride-hailing company to accept them as payment
Uber CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi.Jerod Harris/Getty Images for Fortune
  • Uber won't be accepting cryptocurrencies just yet because they aren't efficient enough, the CEO said on Tuesday.
  • An average Uber trip costs between $15 to $20, and crypto isn't yet an efficient exchange of value, Dara Khosrowshahi told Bloomberg.
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Cryptocurrencies need to become more efficient for ride-hailing company Uber to accept them as payment, CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said.

"It's demonstrated to be a real store of value, but it has not yet demonstrated its utility in terms of efficient exchange of value," he told Bloomberg's Emily Chang in a Tuesday interview at the ShopTalk conference in Las Vegas.

"Our average trip is a $15, $20 trip. So, we need crypto to become more efficient. We're certainly looking at all choices," he added.

Khosrowshahi doesn't expect much progress on this front anytime soon, saying even a month from now his stance on accepting cryptocurrencies would be the same.

He made waves in February when he said Uber would "absolutely" accept crypto at some point.

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"This isn't the right point," he said at the time.

Some factors that are keeping the company from making the leap into crypto, according to the CEO, include the high transaction fees that come with dealing with digital assets and their carbon footprint. This has raised questions as to how the ride-hailing firm might go about accepting crypto in the future.

Khosrowshahi has said listing bitcoin specifically as payment would be good for its business and its customers — and that the company wasn't looking at this from a promotional point of view.

Leading cryptocurrency bitcoin has become so popular that it trends on Twitter daily. Crypto has already become a popular form of payment for many establishments including fast-food chains, big tech firms, and even high-end auction houses.

Elon Musk famously announced early last year that you can now buy a Tesla with bitcoin. Burger King, Starbucks, PayPal, and eBay are just some others among thousands of companies accepting cryptocurrencies for services.

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Bitcoin slipped slightly on Wednesday to around $47,233 after top blockchain gaming platform Axie Infinity's Ronin Network suffered a $625 million hack. Bitcoin is up 2.3% so far this year, but is 31% below its record high of $69,000 in November, according to data from CoinGecko.

Read more: Amy Wu heads up FTX's monster $2 billion venture operation. She breaks down the big bets they are making for a cross-chain future — and why GameFi will become a niche category for crypto whales

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