Why Airbnb Could Be Looking Into Crypto Payments

Brian Chesky, CEO of Airbnb Inc ABNB, gave his Twitter followers a reason to believe the company could soon accept payment in cryptocurrency.

What Happened: After a Jan. 3 Twitter poll where Chesky asked what features Airbnb should roll out in 2022, the CEO said the top suggestion was crypto payments.

Chesky said the platform was “already working on most” of the suggestions and would be looking into the others soon.

“Crypto payments is inclusive of a variety of token ideas,” added Chesky in a follow-up tweet, implying crypto payments might not be limited to the top two cryptocurrencies Bitcoin BTC/USD and Ethereum BTC/USD.

According to Chesky, Airbnb’s existing payments volume stands at around $336 billion that has been processed since 2013.

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Why It Matters: Over the course of the last two years, a number of companies have moved to make cryptocurrency a payment option on the back of demand from users.

Included in this list are electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla Inc TSLA that said it would begin testing Dogecoin DOGE/USD as a payment method for merchandise, and theatre chain AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC that plans to accept Shiba Inu SHIB/USD in addition to BTC, ETH, and DOGE.

Price Action: Airbnb shares traded down about 1% early Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, the crypto market fell 10% in the last 24 hours to $2.02 trillion. Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin fell by 7%, 10%, and 6%, respectively, over the last day.