- Airbnb is “looking into” accepting cryptocurrencies, its CEO revealed this week
- Cryptocurrency payments topped a list of potential improvements by Twitter users
- Airbnb has disrupted the hospitality sector in the same way that cryptocurrency has disrupted the financial system
The cryptocurrency world has been abuzz this week with the news that accepting cryptocurrency payments topped the list of 4,000 suggestions made to Airbnb with regard to how to improve the company. Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky asked Twitter on January 2 for suggestions on what the company should launch in 2022 and revealed on Wednesday that cryptocurrency acceptance topped the list. Given that there wasn’t a shortlist provided from which respondents could pick this is quite a bug result, especially given that a huge number of respondents called for more transparent pricing. The fact that cryptocurrency acceptance ended up topping the list of potential additions is another sign that there is huge demand to use cryptocurrencies in the real world.
Cryptocurrency Adoption Goals Slowly Making Headway
Adoption in its many and varied forms has been the goal of many within the cryptocurrency space for a long time, and the past year or so has seen strides towards this vision. However, while independent shops and even some chains have announced supporting cryptocurrencies, the stage is still set for a major player to take that big step and announce cryptocurrency payments.
It seems that Airbnb, valued at some $75 billion, may well be the company to take this next step, and it seems the company may have already been looking into the matter:
We are looking into this
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 4, 2022
This comment seems to have been unrelated to Chesky’s unofficial poll, suggesting that Airbnb was already working on cryptocurrency adoption.
Airbnb Crypto Acceptance Would be Fitting
It would be very fitting if Airbnb did indeed become the biggest company to accept cryptocurrency payments since Tesla’s aborted acceptance of Bitcoin last year given its role as a major disrupter of the hospitality industry. Its premise of offering opportunities to the masses to not only vacation without the need to resort to chain hotels but to supplement their own income by being a host fits in perfectly with the cryptocurrency narrative of disrupting the global financial system by allowing anyone in the world to live and work outside it.
Acceptance of cryptocurrency by Airbnb makes absolute sense on an ideological level, and it seems that plans may already be in place for that to happen.
