Uber CEO Not Interested in Bitcoin Investment, Wants to 'Keep Our Cash Safe'
During a Thursday interview on CNBC's Squawk Box, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company isn't interested in investing in Bitcoin, and instead will "keep [its] cash safe."
When asked on-air whether Uber would follow in the steps of a company like Tesla, which revealed in a recent report that it has bought $1.5 billion in Bitcoin, Khosrowshahi said that Uber's conversation about Bitcoin happened and was "quickly dismissed."
"We're going to keep our cash safe. We're not in the speculation business. The upside in our company is in the business that we build, not the investments that we invest in," he said.
"It was a conversation that happened that has been quickly dismissed. We're going to keep our cash safe. We're not in the speculation business," says @dkhos on whether he's considering adding #bitcoin to $UBER's balance sheet. pic.twitter.com/fCEy95rKEb
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) February 11, 2021
Despite swiftly writing off the idea that the company would invest in the popular cryptocurrency, Khosrowshahi did say that Uber would consider allowing riders or customers using Uber Eats to make transactions with cryptos like Bitcoin. He didn't specify if Dogecoin would be accepted, but all of the investments in that meme crypto would certainly pay off if Uber were to begin accepting it.
"Just like we accept all kinds of local currency, we are going to look at cryptocurrency and/or Bitcoin in terms of currency to transact. That's good for business. That's good for our riders and our eaters. So that we'll certainly look at, and if there's a benefit there, if there's a need there, we'll do it," Khosrowshahi said.
"Just like we accept all kinds of local currency we are going to look at cryptocurrency and or #bitcoin in terms of currency to transact. That's good for business, that's good for our riders and our eaters," says @dkhos. "We are just not going to do it as part of a promotion." pic.twitter.com/2OSamy3yBV
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) February 11, 2021
Bitcoin has recently passed valuations worth tens of thousands of dollars (currently, one Bitcoin is worth just shy of $48,000), and its increase has seemingly captured the attention of major corporations like Tesla.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been very vocal in his support for cryptocurrencies. He has jokingly endorsed the meme currency Dogecoin as the "currency of earth," causing its valuation to spike. And while Musk may joke about cryptos occasionally, he has put his money where his mouth is, considering Tesla's hefty investment in Bitcoin.
CNBC also noted recently that Tesla would begin accepting Bitcoin as a payment method.
A few publicly traded companies have begun embracing cryptocurrency, purchasing large sums of Bitcoin. In January, Forbes reported that Microstrategy, a company that provides business intelligence, mobile software and cloud services, has invested over a billion dollars into Bitcoin. It also noted that corporations like the payment service Square, which was founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, and other companies that appear to have a focus in trading, mining and creating infrastructure for cryptocurrencies (like Galaxy Digital Holdings and Voyager Digital) have also invested in Bitcoin.
Newsweek reached out to Uber for comment.
