- WeWork, a commercial real estate firm headquartered in New York, has decided to accept payments in digital assets.
- This move is almost exactly similar to the strategy employed by Tesla when it announced that it would begin accepting cryptos as a form of payment.
WeWork is a famous unicorn company that rose to prominence after the economic recession of 2008. It has recently decided to incorporate cryptocurrencies into its balance sheets.
This move has far-reaching consequences for both the companies and the crypto realm as a whole; it signals investor confidence and trust in virtual tokens.
The replica of Tesla’s strategy
Bitcoin’s tremendous growth rate can be attributed to two major companies, Tesla and MicroStrategy. They have the largest reserves of Bitcoin and other cryptos.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk, who is very vocal in his support for cryptos, especially Bitcoins, had announced in February this year to invest $1.5 billion in Bitcoins. This shot up the market price as Bitcoin rose from a mere $9,000 to a whopping $50,000 in a short span of two months. Several companies also followed suit, leading to a more mainstream acceptance of digital assets.
In March 2021, Elon announced that Tesla would begin accepting cryptocurrencies as payment for its products and services. Though there was no particular incentive for Bitcoin payments, this move raised confidence in crypto investors.
WeWork also plans to follow in Tesla’s footsteps.
In a blog post, WeWork CEO Sandeep Mathrani said that the firm would accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, Paxos, and several other cryptos as a mode of payment for its products and services. Cryptos can also be leveraged for a membership, the company said.
Holding cryptos rather than fiat conversion
Like Tesla’s strategy, WeWork also plans to hold on to the cryptos it receives rather than immediately converting them to fiat currencies.
The firm also has plans to pay partners and landlords in cryptos if they are open to that suggestion. Coinbase, the largest US company that recently went public on the NASDAQ, announced that it will be the first client in the scheme and will pay WeWork in cryptos.
As the firm is reeling under the significant devaluation from $49 billion to a paltry $9 billion, this move is undoubtedly a step in the right direction.
With a background in journalism, Ritika Sharma has worked with many reputed media firms focusing on general news such as politics and crime. She joined The Coin Republic as a reporter for crypto, and found a great passion for cryptocurrency, Web3, NFTs and other digital assets. She spends a lot of time researching and delving deeper into these concepts around the clock, and is a strong advocate for women in STEM.