- American Express (NYSE:AXP) CEO shared his thoughts on the company’s future with cryptocurrency.
- Redeemable ‘membership’ and ‘reward points’ are likely possibile in the future, but there are no immediate plans for crypto-linked cards.
- Despite efforts, the company remains cautious with cryptocurrency.
During a recent Yahoo! (NASDAQ:AABA) Finance interview this Tuesday, American Express CEO Stephen Squeri shared his thoughts on the company’s future with cryptocurrency.
We have watched government-based digital currencies very, very carefully. We are exploring other ways to potentially redeem your membership and rewards points, but I don’t think you are going to see an American Express card linked to cryptocurrency anytime soon.
The American Express CEO has been known to be cautious about his approach towards cryptocurrency. In an interview in October 2021, he expressed his rejection of the idea of cryptocurrency being a real currency. Squeri pointed at Bitcoin’s volatility from the fact that its value lowered by 50% in only two months.
Moreover, Squeri stated that the two payment methods are just fundamentally different. He claimed the values that occur within a credit card don’t lend themselves well to cryptocurrency.
Despite this, he mentioned that the company is closely watching government-based digital currencies and that the Amex card has been involved with stablecoins.
Meanwhile, American Express competitors Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) have already engaged in crypto-related partnerships.
Earlier this month, Mastercard announced a deal with Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) Global Inc. This allows customers to use Mastercard credit and debit cards on the crypto exchange’s upcoming NFT marketplace.
In 2020, Visa and BlockFi also announced a partnership allowing cardholders to receive 1.5% of their purchases back in BTC.