WeWork Is Now Accepting Crypto Payments through Partnership with BitPay and Coinbase

Key highlights:

• WeWork now accepts cryptocurrency payments
• The company plans to hold crypto on its balance sheet and use it to pay landlord and partners
• WeWork accepts Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin and other crypto assets

WeWork adopts cryptocurrency payments

WeWork is now accepting cryptocurrency payments, supporting cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, USD Coin, Paxos Standard, and others. The company has partnered with crypto payments processor BitPay and cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to enable this functionality. 

WeWork provides shared workspaces that are especially popular among tech companies and startups. One of their customers is Coinbase, which will be paying WeWork with cryptocurrency.

Notably, WeWork says that it plans to hold the cryptocurrency it receives on its balance sheet, and use it to pay landlords and partners wherever possible through Coinbase’s services.

The company’s CEO, Sandeep Mathrani, commented on WeWork’s decision to accept cryptocurrency payments:

"WeWork has always been at the forefront of innovative technologies, finding new ways to support our members. It only makes sense for us to expand on the optionality we provide by adding cryptocurrency as an accepted form of payment for our members."

Cryptocurrency adoption among mainstream businesses has been accelerating since the second half of 2020. PayPal and Venmo have introduced cryptocurrency investing to their customers, while companies such as Tesla and WeWork now accept crypto for their products and services. In addition, companies like Square and MicroStrategy have made substantial investments into Bitcoin and now hold the cryptocurrency on their balance sheets.

WeWork is planning to go public by merging with a SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company), at a valuation of around $9 billion. The transaction is expected to be completed by Q3 this year. 

The company generated plenty of controversy in 2019 during its attempt to go public through an IPO, which ultimately fell through. Investors scrutinized WeWork’s finances and path to profitabality, as well as the business practices of Adam Neumann, who was the company’s CEO at the time.