If Walmart is serious about crypto, Bitcoin could rise

Bitcoin (BTC 0.01%) as a payment option can go mainstream faster than you might think. Suresh Kumar, the global chief technology officer for Yahoo Finance, spoke at Yahoo Finance’s All Markets Summit. Walmart (WMT 2.02%), discussed some of the ways the giant retailer plans to make crypto a central part of its future payment strategy, both for physical and virtual goods. As Kumar noted, “Crypto will become an important part of how customers shop.”

Bitcoin, as the most popular crypto for payments, will benefit the most. If a major retailer like Walmart really goes all-in on crypto, that would be a huge validation point and would certainly be a bullish indicator for Bitcoin.

The Metaverse and Crypto

So what is driving this newfound support for crypto as a payment option? An important factor has been Walmart’s embrace of the metaverse. As Kumar pointed out, Walmart customers are inspired to buy and discover new products as a result of all the time they spend in virtual worlds. Once part of these virtual worlds, they are looking to pay for virtual goods, such as new items for an online avatar. And that’s where cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin come into play.

Image source: Getty Images.

Walmart has stepped up its support for the metaverse recently. In September, it introduced Walmart Land and Walmart’s Universe of Play at Roblox, a popular metaverse gaming platform. Walmart was obviously fascinated by all the time customers spent on the platform. As of June 30, Roblox boasted 52.2 million daily active users, 11.3 billion engagement hours, 12 million creators and 32 million different experiences.

Social media and crypto

Walmart also suggested that the new ways people use social media has forced the company to rethink the payment options it should offer customers. For example, Walmart livestream events on social media have proven to be a great way for customers to learn about new products and see how they are used in real life. While watching these events, you may want to buy products featured in them, and crypto is being explored as a frictionless way for customers to pay for these items online. Walmart has experimented with purchasable live stream events on several different platforms, including TwitterTikTok and YouTube.

Social media is also blurring the line between e-commerce and crypto, especially when it comes to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Customers who buy NFTs via online marketplaces now want to showcase these NFTs on social media. In response to this need, Facebook and Instagram (from Meta platforms) now makes it possible to link your virtual wallet containing these NFTs with your social media accounts. Again, your virtual wallet that holds these NFTs can also hold cryptocurrencies, so as Kumar noted in his presentation, crypto is really at the center of things that customers like to do.

Warnings about Walmart and crypto

Of course, the big caveat here is that Kumar only specifically mentioned the metaverse and social media. For now, Walmart appears to be in the learning stages of how to make crypto a part of its metaverse and social media strategy. He mentioned that crypto could lead to a “disruption of payment options,” but did not suggest that Walmart stores would suddenly start accepting Bitcoin. So some of the headlines you might see on social media can be somewhat misleading.

For Bitcoin, obviously the biggest validation will come if Walmart eventually made paying with Bitcoin a central part of both the online and in-store experience. Right now, however, Walmart does not accept payment in cryptocurrency. It has long been rumored that Walmart is looking at Bitcoin as a payment option, but nothing official has been announced.

It’s obviously exciting news that a major retail giant like Walmart is getting more involved in the metaverse and cryptocurrencies. People often like to point to Walmart’s patent applications for NFTs and crypto tokens, as well as the company’s recent embrace of in-store Bitcoin ATMs, as evidence that the company is close to getting really serious. If and when Walmart goes all-in on crypto, it could be a screaming buy signal for Bitcoin.