Emirates Airline Adding Crypto Payments With Crypto.com Partnership

Dubai-based airline Emirates is partnering with Crypto.com to integrate Bitcoin payments into the airliner's payment systems and add NFT collectibles on the company's websites for trading. The airline is also hiring staff to support its blockchain, crypto, and metaverse ambitions, positioning itself at the forefront of digital transformation in aviation.

"NFTs and metaverse are two different applications and approaches," explained Emirates Chief Operating Officer Adel Ahmed Al-Redha, adding that the airline will also seek to use the blockchain in tracing records of aircraft. "With the metaverse, you will be able to transform your whole processes -- whether it is in operation, training, sales on the website, or complete experience -- into a metaverse type application, but more importantly making it interactive."

The official integration of crypto payments is expected to take place next year, according to the announcement.

I'm Intrigued

[sound+vision]

2 things intrigue me,

(1) Zuck is still paying people to talk about "metaverse"? (unless this is a dupe from 2022)
(2) The airline is willing to gamble on providing actual goods and services in exchange for funny money?

Of course, it's not beyond the pale that they're just honest, useful, idiots.

Re:

[Retired Chemist]

They can always sell the crypto immediately and convert it into real money.

Re:

[ladislavb]

Real money??? Are you talking about the one that's losing its purchasing power by the minute?

We all make decisions about our financial future. You make yours, I make mine. Good luck with yours and your "real money".

Re:

[Retired Chemist]

Or Swiss Francs, or Yen, or gold or anything that actually has value.

Re:

[ceoyoyo]

(2) The airline is willing to gamble on providing actual goods and services in exchange for funny money?

Probalby not. That's where the partnership with crypto.com comes in. The airline gets cash. Crypto.com gets legitimacy. Their customers get to book airline tickets without paying capital gains tax.

Re: I'm Intrigued

[Big Hairy Gorilla]

Makes sense to me. They will market it now in the hope that crypto becomes more legitimate and interchangeable. It's a gamble and they gots the money to roll those dice. Fits right into the Arab affection for the big vision project. Fortune does favor the bold, so wtf really knows? Five years from now they might extend the airline platform to include gambling and other concierge services.

I ask in all seriousness

[Zontar_Thing_From_Ve]

So back in the days of the sub-prime mortgage bubble bursting, I read an online article from a guy who gets paid to write online articles about investing. He said that his dad told him "Son, when stupid money enters a market, it's time to leave that market." He said he realized that the property market and everything around it was going to burst when he went to a restaurant he liked to eat at and his favorite waitress gave him a card showing that she was now also a real estate agent on the side. Here's my question.

Hasn't even stupid money figured out that there's no money to be made in NFTs? I get why Emirates may want to take Bitcoin payments because it is theoretically possible that by doing so, they'll make more money over time if Bitcoin goes up in value. But I really don't get why they think anybody is going to want to buy their NFTs. I thought they were supposed to be one of the smart airlines, but here they are arriving at the NFT party years after it closed down.

Re:

[sound+vision]

"Metaverse" too - has me wondering if it's a dupe from 2022, or if there was some payola from the Zuc.

Re:

[sound+vision]

To be clear, I'd be surprised even if Zuck is still pushing Metaverse at this point. Everything else indicates his attention has turned to machine learning.

Re:

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

There's one confounding factor with a lot of enterprise tech announcements: the people who make the purchasing decisions or act as executive sponsors for splashy projects don't actually have to use whatever they are purchasing, and are often at fairly modest risk of real consequences(especially if the failure is readily contained: if the COO announces a bold plan that ends up destroying the ERP system he's probably going to use that golden parachute whether he wants to or not; but if a little NFT faff can b

From 2022?

[aquadood]

Why is an article being posted that was published in 2022?

May 11, 2022 15:17

This is the Middle East trying to diversify

[MacMann]

For many nations in the Middle East they don't have much of an economy beyond what they get in exporting petroleum. With increasing demand for natural gas, primarily in Europe, they started to export LNG but that's had some issues with attacks on shipping in the area.

Many of the Middle East nations are trying to diversify their economies to continue to attract foreign money. They are trying tourism, sports, and varied forms of entertainment. This can explain the desire to take payments by crypto-currency, there's money to be had in alternative currency and they want some of it. Some of the other things they are trying are services like banking (there's crypto there too), education, medical services (with medical tourism being a thing), and more I'm certainly missing.

There's a cultural clash for much of this though. This is a region dominated by Islam, and that is a religion that is known for not getting along with other religions. Or even getting along with sects within its own religion. The opportunity for cultural clashes were minimal so long as it is petroleum flowing out and commodities like food and building materials flowing in. That changes if they plan to offer their nation as a tourist destination. How do they expect this to work out when their guests ask for a beer and a bacon cheeseburger? If they don't provide this kind of food and drink then that's going to cut into who is willing to show up. If they do provide this then how do they make that fit their own cultural beliefs and customs?

Doing more to attract tourists, such as with differing payment options, is a sign that the region is opening up to greater tolerance of differing cultures. These cultural clashes have been going on for centuries though, are people from around the world to expect a vacation in the UAE to be safe and enjoyable?