The rate at which crypto adoption is progressing continues to increase, and every week, new major companies are making some sort of a move to join up and try to benefit from it. The most recent example of this came from Walmart, North America’s largest retailer. The company seems to be looking for a crypto expert to fill in a newly-opened position.
The retail giant did not release a lot of information about its plans, but it did post a job offer, looking for Digital Currency and Cryptocurrency Product Lead. It is also known that the crypto expert that ends up joining the company will be tasked with the development of a crypto strategy, as well as a product roadmap.
From these pieces of information, it is reasonable to assume that Walmart might be making moves to start accepting cryptocurrency payments. Once again, this is currently only speculation, as the company did not confirm or deny that this is the direction in which it is heading. But, from everything that is known, including the fact that the company already offers a broad set of payment options, it stands to reason to assume that it is looking to expand the list by adding crypto, as well.
What did Walmart do?
According to the company’s ad, it is looking to fill in a position of an expert in Digital currencies/Cryptocurrency and Blockchain-related technologies. The winning candidate will also be expected to drive the vision for the product, and capabilities roadmap. As part of their duties, they would also have to identify crypto investments and partners that the company might seek to partner with.
Applicants should have a Bachelor’s Degree, with the MBA being the top preference, as well as over a decade of experience in product or program management, as well as technology commercialization. Other than that, the more experience in crypto and related technologies the applicants have, the better. The company did not specify the salary for the position, however.
Walmart chases after Amazon
The timing for the job ad is rather curious, as it comes only weeks after its biggest rival, Amazon, started looking for its own crypto and blockchain product lead. At the time Amazon’s ad emerged, speculation spiked as the crypto industry debated whether the retailer’s job offer would spark other massive chains to start doing the same. It would appear that this is exactly what happened, and the adoption of digital payments has now been turned into a race to be the first to add support for cryptocurrency payments.
This is not Walmart’s first contact with the crypto industry, either. Around two years back, the firm applied for a patent on its own stablecoin, similarly to what Facebook did with its Libra project. To date, there was no news regarding that move. However, in December 2020, the retail giant was onboarded to a blockchain-based platform StormX.
In addition to that, the company also did a couple of experiments with blockchain technology, although it did not focus on its financial prospects, but rather on possibilities of tracking food, drugs, and other products as they navigate the supply line.
In other words, the world of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is growing, and even companies that ignored, or were even openly hostile towards cryptocurrencies, are now starting to turn a new leaf and give them a chance. To be perfectly fair, many of them have to do it in order to remain ahead of competitors.
All it takes is for one of the competitors, no matter how small, to start accepting a new trend, and they will slowly but surely start becoming a threat. On the other hand, when major, established companies like Amazon start adopting a new trend, Walmart will definitely always be only a step behind, and it won’t be too long before it catches up. And, with Amazon and Walmart going crypto, chances are that most other similar companies will follow their lead.
The post Walmart is Looking to Hire a Crypto Product Lead appeared first on Securities.io.
