PayPal is already the preferred method of payment across much of the Internet. Will it soon be the preferred method of payment in the next business frontier?space?
With human access to space set to expand as companies including Virgin Galactic and SpaceX (led by PayPal co-founder Elon Musk) prepare to offer commercial spaceflight for anyone who can afford it, PayPal has jumped on the next important question: Just how interstellar commerce will work. Earlier today at a press conference in Mountain View, Calif., company president David Marcus announced PayPal Galactic, its play to become the way to pay in space.
"The time is right," Marcus said. "Futurists expect space travel to follow what happened with air travel." Airfare has gotten considerably cheaper since the early days of flight, and it is expected that civilian space travel will eventually do the same. But that opens up a number of questions. It wouldn't feel very futuristic (or convenient) to empty your Earthly bank account and carry a wad of cash to spend while on your space yacht cruise, so what form will space money take? What will be the standard currency? How will the banking system adapt? What regulations will be put in place?
"The future of space is limitless and the door to the space frontier certainly has been opened a crack and we're gonna widen it," Buzz Aldrin said at the launch event. "Trips to mars, the moon, even orbit, will require that we provide astrotourists with as many comforts from home as possible, including paying each other."
By partnering with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), PayPal Galactic hopes to solve some of these problems. This announcement was mostly a declaration of intent. PayPal Galactic hasn't released any details of any possible system yet, and such an ambitious project will likely take years to bear any fruit. We'll keep you updated as more details develop.
homeland homeland Miss America 2013 Aaron Swartz Gangster Squad school shooting oscar nominations
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.