Spotify Is Exploring Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Including Facebook's Diem, Job Post Suggests

Spotify Technology SA SPOT is hiring for a role in London or Stockholm related to its payments strategy — for driving activity related to cryptocurrencies of various hues and shades.

What Happened: The Stockholm-based company posted a job ad, which lists in detail the responsibilities the position entails, first noticed by Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, who tweeted it.

Spotify getting into #crypto.

» Spotify - Associate Director, Payments Strategy & Innovation https://t.co/VmI7PetjAb pic.twitter.com/eAxcPF8cgH

— CZ Binance (@cz_binance) December 4, 2020

Spotify’s requirements specify that the person in the role report to Director, Payments Strategy and Innovation, and be responsible for “leading” Spotify’s activity within Facebook Inc’s FB-led Libra stablecoin project and “wider digital asset & cryptocurrency space.”

The associate director will lead Spotify’s day-to-day engagement with the Libra Association. The person will also “drive further consideration of new opportunities and innovation in the emerging ecosystem of distributed ledger technology, blockchains, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and other digital assets.”

Why It Matters: Libra Association, now known as Diem Association, counts Coinbase, Lyft, Inc LYFT, Shopify Inc SHOP, and Uber Technologies, Inc UBER among its members along with Spotify. 

Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC)  have garnered wider institutional appeal this year with PayPal Holdings Inc PYPL and Square Inc SQ gobbling up supplies of the apex cryptocurrency.

BTC has rallied nearly 169% on a year-to-date basis, while Ethereum (ETH) has shot up almost 368%.

Price Action: Spotify shares closed nearly 1.4% lower at $316.43 on Thursday and gained 0.27% in the after-hours session.

Related Link: Paypal CEO Says It's Making It Easier To Bolster The Utility Of Cryptocurrency