Gaining currency: Now, eBay plans own e-money

E-commerce site eBay’s PayPalhas reportedly filed a patent application proposing secure tokens that hints to a possible launch of its own virtual currency.The application, filed in June 2012 and published on December 19, 2013, would let people buy products without creating a payment provider account, Mashable reported today.

As per the patent filing, a purchase can be made without requiring the user to create the user’s own payment provider account.

[caption id=“attachment_1104917” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] eBay office premises. Courtesy: Getty Images[/caption]

The filing states that these tokens would be for giving gifts, but in theory, the tokens could serve as a currency that can be used for purchases outside of eBay and PayPal and would be a competitor to Bitcoin, dogecoin and litecoin, among others.

PayPal President David Marcus last year told the Bloomberg Business Week that mobile was the future of payments for PayPal.

“Mobile is going to be at the center of your money and all the transactions you make. We’re doubling down on our investments in mobile,” he had said.

eBay rival Amazon last year launched its own virtual currency, Amazon Coins, last year .