- PayPal launched Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin for retail customers back in 2020.
- The financial giant rolls out crypto services for 38 million U.S. merchants.
- PayPal’s dollar-pegged stablecoin PYUSD encircles a $700M market cap.
PayPal, one of the globe’s financial heavyweights, is taking another crypto-friendly step. Starting September 25, 2024, the California-headquartered payment service provider will offer cryptocurrency services to all business clients in the United States.
PayPal Responds to Rising Crypto Demand
This empowers 38 million merchants in the United States to offer direct crypto transactions to their customers with the ability to store digital assets on their platform. PayPal’s crypto app was previously made available for retail customers and is compatible with MetaMask, Ledger, Magic, and other decentralized wallets.
With this move, PayPal answers the rising demand for crypto services globally. “Since we launched the ability for PayPal and Venmo consumers to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency in their wallets, we have learned a lot about how they want to use their cryptocurrency,” said Jose Fernandez Da Ponte.
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The company’s Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies referred to the rising crypto demand, which is prominent in all countries this year, according to Chainalysis. In contrast, lower-middle-income countries drove the crypto adoption rate last year.
How PayPal’s Business Crypto App Works
In 2023, PayPal launched its PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin, which works on Ethereum and has a substantial market cap above $700 million. PayPal’s digital stablecoin found utility in the Xoom platform, a subsidiary of PayPal that allows customers to send money abroad via PYUSD.
In May, PayPal’s stablecoin was made available on Solana, making transactions significantly cheaper. For retail customers, PayPal started offering buying, selling, and holding services of select cryptocurrencies in 2020, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, and PYUSD.
The same cryptos are now available for business accounts, with some advanced features included. Namely, U.S. merchants can do cross-chain transfers and withdraw cryptocurrency savings to external wallets. However, the official announcement lacked detail about which blockchain the assets are primarily stored on.
Following the news, Bitcoin extended its bullish momentum with a new monthly high of $64,808. BTC flipped the script last week when the Federal Reserve announced a 0.50 interest rate cut, rejuvenating the broader crypto markets. The second largest crypto, Ethereum, rose even higher, breaching $2,600.
On the Flipside
- The services are unavailable in New York due to legal scrutiny over a recently imposed mining ban, which imposes extra hurdles for merchants.
- PayPal didn’t mention any plans to extend the crypto services outside of the United States despite serving a global base of 188 million customers.
Why This Matters
PayPal is a major payment service provider available in over 200 nations and regions. The financial behemoth’s embrace of blockchain technology marks a major step forward in crypto adoption.
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