PayPal recently announced that it would expand a new feature to its business account users in the United States: buying, selling, and holding cryptocurrencies directly through their PayPal accounts. In this, the platform will experiment with the real-life use of cryptocurrencies with its users.
The crypto sector is at present under regulatory scrutiny in most regions around the world as there are fears among governments about the potential for causing financial instability and misuse of such volatile assets. Despite these fears, millions of people and businesses continue to interact with the more than 2.4 million cryptos existing, as reported by CoinMarketCap.
Over the last couple of years, PayPal has been seeing a rising need for crypto services from its users. That has been confirmed by Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies.
Business owners have increasingly sought demand for the same cryptocurrency capabilities that are there for consumers, said da Ponte. “We’re excited to meet that demand by delivering this new offering, empowering business owners to effortlessly engage with digital currencies,” he added, commenting on the development.
This service will, therefore, allow US merchants using the platform to facilitate cross-chain crypto transfers. Merchants will also be in a position to withdraw their crypto savings.
“Today’s announcement is PayPal’s latest step to increase cryptocurrency’s utility by making increased functionality available to millions of merchants in the US,” the company added.
This is a game-changer for businesses using PayPal.
Integrating cryptocurrency directly into business accounts opens up new possibilities for expanding payment options and reaching a more tech-savvy customer base.
As adoption grows, it’s going to be interesting to see how…
— Faz Hoq (@Faz_Hoq) September 25, 2024
However, this is not the very first step taken by PayPal towards the friendlier cryptos. The company had announced as early as 2020 that it was going to let retail customers buy, sell, and hold the crypto assets directly from their PayPal and Venmo accounts. Da Ponte claimed that enabling this service helped the company to get more crypto-related insights from its user base.
Already supported by these facts, PayPal was periodically enhancing its services portfolio through the inclusion of crypto products.
In 2023, PayPal launched its stablecoin branded PayPal USD or PYUSD. Issued by Paxos Trust Company, this US dollar-pegged stablecoin reportedly passed the market cap of $1 billion in August this year.
As of now, PayPal has not announced any broader plans to roll this crypto feature outside of the US. Nevertheless, the company says its services are accessible across more than 200 countries and regions and support 25 fiat currencies.
Bhupendra Singh Chundawat is a seasoned technology journalist with over 22 years of experience in the media industry. He specializes in covering the global technology landscape, with a deep focus on manufacturing trends and the geopolitical impact on tech companies. Currently serving as the Editor at Udaipur Kiran, his insights are shaped by decades of hands-on reporting and editorial leadership in the fast-evolving world of technology.