PayPal has announced that its US business account holders can now buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies directly through their PayPal accounts. With this feature, the platform aims to explore the practical applications of cryptocurrencies for its users. Currently, the crypto sector is under the scrutiny of regulators in several regions around the world, as governments express concern over the potential for financial instability and abuse of this volatile asset. Despite these fears, millions of individuals and businesses continue to work with more than 2.4 million cryptocurrencies in circulation, according to CoinMarketCap.
In recent years, PayPal has seen an increase in demand for crypto services from its user base. This was confirmed by Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Currencies at PayPal.
“Business owners are increasingly expressing a desire for the same cryptocurrency opportunities available to consumers. We are excited to meet that demand by delivering this new offering, empowering them to work effortlessly with digital currencies,” said da Ponte commenting on the development.
With this service enabled, US traders using its platform will be allowed to facilitate cross-chain crypto transfers. Traders will also have the ability to withdraw their crypto savings.
“Today’s announcement is PayPal’s latest step to increase the utility of cryptocurrency by making increased functionality available to millions of merchants in the US,” the company added.
This is a change for businesses that use PayPal.
Integrating cryptocurrency directly into business accounts opens up new opportunities to expand payment options and reach a more tech-savvy user base.
As adoption grows, it will be interesting to see how…
— Faz Hoq (@Faz_Hoq) September 25, 2024
This isn’t the first time PayPal has taken a crypto-friendly step, however. Back in 2020, the company announced that it would allow individual retail customers to buy, sell and hold crypto assets directly from their PayPal and Venmo accounts. According to da Ponte, enabling this service has helped the company gain more crypto insight from its user base.
Building on these insights, PayPal has regularly updated its portfolio of services with crypto-related features.
Back in 2023, PayPal announced the launch of its own stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD). Pegged to the US dollar, this stablecoin is issued by Paxos Trust Company. In August this year, PYUSD reached a market capitalization of $1 billion (roughly Rs. 8367 crores).
PayPal claims its services are available in more than 200 countries and regions, supporting 25 fiat currencies. PayPal has not yet revealed any plans to expand this crypto feature outside the US.
