PayPal Enters the Cryptocurrency Space With Bitcoin Support

• PayPal will soon add support for holding, selling, and buying cryptocurrencies right from the platform.
• The first types of crypto to be supported are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, and Ethereum.
• For the first stage of this new venture, only US-based users will get the new payment option.

PayPal may have abandoned the Libra project, but that doesn’t mean the electronic payments giant has abandoned the idea of cryptocurrency support in general. After all, COVID-19 has pushed things in that direction and greatly accelerated the passing to online payments, so why not bring all virtual coins aboard?

According to the company’s latest press release, PayPal users will soon be able to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency, enjoying the comfort of having their digital wallets right on the platform. This will open up amazing new potential for 26 million merchants worldwide and is also expected to help the adoption of cryptocurrencies pick up the pace. This move is basically bringing crypto into the mainstream, and it really was about time that happened.

Initially, the cryptocurrencies that will be supported are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin, but more will be added along the way. Also, only U.S.-based account holders will get the ability to hold and trade cryptos for starters, but we expect the platform to add more countries in the future. Unfortunately, nothing on that part was mentioned in the relevant announcement, so it may take a while.

The value of the cryptocurrencies mentioned above has already jumped, and it’s expected to continue moving upwards in the upcoming period. The same applies to PayPal’s share price, too, as they are the largest company in the United States to offer customers access to cryptocurrencies. Other relatively mainstream and large fintech firms that support the trading of crypto are ‘Square Inc.’ and ‘Robinhood Markets Inc.,’ but PayPal is beyond and above anybody else.

The company has about 346 million active accounts across the globe, and during Q2 2020 alone, it has processed over $222 billion in payments. For this new venture, though, PayPal had to cooperate with a cryptocurrency expert, and its choice was ‘Paxos Trust Co LLC.’ This is the same company that supports crypto brokerage on the Revolut platform in the U.S. So, Paxos will provide its APIs to PayPal, promising an intuitive user experience and a totally safe, secure, and regulation-compliant crypto-trading operation.

The world is turning the page in many things simultaneously right now, and currency forms are one of them. The traditional monetary and banking system may push for strict regulatory contexts, so PayPal may find itself under pressure. However, if things move forward as planned, the volatile and risky nature of the most popular forms of cryptocurrency will finally be lifted.