Crypto Transactions Now Available for PayPal Users

Payments service provider PayPal recently took down its waitlist for cryptocurrency services. Now, customers can start buying and selling Bitcoin and other digital coins using digital wallets.

PayPal teased the option earlier

Daniel Schulman, CEO of PayPal announced earlier this month that only 10% of its clients have access to crypto services. Given PayPal’s global reach, it is not a small number. PayPal is currently accepted by 26 million merchants. The payments service hinted towards a move to cryptocurrencies. PayPal started a waitlist for cryptocurrency services which has now gone down. Customers can now buy and sell digital currencies using their PayPal wallets. Schulman noted that the waitlist was two or three times higher than the company’s initial expectations.

Schulman has previously acknowledged that he owns Bitcoin. He promised to provide more users in the US access to digital assets in the upcoming weeks. According to the PayPal chief, they will be able to reach over 300 million users in the first half of 2021. The features will also be available on its mobile payments service application, Venmo, in a few international markets.

What does PayPal offer?

PayPal currently offers access to hour cryptocurrencies- Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. Users can now buy, sell, and hold these coins using PayPal. The firm has partnered with Paxos Trust Company to bring the new feature to US-based retailers. Paxos is a regulated crypto products and services provider company.

Until recently, PayPal expressed its interest in blockchain but remained averse to fully committing to cryptocurrencies. It was a part of the Libra Association, led by Facebook for its Libra stablecoin. However, it became the first firm to pull out of the coalition without citing a reason publicly. PayPal recently invested in TRM Labs, a crypto compliance and risk management platform. It also filed many patents related to speeding Bitcoin transactions. The payments service provider is now competing directly with peers in the crypto space, including Square’s Cash app and Revolut.