PayPal Ramps Up Crypto Push with $200M Curv Acquisition

Payment giant PayPal has announced the acquisition of Israel-based startup Curv. Curv, not to be confused with Curve Finance, is an Israeli-based crypto security provider that helps companies safeguard their digital assets.

Paypal’s Growing Crypto Ambitions 

The acquisition, which was made known by Paypal on Monday, is the latest step taken by the company to grow its crypto ambitions as it restrategizes on the fast-changing world of financial technology. Although the deal’s financial terms were not disclosed, multiple sources believe PayPal forked out nearly $200 million for the acquisition.

Curv was founded in 2018 by Itay Malinger and Dan Yadlin. It’s one of the fastest-growing companies that help financial institutions and other institutions protect their crypto holdings. The company uses multi-party computation or MPC to safeguard the holdings. Unlike traditional storage techniques, which typically rely on scattering the private keys to a digital wallet in several locations, MPC relies on mathematics and cloud computing to prevent unauthorized access.

This PayPal/Curv deal is the first major crypto acquisition for PayPal. PayPal had moved to acquire crypto custodial firm BitGo in 2020, before the deal fell through.

Speaking on the acquisition, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s vice president, and general manager of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies, said the acquisition of Curv is part of the company’s effort at investing in the talent and technology to realize its vision for a more inclusive financial system.

“During our conversations with Curv’s team, we’ve been impressed by their technical talent, entrepreneurial spirit, and the thinking behind the technology they’ve built in the last few years. We’re excited to welcome the Curv team to PayPal,” he added.

Despite PayPal’s foray into cryptocurrency, the company has maintained that it doesn’t plan to invest in digital assets like Bitcoin—the same way companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla have done.

PayPal Cryptocurrency Coming to London

PayPal’s access to the crypto market has been steady and gradual. In October 2020, the firm announced that customers could buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other virtual coins on its platform. It also signaled its plans to significantly increase cryptocurrency’s utility by making it available as a funding source for purchases at its 26 million merchants worldwide.

During the Paypal’s Investor Day 2021 event that was held last month, Paypal disclosed that plans were in the works to deploy the crypto services in the United Kingdom, following its success in the United States.