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Breaking: PayPal Launches Support for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin
Electronic payments giant PayPal is set to offer cryptocurrency services to its users in a landmark development. The company announced earlier today that its users will be able to buy, sell, hold and spend cryptocurrency directly in the PayPal app.
It shouldn’t come as a complete surprise as there were rumors over the last year that PayPal was in the midst of developing a crypto-based product. Offering support for cryptocurrency still marks a striking change in direction for PayPal, which had previously only dealt with with traditional fiat currencies like the US dollar.
It also represents a dramatic vote of confidence for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as PayPal is one of the biggest companies in the world with over 346 million active accounts.
PayPal will launch its cryptocurrency features in the coming weeks with support for crypto-based payments and Venmo coming in 2021.
PayPal Goes Beyond Bitcoin
PayPal will launch its crypto business with options for buying and selling Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash initially.
In that sense PayPal is embracing cryptocurrency even stronger than competitor Cash App, by Square, which only offers support for Bitcoin. There’s a good chance that PayPal will offer even more cryptocurrencies over time.
Cryptocurrency payments on the PayPal network will still be settled using fiat dollars but it will be easy for PayPal users to immediately convert their crypto to fiat at the point of sale.
Bitcoin Price Shoots Past $12k on News
To say the news of PayPal offering support for cryptocurrency was a positive development for Bitcoin would be an understatement.
The predominant cryptocurrency was already trading at over $12,000 when the news broke and it immediately shot up to nearly $13,000. Most altcoins have also received a significant bump with Ethereum and Litecoin among the biggest gainers.
Many industry proponents were already suggesting a big Q4 for the price of cryptocurrency and this deal could potentially pour gas on that fire.
PayPal the Latest Fintech Company to Adopt Crypto
PayPal is hardly the only major Fintech company to jump onboard the cryptocurrency supertrain this year.
Over the past year Square, Microstrategy, Robinhood, Fidelity Investments and many other companies have taken significant strides in embracing cryptocurrency.
PayPal was originally a part of the Facebook-backed Libra project but pulled out after a few months. It’s clear now that PayPal decided to pass on having its own centralized cryptocurrency coin and instead give customers access to already established cryptocurrencies.
PayPal also secured a full Bitlicense from the New York State Department of Financial Services. Longtime cryptocurrency stalwart the Pax Trust Company will assist in facilitating crypto transactions on PayPal.
