PayPal Entered the Cryptocurrency Market

PayPal Holdings Inc is a famous company, that operates a worldwide online payment system. Notably, the system developed by a San Jose-based company supports online money transfers. It also serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. This company made a very important decision. It is worth mentioning that, PayPal joined the cryptocurrency market on October 21.

Thanks to this decision, customers will be able to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and other virtual assets. They will use PayPal’s online wallets for this purpose. Moreover, it will be possible to use cryptocurrencies to shop at 26 million merchants on its network, starting in early 2021.

The company hopes the service will make cryptocurrencies more popular. Furthermore, PayPal hopes to prepare its network for new digital currencies that may be developed by central banks as well as corporations. Moreover, the company is working with central banks. The company also thinks of all forms of digital currencies and what role the company can play in this process.

PayPal and crypto adoption

Interestingly, PayPal has 346 million active accounts around the world. The company processed $222 billion in payments in the second quarter. The number of active accounts underlines the importance of this company when it comes to making cryptocurrencies more popular around the globe.

Importantly, the U.S. account holders will be able to buy, sell, as well as to hold cryptocurrencies in their PayPal wallets in the coming weeks. Moreover, the company plans to expand to Venmo and some countries in the first half of 2021.

It is worth noting that, other mainstream fintech companies, such as mobile payments provide Square Inc and stock trading app firm Robinhood Markets Inc, also support cryptocurrencies. They allow users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. However, none of them have the ability to match the capability of PayPal thanks to the sheer number of active accounts.

Cryptocurrency settlements on PayPal will be settled using fiat currencies, such as the U.S. dollar. As a result, merchants will not receive payments in virtual coins.

Cryptocurrencies have the ability to make lives easier for millions of people in the U.S. as well as other countries. Moreover, thanks to PayPal it will be easier to make cryptocurrencies more popular in different parts of the world. Moreover, other companies should also support cryptocurrencies, as they offer a number of advantages compared to fiat currencies.