PayPal’s Crypto Trading Option Is Now Available In The U.S.
- PayPal users in the United States can now buy, sell, and hold BTC, ETH, BCH, and LTC on the payments giant’s platform.
- After the initial announcement of the service, Bitcoin’s price has gone up by more than 30% in just three weeks.
PayPal office in Berlin, Germany, photographed in May, 2016. Shutterstock
On November 12, financial industry leader PayPal finished the crypto trading integration on its platform, making it available to all citizens of the United States. Three weeks after their initial announcement, the company released its service for mass use and boosted the trading limits from the previous $10,000 to $20,000 per week.
All people engaged with crypto can now freely buy, sell, and hold digital assets on PayPal. The service currently supports Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC). All digital assets will be stored on a cryptocurrency wallet provided by the platform.
Moreover, PayPal updated its terms of service by adding a cryptocurrency section, in which the firm explicitly states that users cannot send digital assets to friends and family, pay for goods and services, nor transfer their digital assets to external wallets.
When first announced, PayPal described the process of implementing blockchain technology as inevitable, and stated that by early 2021, all PayPal users will be able to freely make purchases from merchants with their crypto assets. Since the announcement, the price of Bitcoin has gone up more than 30%.
All cryptocurrency assets on the platform are handled by New York-based Paxos. The local Department of Financial Services gave PayPal the first conditional BitLicense, but put the company under strict regulation, with crypto assets not being able to leave the platform for some time.
Since the stagnation of Libra, the newly-introduced trading option marks the first big blockchain service which the corporation managed to successfully integrate within its suite of products. The community has yet to see how successful PayPal will be in introducing its new service to a wider audience, and whether or not it will be favorable among users.
- PayPal USD (PYUSD) will be issued by Paxos and the Ethereum blockchain, and is backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term Treasuries, and similar cash equivalents.
- The company said the stablecoin can be redeemed for U.S. dollars at all times, and exchanged for any other crypto supported by the platform, including BTC, ETH, BCH, and LTC.
PayPal logo and sign in front of PayPal Holdings headquarters building in North San Jose Innovation District in Silicon Valley, San Jose, California, USA, 17 March, 2019. Michael Vi/Shutterstock
- The new funding will help Chaos Labs build out and expand its suit of risk and security products that can help DeFi protocols.
- The seed funding round was co-led by PayPal and Galaxy Digital, but also saw participation from including Coinbase Ventures, Polygon, Avalanche, OpenSea, Uniswap, and others.
- PayPal’s new app will provide a personalized view of the customers’ account balance, wallet, payments, and finances.
- The improved mobile application will bring a slew of features to its users, including direct deposits, bill pay, a digital wallet, crypto capabilities, and more.