PayPal’s U.K. Customers Can Now Buy, Sell, Hold Crypto
- The new offering provides U.K. customers with access to BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH.
- The service will begin rolling out this week.
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In a press release published on 23 August, PayPal announced the launch of a new service that will enable its U.K. customers to buy, sell, and hold four major cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. PayPal will begin rolling out the new service starting this week.
While there will be no fees to hold cryptocurrencies in a PayPal account, the platform will apply transaction fees and currency conversion fees. Customers will be able to fund their accounts using their bank accounts or debit cards, and will be allowed to purchase as little as £1 worth of crypto The offering was enabled through a partnership with the Paxos Trust Company.
Jose Fernandez da Ponte, the Vice President and General Manager of Digital Currencies at PayPal, said the pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation in the world, especially when it comes to financial services. PayPal’s global reach and compliance helped the company offer its U.K. customers a unique opportunity to explore cryptocurrencies in a safe and reliable manner, he explained in the release.
As part of the new service, PayPal will also provide its customers with educational content to help them understand the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Since the beginning of the year, PayPal has expanded its crypto offering, introducing new services and acquiring various blockchain and fintech startups.
- 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.
- The rule, which was proposed last July, would have required all senders of crypto to collect the personal information of the recipient, even if they were using private wallets.
- Her Majesty’s Treasury decided to not enforce the rule following the feedback it received on its consultation paper, which was also released last July.