International fintech giant PayPal is taking advantage of contagion worries of its 325 million users. According to three close sources, the company is seeking to roll out cryptocurrencies in its platform this year.
PayPal is already used as an alternative means for withdrawing funds from some crypto exchanges. If the alleged plan pushes through, this would allow direct sales for digital assets in the platform.
According to the source, the firm would then allow buying and selling crypto directly from Venmo and PayPal themselves. Their respective applications would have to develop built-in wallets to let users store them in there.
For which or how many cryptocurrencies would be available in the platform, the sources remain
Although the question of which or how many options would be available is still unclear. To make up for it, the industry is expecting the firm to work with multiple exchanges to source liquidity.
Rumors claim that PayPal could release the feature three months from now.
When asked, however, PayPal remained silent about the matter.
PayPal’s Rivals are Already Profiting
The decision puts PayPal in an odd position. Luxemborg-based Bitstamp is already expected to become one of its main rivals, but PayPal’s partner, Coinbase, is in the same basket. Both firms declined to comment,
PayPal’s relationship with Coinbase started as early as 2016. In fact, Coinbase went so far as to make instant fiat withdrawals to PayPal available for US customers.
PayPal’s relationship with Coinbase started as early as 2016. Coinbase helped PayPal make instant fiat withdrawals available for US customers two years ago, which then expanded to Europe, and then Canada.
Other fintech apps offer cryptocurrencies are catching up. Payments unicorn Square (led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey) reported $306 billion in revenue from Bitcoin in its recent earnings report.
In partnership with PayPal’s potential contender Bitstamp, London-based Revolut reported that it raised $500 million in cryptocurrencies in February. The platform was then valued at $5.5 billion.
The revolutionary fintech app Robinhood also launched in 2018.
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