Digital payments giant PayPal is exploring the possibility of launching its own stablecoin to expand its growing suite of crypto products and services. The evidence of the company’s stablecoin initiative was first spotted in PayPal’s mobile app code by software engineer Steve Moser, who shared his findings with Bloomberg on Friday.
Key takeaways:
- According to Moser, the hidden code in the mobile app shows a section dubbed “PayPal Coin,” which suggests the name of the upcoming stable digital currency.
- The information shared by Moser was later corroborated by a company’s representative, who confirmed PayPal is indeed working on a brand new stablecoin solution that will in all likely hood be pegged to the value of the US Dollar.
- A PayPal spokesman commented on the report: “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators.”
- Although PayPal’s work on a stablecoin is all but certain, the images and other information found in the hidden code is a result of a recent internal hackathon. This means that the development is still in the early stages and that the new crypto product could have different properties once it hits the market.
- PayPal has been at the forefront of institutional adoption of digital assets. The company first introduced cryptocurrency functionality to its US customers at the end of 2020 and later expanded its offering to UK customers in September of last year.
- The stablecoin sector has been experiencing a meteoric rise over the last couple of years. The combined value of all stablecoins in circulation has risen from roughly $5 billion in January 2020 to $168 billion today, according to data from CoinCodex. PayPal’s entry into the market could lead to a major shake-up in the space currently dominated by Tether (USDT), which controls a roughly 45% market share.
