Popular payments service PayPal now allows its United States-based to users to buy and sell cryptocurrency through their PayPal wallet. The fact that PayPal is now supporting crypto purchases will make entering the crypto space easier than ever before and it is going to remove a lot of the bottlenecks regarding buying and selling cryptocurrency. Next year, this service will also be available in Venmo, a payments app owned by PayPal.
Rumors about PayPal’s plans for involving in crypto purchases first started in June and at that time, CoinDesk reported about that issue for the first time. Back then, PayPal didn’t comment on that issue and called it rumors or speculation.
PayPal is cooperating with cryptocurrency services firm Paxos to get a conditional license from the NYDFS (New York State Department of Financial Services). Paxos has prepared a service that allows fintech companies to offer cryptocurrencies to their customers while staying compliant with the relevant regulations and laws.
PayPal CEO Daniel Schulman told Reuters that they want to facilitate global acceptance of crypto and make themselves ready for central bank digital currencies in the coming years.
As we mentioned earlier, PayPal has a conditional license for providing its cryptocurrency services. This license permits a new organization to be compliant through cooperation with an existing licensee.
PayPal is also thinking about acquiring crypto firms
PayPal’s ambitions in the cryptocurrency space reportedly extend further than just offering crypto to its clients. Bloomberg recently reported that PayPal wants to acquire cryptocurrency companies, with BitGo reportedly being its first target. BitGo is a long-established company in the cryptocurrency space, and it offers custody, trading and lending services.
Bloomberg’s sources also said the talks with BitGo could potentially fall through, leading PayPal to look for other acquisition »targets«. PayPal has not officially confirmed the news yet. BitGo is a company with a strong presence in the cryptocurrency space and it has been operating since 2013. In the spring, BitGo launched a lending business, adding to its already extensive selection of services. As we mentioned earlier, PayPal announced its cryptocurrency service last week and it allows users to buy and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. The news has been welcomed as an extremely positive development by the cryptocurrency services, since it shows that the legitimacy of cryptocurrencies is growing rapidly.
