PayPal has made a landmark announcement, revealing that millions of US business accounts can now directly buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin and Ethereum. This new feature expands PayPal’s already robust service for individual users, further solidifying its status as a leader in the payments and cryptocurrency sectors. However, it’s worth noting that this service will initially exclude U.S. merchants based in New York.
PayPal Redefines Business Crypto Access
In a significant move, PayPal has now extended its crypto services to U.S. business accounts, allowing them to buy, sell, and hold major digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). This comes as an effort by PayPal to broaden its reach within the cryptocurrency arena.
Alongside purchasing and holding, merchants will be able to transfer cryptocurrency on-chain to “third-party eligible wallets” and receive supported tokens from external addresses. According to PayPal’s press release, this enhancement aims to increase the utility of cryptocurrency for business transactions across its vast user base in the United States.
“Today’s announcement is PayPal’s latest step to increase cryptocurrency’s utility by making increased functionality available to millions of merchants in the U.S.,” the company highlighted, adding that the service will be unavailable to business clients in New York State at the time of launch.
This development addresses the growing demand from business owners who have been seeking similar cryptocurrency functionalities available to retail consumers.
“Business owners have increasingly expressed a desire for the same cryptocurrency capabilities available to consumers,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s senior vice president of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital currencies.
PayPal Innovates with Stablecoins
PayPal has been a key player in the cryptocurrency sector, initially allowing users to trade digital currencies in 2020 and more recently launching its U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, PYUSD. This venture underscores PayPal’s commitment to integrating blockchain technology within traditional financial services.
The company has recently launched PYUSD on the Solana blockchain, capitalizing on the network’s quick transaction speeds and lowered costs. Their strategy involves optimizing transaction costs to promote everyday purchases using PYUSD, such as buying coffee or dining out.
Although PYUSD has reached a market cap of $1 billion, it still trails behind leading dollar-backed stablecoins like Tether’s USDT and USDC. Market data tracked by CoinGecko shows that USDT and USDC hold market caps of approximately $119.3 billion and $36 billion, respectively.
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