PayPal Lets Customers Buy, Sell Or Shop With Cryptocurrency

As part of the rise in digital payments, PayPal Holdings has jumped into the cryptocurrency business and will now allow customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly from their PayPal accounts, according to a Wednesday (Oct. 21) press release. The company added that it plans to allow its customers to use cryptocurrencies to shop at the 26 million merchants on its network starting in early 2021.

“The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access; efficiency, speed and resilience of the payments system; and the ability for governments to disburse funds to citizens quickly,” PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman said in the announcement.

“We are eager to work with central banks and regulators around the world to offer our support, and to meaningfully contribute to shaping the role that digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce,” he added.

PayPal said it has landed the “first-of-its-kind conditional Bitlicense” by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

Linda A. Lacewell, superintendent at NYDFS, said her agency’s decision follows itsJune announcement for “a new framework for a conditional Bitlicense to encourage, promote, and assist interested institutions to have a well-regulated way to access the New York virtual currency marketplace in a way that is both timely and protective of New York consumers, through partnerships with New York authorized virtual currency firms.”

Schulman said PayPal is well-positioned to add cryptocurrency to its platform. “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, two-sided network, and rigorous security and compliance controls provide us with the opportunity, and the responsibility, to help facilitate the understanding, redemption and interoperability of these new instruments of exchange.”

Last week, PayPal announced the latest expansion of its new installment payment product in the U.K., called Pay in 3. The buy now, pay later option lets customers pay for items in three monthly installments.