PayPal has announced that its U.S. business account holders can now buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies directly from their PayPal accounts. This new feature provides businesses with the same crypto functionality that consumers have had access to, allowing merchants to engage in digital currency transactions effortlessly. Business users can also withdraw digital assets to external wallets or cold storage for added security.
The announcement was made by José Fernandez da Ponte, Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies at PayPal. He emphasized that the new service is a response to the growing demand from business owners for more crypto capabilities. PayPal had already introduced crypto features for consumers and is now extending these to business accounts.
The announcement was made on September 25, 2024. The feature is available immediately for U.S. merchants, except for those in New York due to regulatory restrictions.
The new crypto trading feature will be available across the United States, with the exception of New York. This marks PayPal’s continued expansion in the crypto space, following the launch of its own PYUSD stablecoin in August 2023.
PayPal’s decision to offer crypto trading to business accounts comes as a response to increasing demand from business owners. As cryptocurrencies become more integrated into the financial system, businesses are looking for ways to engage with digital assets. This move also aligns with PayPal’s broader strategy to expand its digital currency services, including the use of its PYUSD stablecoin for everyday transactions.
PayPal Business account holders can now trade cryptocurrencies directly through their accounts, with the ability to transfer assets to external wallets. PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, backed 1:1 with U.S. dollar reserves, has been a key part of its digital currency strategy. In an effort to lower transaction costs, PayPal has expanded PYUSD to the Solana blockchain, which offers significantly cheaper and faster transactions than Ethereum.
Despite PYUSD’s growth to a $1 billion market capitalization, it still lags behind major competitors like Tether and Circle, which have market caps of $118 billion and $35 billion, respectively.
