PayPal to Expand Crypto Services and Support CBDCs in 2021

PayPal disclosed its plans to expand crypto services globally and support central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) in 2021. Crypto services will reach international markets and the Venmo app in the first half of next year.

During its Q3 2020 earnings call, executives at PayPal cited that only 10% of customers in the US have access to the new crypto service. Notably, the rest of the US will gain access to the services before December. Currently, PayPal is offering US users to join a waitlist for the new crypto features in-app

PayPal CEO, Dan Shulman, cited that:

Our waiting list was two to three times what our expectations were. As a result, PayPal will increase its weekly crypto purchase limit from $10,000 to $15,000.

Clearly, the world is rapidly moving from physical to digital, Shulman added. More so, PayPal will help shape the utility of CBDCs. This includes facilitating interoperability with existing payment rails and fostering acceptance among merchants.

In addition, Shulman noted that over the course of next year, PayPal will move into a couple of different areas. Remarkably, at the end of October, PayPal introduced its plans to accept cryptocurrencies on its platform.

Firstly, the company will support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. Additionally, PayPal’s users will shop using cryptocurrencies across 28 million merchants.

In Q3 2020, PayPal reported an increase of 36% in new payments volume to $247 billion. Moreover, the company’s number of merchants grew by 1.5 million to 28 million. Finally, the tech giant now has 361 million active accounts, a 22% increase quarter-over-quarter.

Despite this, PayPal’s payment regulations were seen as a breach of crypto principles. Accordingly, as PayPal enables crypto purchases, it is criticized to have brought “crypto gambling” to US retailers.