PayPal launches a new service that allows its customers in the UK to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies.
Currently there are available Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. By logging into your PayPal account via the website or mobile app, you can view cryptocurrency prices in real time, access educational content to answer frequently asked questions, and learn more about cryptocurrencies, including opportunities and risks. This is the company’s first cryptocurrency offering outside of the United States.
PayPal has enabled its cryptocurrency offering through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company. The company has also made investments in start-ups related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies, including TRM Labs (a company active in cryptocurrency risk management software), TaxBit (a software provider for cryptocurrency exchanges) and Talos (which develops technology infrastructure of institutional level for trading digital assets). In March, PayPal announced ‘Checkout with Crypto’, allowing customers in the United States to use their cryptocurrency and other payment methods in their PayPal wallet to make purchases from businesses around the world.
In April, it introduced cryptographic services on its Venmo mobile payment service in the US. In addition to providing these crypto services, PayPal has explored the potential of digital currencies through partnerships with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms and central banks around the world. Over the past five years, PayPal has increased its focus and invested resources in its internal blockchain research team to explore the next generation of digital financial services infrastructure and enhancements to digital commerce.
