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Crypto News Crypto Wallets Payments

PayPal Allows US Users to Withdraw BTC and ETH to External Wallets

PayPal has announced it will begin allowing US crypto holders to transfer their digital assets to external wallets. The rollout of the update has just begun and is likely to be available to all US users within the next fortnight.

PayPal for BTC and ETH

PayPal will offer users the option to transfer bitcoin, ether, litecoin, and bitcoin cash to external wallets in coming weeks. The long sought-after addition will bring PayPal in line with other successful cryptocurrency services in the industry. The feature has been a hot topic since the company’s October 2021 launch of its crypto buy, sell and hold service:

According to Jose Fernandez da Ponte, senior vice president of PayPal’s blockchain, crypto and digital currencies sector, the company believes its “role in the ecosystem is about increasing access”. The move to permit transfers to external wallets has made PayPal the largest blockchain-enabled consumer digital wallet.

Earlier Crypto Business Moves

In March 2021, PayPal upgraded its technology to permit US users to make payments with their cryptocurrency with the same ease as using a debit or credit card. This option became available for millions of global merchants, easily converting ethereum, bitcoin and litecoin to fiat money.

And at the beginning of 2022, a developer found stablecoin development code within the PayPal App. The discovery prompted PayPal to come forward with the admission that it was experimenting with a stablecoin of the same name. A logo image was discovered alongside the code.

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Crypto News Institutions

PayPal To Allow Users Withdraw Crypto From Account

PayPal will soon allow users to withdraw their crypto funds, according to PayPal’s blockchain executive.

Speaking at Consensus 2021, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, VP at PayPal, said that a withdrawal function is on the way and will allow users to send their crypto to third-party wallets.

The withdrawal function comes after PayPal registered a tremendous interest in its crypto custodial service. “We want to make it as open as possible, and we want to give choice to our consumers,” he said.

PayPal’s Q1 results even surpassed the company’s expectations with over 6 billion in revenues in the first quarter of 2021 —a 31% record spot. Dan Schulman, the CEO, said the results were mainly thanks to their decision to integrate cryptocurrencies into Paypal.

Bitcoin for Paypal in Australia

Currently, PayPal does not support Bitcoin as a payment option for Australia. This services is currently only available in the USA (except Hawaii) for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. Stay tuned, we will let you know once they enable this feature for us Aussies.

PayPal’s Own Stablecoin

After PayPal’s vice president Jonathan Auerbach reunited with central bankers worldwide, rumours circulated about a possible stablecoin issued by the payment giant. However, da Ponte said it is “too early to think about that.”

Sometimes we position the debate as CBDCs versus stablecoins, but it’s a bit of a fake debate. There is no trade-off. We think they will co-exist.

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, VP at PayPal

Speaking about stablecoins and CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currency) —and whether one will overtake the other by global usage— da Ponte stated there is no debate against the two.

PayPal as the Gateway for CBDCs

While the payment processor is not currently working on its own stablecoin, da Ponte said financial institutions like PayPal can serve as a bridge for the distribution of CBDCs when the time comes.

To reinforce his view, he referred to how Americans had to go to a bank to cash their stimulus checks, in the midst of a pandemic. “I think we can do better than that” he added.

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Crypto News

PayPal CEO Believes Digital Currencies are on Track for Mainstream Adoption

Dan Schulman, the CEO of PayPal Holdings Inc., is optimistic that digital currencies will gain more traction in the coming years, as more people are switching to digital payment methods for transactions. Probably, this could be one of the reasons behind the company’s move into the cryptocurrency space. Interestingly, PayPal users have been showing massive interest in cryptocurrency services, especially Bitcoin (BTC).

World’s Digital First Approach Will Favour Cryptos

Schulman made his thoughts known on Wednesday during a Web Summit conference. He explained that the “entire world is going to come into digital first.” Many shops and merchants are increasingly changing to using smartphones, QR codes, etc., to receive payments from buyers. Even customers are beginning to use digital wallet services, all of which naturally “complements to digital currencies,” Schulman said.

PayPal first announced plans to debut buying and selling services for popularly-traded digital currencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. A few weeks later, the services were debuted for the United States customers, which was considered a milestone for the Bitcoin market. Many people had speculated that the development triggered the bullish runs in the market since September.

Already, the digital payment platform has been recording increased demand for Bitcoin since the service rolled out. Last week, Crypto New Australia reported that PayPal and Cash App bought more than 100 percent of newly-mined Bitcoin. As a confirmation of the growing demand for Bitcoin on PayPal, a recent survey conducted by Mizuho Securities found out that one-fifth of the company’s users have already traded Bitcoin.

For context, PayPal reportedly has about 350 million users on its platform.

Who is PayPal’s Biggest Competitor?

PayPal’s CEO said Ant Financial is their biggest competitor in the market. The company accounts for the highest mobile-payments in China. Schulman said that Ant Financial holds a strong reputation and success in the country. They also provide a comprehensive digital wallet to the Chinese users, which features “all elements of financial services, all elements of shopping.”

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Bitcoin

PayPal User Suspended Over Suspicious Bitcoin Trading

The leading digital payment platform, PayPal, has reportedly suspended a user over suspicious Bitcoin transactions. The company launched the cryptocurrency services a few days ago, and the development today probably marks the first time where a customer is suspended due to digital currency. Meanwhile, PayPal’s entry into the cryptocurrency market was considered a huge milestone owing to its prominence around the world. 

Already, it is recording massive volumes in Bitcoin transactions. 

PayPal Red-Flags Suspicious Bitcoin Trades

According to the affected user (TheCoolDoc on Reddit), the company suspended the account because he made too many Bitcoin transactions. Meanwhile, the user claimed that he only conducted about ten crypto transactions within a week. He usually bought at lower prices to sell only when the cryptocurrency price increases. 

However, things got suspicious as the user began processing about $10,000 worth of crypto transactions in a week, which wasn’t seen of him in the past six years. Due to this, the account got suspended by the company, which notified him that he wouldn’t be able to make use of the account going further. PayPal is known for maintaining strict measures in monitoring transactions, even for fiat currencies. A violation of their transaction rule can cause the suspension of users’ accounts.

However, the user still maintained he didn’t violate the company’s rule, adding that PayPal had raised the weekly crypto transaction limit from $10,000 to $20,000.

PayPal records high crypto transactions

PayPal’s move into the crypto market is seen as a huge step toward more adoption for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The company has been making massive Bitcoin purchases lately as user demand rose incredibly. The CEO of Aussie Nuggets News, Alex Saunders, tweeted on Thursday that PayPal recorded more than $56 million in daily Bitcoin transaction volume.

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Bitcoin

PayPal and Cash App are Buying Over 100% of Newly-mined Bitcoin

According to the latest blockchain letter from Pantera Capital, Paypal’s entry into the cryptocurrency market is one other factor contributing to the current rally in the market – led by Bitcoin (BTC), the largest digital currency by market capitalization. For some reasons, which include PayPal’s user base, the blockchain investment company believes that the current bull run is more sustainable compared to the past record in 2017.

PayPal is Buying 70 percent of New Bitcoin

Notably, the rally in the crypto market kicked-off shortly after PayPal announced that it would support the buying and selling of digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Interestingly, the development exposes over 300 million users on PayPal to Bitcoin, which means more adoption for the cryptocurrency. Additionally, Pantera Capital noted that PayPal’s user-friendly platform is making it easier for people to buy Bitcoin and other cryptos.

“Previously the friction to buy bitcoin was pretty onerous: take a selfie with your passport, wait days to a week to get activated, daily limits. Three hundred million people just got instant access to Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies,” the company said.

Due to the growing interest among PayPal users in the cryptocurrency, the digital payment platform has been acquiring a significant amount of newly-minted Bitcoin. Note that the crypto service on PayPal is powered by Paxos, which also operates itBit exchange. The volume of Bitcoin purchases on the exchange began increasing significantly after the service went live PayPal. 

Having analyzed the tremendous growth, Pantera Capital highlighted that PayPal was already buying about 70 percent of new Bitcoin.

Cash App, PayPal is Causing Bitcoin Scarcity

Aside from PayPal, Square’s crypto-friendly digital payment platform, Cash App is also acquiring a significant amount of Bitcoin. Pantera Capital estimated in the report that Cash App buys 40 percent of all newly-issued bitcoin. Together with PayPal, the two companies are purchasing more than 100 percent of newly-minted Bitcoin, which means demand is higher than the supply rate – i.e., scarcity.

“When other, larger financial institutions follow their lead, the supply scarcity will become even more imbalanced. The only way supply and demand equilibrate is at a higher price,” Pantera Capital added.