PayPal Confirms Rumors About Bitcoin Capabilities
PayPal has been in the crypto news cycle lately. There was a massive surge in speculation about PayPal's interest in cryptocurrencies after a recent rumor came out that PayPal was developing crypto capabilities including storage and transaction abilities within the PayPal ecosystem.
PayPal never commented on those rumors. A representative told crypto news outlets that "PayPal does not comment on rumors or speculation".
Still, there is usually some shred of truth behind rumors and today we are seeing some of those shreds come into the light:
"Originally submitted on March 20, the document was intended as a response to the European Commission’s public consultation on building a European Union framework for markets in crypto assets, whose feedback period lasted from December 2019 through March." - Cointelegraph
PayPal submitted a document stating that they would develop some sort of capability for cryptocurrencies.
They also clarified their position on Libra and why they left that project in the dust (like many other corporations):
“Since the project’s inception, PayPal has taken unilateral and tangible steps to further develop its capabilities in this area, and therefore — without questioning the value of the project — took the decision not to participate in the Libra Association and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities to democratize access to financial service.” - Cointelegraph
I'm personally excited about the addition of crypto capabilities to the PayPal network. Love them or hate them, they have a big audience (currently about 300 million users) and a substantially growing userbase (especially through the Venmo application).
This is a way to cater to both the younger and older crowds who are already PayPal users. I think PayPal would be stupid to not develop something in this arena and it's just a matter of time until we see them joining the crypto mix and collecting the billions of $$ in fees that await.
When One Joins, Others Follow
The generally accepted idea about mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is that as these giant companies jump into the fire, others will join quickly follow their lead. Companies are always trying to one-up each other and this oneupmanship is exactly what crypto needs.
I've been fascinated watching the adoption of the Cash App versus Venmo. 2 years ago, all of my friends were using the Venmo app to send and receive USD in exchange for small things.
Now, we often hand out our cashtag and forgo Venmo altogether. Some people still use Venmo, but many are quickly switching to Cash App. There are a lot of reasons for this and Bitcoin is one of the smallest parts of the equation.
With the way the tides have changed in terms of who is investing and what level of access people have into the investing world, I think the Cash App is light years ahead of Venmo. On the Cash App, for example, I can do the following:
- Send & Receive Money (same as Venmo)
- Receive direct deposits (making it basically a bank account)
- Buy fractional shares in stocks (making it a traditional brokerage account)
- Buy, receive and withdraw Bitcoin (making it a crypto exchange)
It is truly incredible to think about the possibilities of adoption of cryptocurrencies on apps like the Cash App. The reason why I bring this up in an article about PayPal's development of crypto capabilities is because I believe that Square is shoving the innovation down the throat of PayPal.
Unless the PayPal execs want to be a repeat of Blockbuster-Netflix, they're going to have to get out of their own way and start developing.. and fast. Bitcoin is coming and it's here to stay. These companies are starting to realize it, one-by-one.
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