PayPal’s latest quarter marked a turning point: after years of tentative steps, PayPal is working to transform crypto assets into a global, widely accepted form of payment.
Historically – Laying the Foundation
- October 2020: PayPal allowed U.S. users to buy and sell select crypto assets
- March 2021: Added “Checkout with Crypto,” converting crypto to fiat for consumers at checkout
- August 2023: Launched PYUSD, its own dollar-backed stablecoin
Today – Putting It All Together
With the recently improved regulatory clarity in the United States, PayPal now offers a PYUSD stablecoin payment alternative for merchants and consumers. CEO Alex Chriss told investors, “A big part of the future of commerce will be on-chain, and PYUSD will help power that journey.”
PayPal announced two new major products in the past month. Pay With Crypto allows merchants to accept 100+ crypto assets for payment, featuring $0.99 per-transaction fees while also offering 4 percent yield on balances held in PYUSD. Second, PayPal is building a PYUSD-enabled network of digital wallets branded PayPal World. Naturally, this links PayPal-owned platforms like PayPal and Venmo along with other third-party wallets via an API, providing a common settlement rail for both domestic and cross-border spending and P2P payments.
Tomorrow – Building the First Global Payment Rail
PayPal is positioning itself to be the center of merchant and cross-border payments, using PYUSD and its already well-established network of merchant and consumer users. Global business and consumer payment volumes represent $148 trillion in annual volume. PayPal believes that by offering low-cost rails running on a reliable and secure network, and by letting merchants and customers earn yield, it will achieve market dominance.
PayPal now joins Stripe | Bridge, BVNK, Coinbase, global banks, and other payment companies that are rapidly positioning themselves.