Payments titan PayPal announced Wednesday it is enabling millions of merchants in the United States to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their business accounts, helping drive broader adoption among merchants using the payments platform.
PayPal's senior vice president for Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte said since launching the ability for PayPal and Venmo consumers to utilize crypto, it has learnt that businesses have a strong interest in using cryptocurrencies. This time, merchant accounts will experience the benefits of increased crypto utility.
However, as of now, this functionality for Business Accounts will not be available in New York State.
Extending the Crypto Arm to Businesses
Aside from allowing business accounts to buy, hold, and sell crypto, U.S. merchants can now also externally transfer their crypto on-chain to eligible third-party wallets, further expanding the way merchants can use their crypto assets and engage with the crypto market.
"Business owners have increasingly expressed a desire for the same cryptocurrency capabilities available to consumers. We're excited to meet that demand by delivering this new offering, empowering them to engage with digital currencies effortlessly," da Ponte said in a statement.
PayPal's Road to Crypto
PayPal first jumped into the crypto space in 2020, allowing customers to have access to cryptocurrencies through the platform's online wallets. Since then, it has expanded its services and even launched its own dollar-backed stablecoin PYUSD last year. The stablecoin recently hit a $1 billion market cap.
As adoption continued to grow among crypto enthusiasts and advocates, the digital payments giant has been working to improve its offerings.
In the case of unauthorized transfers of digital currencies, PayPal promises to be of assistance to affected accounts, with users potentially eligible for reimbursements of up to an equivalent of $50,000.
PayPal users can also use their crypto to make purchases at millions of online stores worldwide, and the platform will convert the crypto amount into U.S. dollars or to the seller's currency with no additional fees.
Update Gains Mixed Comments from Crypto Community
Some crypto users on X were happy that PayPal has decided to extend its crypto offerings to business owners, but others were also hesitant to let their assets pass through PayPal.
Several users said it was a good move for PayPal, and others believe it could be a catalyst for mass adoption as more merchants explore the benefits of using crypto.
One user said that while the development is beneficial for the digital payments company, he will now have PayPal take over the top spot of companies "I'm least likely to trust for Bitcoin transactions and services."
Another user shared the same views, saying the new offering can be good for good for Bitcoin adoption, but he advised other crypto users to not hold their Bitcoins with money transmitters. "Not your keys, not your coins. Open source, multi-sig, multi-vendor wallets is the way," the BTC advocate said.
