The CEO of PayPal Crypto claims that cryptocurrencies are on the brink of mass acceptance as more and more enterprises and customers flock to “digital payments and digital currency forms.”
PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said during an interview with CNBC that the pandemic COVID-19 has intensified the transition to digital payments. In the digital revolution, PayPal wishes to take the lead.
Crypto Implementation During the Pandemic
He stated:
As [cryptocurrencies] become more and more utilized in everyday commerce. I think they start to move from being less of just an asset class and more into a currency. And when you start to move crypto as a potential funding instrument, I think that bolsters its utility, and stabilizes it as well. It becomes less volatile because it can be used everyday, in your purchases.
Schulman said that in the aftermath of the pandemic “currency usage has decreased steeply,” and noted that “40-70% of customers no longer want to associate with cash.”
As PayPal noted in its October press release on crypto implementation:
“The shift to digital forms of currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access; efficiency, speed and resilience of the payments system; and the ability for governments to disburse funds to citizens quickly,” said Dan Schulman, president and CEO, PayPal. “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, two-sided network, and rigorous security and compliance controls provide us with the opportunity, and the responsibility, to help facilitate the understanding, redemption and interoperability of these new instruments of exchange. We are eager to work with central banks and regulators around the world to offer our support, and to meaningfully contribute to shaping the role that digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce.”
PayPal allows the buying and management of cryptocurrency not just simpler for people; the services can be combined with established payment systems for commercial firms to enable companies to embrace digital payment types.
Before beginning the crypto service, PayPal approached global regulators and central banks. Schulman said that it is just a matter of time until national governments implement cryptocurrency divisions or CBDCs of their own central bank.
PayPal Enters the Crypto Space
PayPal introduced its crypto trading services in the United States only a few weeks after the latest initiative was first revealed. In the early next year, PayPal’s crypto services will be introduced nationwide.
Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies have been acquired by the global payment broker, which has more than 300 million active customers. As noted recently by Cointelegraph, PayPal acquired almost 70% of all new Bitcoin. A big explanation for the accelerated growth of Bitcoin in the last month has been the supply shortage.
Many vocal Bitcoin critics contend that digital money is without intrinsic value. Schulman said to this:
“All forms of money are based on trust and set values that come from that trust.”
It is important to note that PayPal is not necessarily providing custody-free services. PayPal users can hold crypto and pay for things within the service, but it’s by no means a fully disintermediated system; fiat currency is still crucial to how PayPal handles digital currencies, for now.
Will you be using PayPal to buy and sell crypto?
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