PayPal to Facilitate Direct Selling of Cryptocurrencies

With the regulators getting more involved and the crypto market becoming less volatile, more fintech entities have been entering the sphere of facilitating trading cryptocurrencies. PayPal, one of the largest fintech organisations, had collaborated with CoinBase to offer ‘withdrawal to fiat currency’ services to its users which were operable in the United States, European countries, and Canada. However, now PayPal is set to enter the crypto space by offering direct sale of cryptocurrencies in alternative to services provided by organisations like CoinBase. This move may help generate larger revenue by attracting more customers. Considering the large revenues generated by the forums like Square, co-founded by the CEO of Twitter, which facilitate buying and selling of cryptocurrencies, many fintech companies like PayPal and Venmo, have been willing to provide such services. Many fintech entities had shown negative sentiment towards cryptocurrencies, as many fear to enter the unregulated space first. In 2018, the former CEO of PayPal, Bill Harris stated that cryptocurrencies are a scam where the money is flowing from ill-informed buyers to the internet promoters. However, later, PayPal had invested in a blockchain solution firm, Cambridge Blockchain, which allowed users to decentralise their digital identities without requiring any intermediary. Recently, PayPal was also in news for collaborating in the Libra project by Facebook, however, it had quit post the heavy regulatory scrutiny on Libra. The national post offices in Australia have also started facilitating buying cryptocurrencies since this is likely to boost the interest and trust of people in cryptocurrencies. With the huge user base of PayPal which is more than 300 million, the prices of such digital currency may be affected positively. However, as of now, it is not clear which cryptocurrencies will PayPal be offering.