PayPal announced on Wednesday a new feature that will allow users to buy, store and sell cryptocurrency.
The company said in a press release that its new cryptocurrency service will launch in the U.S. in the coming weeks and will include bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and litecoin. In early 2021, the company also plans to allow customers to use cryptocurrency to shop using its network of 26 million retailers.
PayPal's shares rose by over 3% in New York. Meanwhile, the price of Bitcoin increased by almost 5%, according to data from CoinDesk.
"The transition to digital forms of currency is inevitable, bringing clear advantages in terms of financial inclusion and access. The efficiency, speed, resilience of the payment and the ability of governments to disburse money to citizens quickly are just a few of them," said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman.
“We are eager to work with central banks and regulators around the world to offer our support and make a meaningful contribution to shaping the role that digital currencies in the future of global finance and trade.”
Central banks around the world are exploring the idea of issuing their own digital currencies. Seven of the world’s top central banks – including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank – recently laid out a framework for how such a system would work . Meanwhile, the People’s Bank of China is moving ahead with trials of its own digital currency.
To get the feature up and running, PayPal said it partnered with Paxos. The company added that it received a grant from the state of New York, with conditions attached. It plans to introduce the crypto features to its Venmo mobile wallet and to international markets in the first half of 2021.
