A few weeks ago, reports emerged that PayPal is considering the start of offering services of buying and selling digital currencies. Given that the online payments giant has around 325 million customers, the excitement of the crypto community has been extremely high as PayPal is considering crypto services to expand its offerings.

PayPal to start crypto transfers?

Right now, PayPal provides its users with an option to transfer funds from crypto exchanges like Coinbase. However, judging from the latest reports, Invezz.com reveals that PayPal is working to allow the buying and selling of Bitcoin (and other digital assets) directly from PayPal and its mobile payments platform Venmo.

It is still unknown how many cryptocurrencies will be available to PayPal users. However, it is expected that the payment provider will collaborate with several exchanges to source liquidity.

Reports say PayPal plans to offer direct sales of cryptocurrencies. This service is expected to launch within the next three months. The online payments giant declined to comment on the matter.

Digital currency exchanges Coinbase and Bitstamp are said to be potential contenders. Both exchanges declined talking about it.

It is known that PayPal and Coinbase have been collaborating for a long time now, since 2016. Back in 2018, Coinbase rolled out a service for US clients that allowed instant fiat withdrawals to PayPal. The service was made available in Europe last year, and then in Canada.

At the start of this year, PayPal posted job offers to boost its newly formed Blockchain Research Group. The job offers included 8 engineering positions in San Jose and Singapore.

One of the sources said that PayPal decided to implement cryptocurrencies into its own business after withdrawing from Facebook’s Libra project last year.

A matter of time?

Sri Shivananda, the Chief Technical Officer at Paypal, pointed out earlier that the company wants to create its own perspective on blockchain technology. The aim is to explore how decentralized technology can help PayPal contribute to enhancing the system of digital payments.

Shivananda added that it is “a matter of when not if,” the digitalization of currency will take place.

PayPal has been looking to adopt digital currencies since 2013. In that year, the current head of Libra project – David Marcus, who was the president of PayPal at the time, spoke highly of Bitcoin and digital currencies.

Shortly after that, John Donahoe,  Chief Executive of eBay – the mother company of PayPal at the time – noted that PayPal will have to adopt Bitcoin someday in order to adapt to the fast-changing financial environment.

A year later, in 2014, PayPal formed a partnership with Coinbase, BitPay and GoCoin, however, the payments company only tapped outside companies to run BTC transactions, without actually integrating the cryptocurrency into its native wallet or providing direct sales.

Crypto as a mainstream payment option

Most experts in the crypto industry are not surprised by the speculations about PayPal’s plans to fully integrate digital currencies. Alex Mashinsky, CEO of crypto lending network Celsius Network, is one of them.

Mashinsky doesn’t see why PayPal adopting crypto would be a problem. He believes some of PayPal’s customers already own crypto assets. Therefore, the payment giant’s job is to serve its customers better.

Aaron Henshaw, co-founder of blockchain infrastructure company Bison Trails, shares Mashinsky’s view. Henshaw isn’t surprised by the rumors. He also wouldn’t be shocked if PayPal explores options to fully incorporate Bitcoin buying on its platform. According to Henshaw, this aligns with PayPal’s mission—to allow everyone to participate in the global economy. The core idea behind blockchain and cryptocurrencies is to provide greater access to financial systems worldwide.

Mashinsky adds that this expansion could cause a sharp rise in BTC and Ether prices due to scarcity. By the time PayPal offers crypto services, Bitcoin trading may happen at much higher prices.

Therefore, it’s natural to see cryptocurrencies become mainstream if PayPal decides to offer these services. PayPal could boost crypto user participation in traditional finance and attract new audiences to the crypto industry.

Recap

The impact on crypto expansion would be huge if a company with 325 million users starts offering Bitcoin and other crypto assets. Industry experts say PayPal considering crypto services means it’s only a matter of when, not if, these offerings will launch.

Offering direct sales of crypto assets to hundreds of millions of users will likely push cryptocurrencies toward becoming a mainstream payment option.