PayPal allows business accounts to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies
Raphael Wernert
9/26/24
PayPal has announced that it is now allowing its US merchants to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their PayPal business account. At launch, this feature will not be available in New York State.
‘Since we launched the ability for PayPal and Venmo consumers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies in their wallets, we've learned a lot about how they want to use their cryptocurrencies,’ said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Crypto-Currencies and Digital Currencies at PayPal. ‘Business owners have expressed a growing desire for the same cryptocurrency capabilities available to consumers. We're excited to meet that demand by offering this new feature that makes it easy for them to engage with digital currencies.’
In addition, PayPal is allowing US merchants to transfer cryptocurrencies to eligible third-party wallets on the blockchain. PayPal business account holders can now send and receive supported cryptocurrency tokens to and from external blockchain addresses.
PayPal has continually made significant strides to increase the use of cryptocurrencies. In 2020, PayPal announced the ability for its customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies directly from their PayPal and Venmo accounts. In 2023, the company launched a stablecoin denominated in US dollars, PayPal USD (PYUSD). In April 2024, it became possible to use PYUSD as a funding instrument for our Xoom platform, allowing users to pay no transaction fees when using PYUSD to fund eligible transfers to friends and family abroad. More recently, PYUSD became available on the Solana blockchain, giving users the choice of multiple blockchains for greater flexibility and control.
PayPal USD is issued by Paxos Trust Company, a fully licensed limited purpose trust company. Paxos and its products - including expansion into new blockchains - are authorized to conduct virtual currency business by the New York State Department of Financial Services. PayPal USD reserves are fully backed by US dollar deposits, US Treasuries and similar liquid equivalents. PayPal USD can be bought or sold via PayPal and Venmo at a fixed rate of one US dollar per unit (US$1).
