PayPal Crypto Payment Service Now Supports US Businesses to Buy Bitcoin

Key Points:

• PayPal now allows U.S. businesses to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency through their accounts.
• The new PayPal crypto payment service will not be available to merchants in New York State at launch due to regulatory constraints.

On Wednesday, PayPal Holdings announced that U.S. merchants will be able to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency via business accounts.

Read more: Select PayPal Cryptocurrency Purchases Now Enhanced Supported By MoonPay

PayPal Crypto Payment Allows Transactions for U.S. Merchants

PayPal crypto payment dramatically extends the use of PayPal’s cryptocurrency services that have been extended to individual consumers since 2020.

Previously, consumers could buy and manage digital currencies through PayPal and Venmo accounts, moves that then came full circle with the introduction of PayPal USD, a U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, last year. This newest merchant functionality is in response to growing demand, according to PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies, Jose Fernandez da Ponte.

“Business owners have increasingly expressed a desire for the same cryptocurrency capabilities available to consumers,” da Ponte said in a statement.

Over the years, merchants have had a few options to accept cryptocurrency through services such as BitPay and Coinbase Commerce. Under the PayPal crypto pay service, businesses will also be able to transfer digital currencies to third-party eligible wallets and send or receive tokens to and from external blockchain addresses. New PayPal crypto payment service will not be initially available to merchants in New York State owing to some regulatory constraints.

PYUSD Stablecoin Expands to Solana for Lower Fees

Besides the extension in crypto access for merchants, PayPal continued to develop its capabilities for a stablecoin. PYUSD, fully backed by U.S. dollar deposits and short-term cash equivalents, was issued by Paxos and launched in August 2023.

Most recently, PayPal integrated PYUSD with the Solana blockchain noted for having lower transaction fees compared to Ethereum. It’s in hope that this will encourage the use of stablecoins for smaller purchases, like coffee or lunch, which traditionally have been impracticable on higher-fee networks such as Ethereum.

The payment company has also made PayPal’s PYUSD available on the Xoom platform, which enables users to send money to family and friends abroad while not charging transaction fees if one uses PYUSD.