Paypal users will now be able to directly buy and sell cryptocurrency through Paypal and Venmo, it’s subsidiary if plans by the company to launch a built-in wallet to store cryptocurrency take off.
PayPal is also hiring crypto and blockchain experts amid the rumors. The job descriptions its hiring for are publicly available on the company’s own job board.
Paypal also plans to partner with multiple cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain liquidy. “My understanding is that they are going to allow buys and sells of crypto directly from PayPal and Venmo,” coindesk reported.
The company has over 325 million users and after news of the plans, shares rallied by 1.2pc, while Bitcoin surged to $9,700.
Currently, the financial tech company only allows its users to withdraw funds from cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase.
It still remains to be seen what assets would be listed, or the extent of offered functionality for both Venmo or Paypal.
Paypal has been staying away from cryptocurrency, listing potential rapid developments in blockchain and virtual currencies as a possible risk factor that may negatively impact the company. It’s possible that the company decided to preemptively strike against these potential risks.
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