PayPal appears to be considering the launch of its cryptocurrency backed by the US dollar, as the online payment corporation looks to include opportunities for customers to engage with digital coinage on its platforms.
PayPal confirmed to Bloomberg that it is considering developing its stablecoin, a cryptocurrency backed by and anchored to an existing currency.
In recent months, PayPal has made a significant push into cryptocurrencies, launching new facilities for buying and keeping digital currencies, as well as the ability to pay for transactions with them.
A developer named Steve Moser dug deep inside the PayPal app and discovered evidence that the firm was experimenting with a cryptocurrency called “PayPal Coin” backed by the US dollar.
According to his website, The Tape Drive, Moser also identified ties to another cryptocurrency, Neo, in PayPal’s iOS app. Currently, PayPal supports buying, selling, and holding Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.
PayPal began allowing its US customers to store cryptocurrency in October 2020, and in March of the following year, they were able to make purchases from the platform’s over 30 million merchants using supported cryptocoins.
PayPal does not charge fees for bitcoin storage, but it does charge a small transaction fee of up to 2.3 percent for each transaction. The advantage of using PayPal for cryptocoin transactions is that it provides fraud protection for purchases made with fiat money on the site.
It’s unknown how much PayPal has invested in its stablecoin, but according to a corporate official, the code proof, which includes a PayPal Coin logo in the app, resulted from an internal hackathon.
If PayPal launches its cryptocurrency, the name and other characteristics are likely to change.
PayPal isn’t the only tech firm considering creating its cryptocurrency. Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook, has been aiding in creating the Diem stablecoin, and Visa Inc. has just permitted a stablecoin backed by the US dollar to settle a transaction with the network.
