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One of the most discussed topics within the crypto community recently has been PayPal’s announcement that its customers will be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. The service is expected to be fully implemented early next year.
The company’s goal “to increase consumer understanding and adoption of cryptocurrency,” as stated in its press release, appears to be a necessary step in popularizing cryptocurrency. Mainstream awareness of cryptocurrencies still remains very low. As data from a Statista survey indicate, the use of Bitcoin (BTC) in countries with developed economies is less than 10%, with the lowest levels in Sweden, Denmark and Japan. Meanwhile, some optimistically predict that this number will grow to 90% of the US population by 2030.
Related: PayPal’s cryptographic integration means Bitcoin could triple its user base
PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said “the move to digital currencies is inevitable, bringing with it clear benefits in terms of financial inclusion and access; efficiency, speed and resilience of the payment system; and the ability for governments to quickly disburse funds to citizens. “Similarly, former Prime Minister of Malta, Joseph Muscat, told the UN General Assembly in 2018 that cryptocurrencies were” the inevitable future of money “.
Related: PayPal’s small steps towards cryptocurrencies aren’t dampening the hype for adoption
PayPal will begin offering its services to users with Bitcoin, Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and the company has acquired from the New York State Department of Financial Services what it claims is a “first – of its kind ”conditional BitLicense – a license required to run a digital currency business in New York – and has partnered with US stablecoin operator Paxos to enable this service for its customers.
Considering that PayPal had 346 million active users in the second quarter of 2020 – a figure that has since increased in the third quarter to 361 million, according to its latest quarterly report – the decision to offer its customers cryptocurrency-related services appears to be a significant step towards mainstream adoption. Last year, Cointelegraph asked cryptocurrency and blockchain industry experts for their views on the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. This time the question was: Could PayPal’s recent announcement to start offering cryptocurrency payments force mass adoption of crypto?
Cristina Dolan, Founder and CEO of InsideChains and Vice President of the MIT Enterprise Forum:
“This is a very exciting announcement that will help increase adoption of crypto for value transfer or traditional payments by offering a simple, integrated solution for the 346 million active PayPal users. The most challenging part of using crypto for payments is the gateway from cryptographic networks that use key pairs to make a payment or a transfer Reducing that friction at the point of the transaction will make it easier to integrate it into simple value transfer use cases, thus making it less intimidating. This could even increase the speed of spending on cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin across the network, increasing its usability and perceived value as a currency, not just a store of value. PayPal dominates payment processing, but crypto integration can also attract new customers “.
Dominik Schiener, co-founder of the IOTA Foundation:
“Since there is no change to the commercial side of these transactions, it would be user adoption right now. PayPal’s addition of encryption as an option for users speaks to a future in which both the ends of the transaction are engaged in cryptography, which is very exciting for our adoption. This will eventually lead to mass adoption and a new payment method not only between users and merchants, but also between smart devices and smart cities. As more and more payment platforms accept cryptocurrencies, we will see awareness grow into greater interconnectivity with IoT technology. Eventually, cryptography will become a part of our daily life as more and more companies use it for things like machine payments. by car or our cars using autonomous payments for tolls, charges and other services. no more options for touchless payments, where our devices will handle the transaction end-to-end and we can keep our cards in our wallets. “
Jay Hao, CEO of OKEx:
“PayPal’s move to offering cryptocurrency services is extremely bullish for the space; however, in itself it does not signal immediate mass adoption of them. What we are seeing, which is a very key sea change, is the normalization of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and their legitimacy by institutions and large domestic companies. Paypal will begin offering these services to its US customers, but with approximately 350 million customers worldwide, this is a big step towards greater awareness and acceptance. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone will rush to buy Bitcoin, but as it gradually becomes more accepted, particularly against the backdrop of an economic crisis where fiat currencies are losing their purchasing power, more entrants will naturally come to the market. I think a lot of payment giants and tech companies like PayPal are also seeing how things are going and that they need to join or invest in it. I expect the trend to come, and as we move into 2021, will be for more companies like PayPal, fintech, hedge funds, brokers, and banks to offer cryptocurrency services, whether it’s the option to buy it or offer custody services. All in all, the prospects are very promising, but we may have to wait a while before we can say that “mass adoption” has been achieved. “
Jimmy Song, instructor at Programming Blockchain:
“The only thing that ‘forces’ the adoption of Bitcoin is the collapse of fiat money, which is not happening yet. PayPal’s announcement gives people an additional path to buy Bitcoin to store value or buy altcoins to play – that’s it. “
Dead Greenspan, founder of Quantum Economics:
“Yes. This move is likely a huge boon to the adoption of cryptocurrencies in payments in the real world. Millions of people who prefer to pay with cryptocurrencies are always on the lookout for new providers to accept them. PayPal is now effectively adding 22 million. merchants to that list and is opening the door to its more than 300 million active customers. The immediate effects could be reduced, depending on the level at which PayPal allows customers to transfer cryptocurrencies in and out of its site. However, in the long run. , users will understand the tremendous benefits of using digital assets and will realize that they can now transfer value without the need for third parties. So, in a sense, PayPal is sowing the seeds of its own destruction. “
Roger See, executive chairman of Bitcoin.com:
“Obviously, a platform with over 300 million active users helps drive the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies. Of the four cryptocurrencies added by PayPal, it is the most bullish for Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin as they are the only two usable for on-chain payments at the moment. “
These quotes have been edited and condensed.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
