PayPal launched its cryptocurrency service in the U.K.
LONDON PayPal will launch its cryptocurrency service in the U.K. On Monday, the U.S. online payments company said that it will allow British customers to buy, hold, and sell digital currency starting next week. This is the first international expansion for PayPal's cryptocurrency product. It was launched in the U.S. last October. CNBC's Jose Fernandez da Ponte said that the product has done well in the U.S. "We believe it will do well in the U.K.," PayPal's crypto feature allows customers to buy and sell bitcoin, bitcoin cash or litecoin using as little as 1 euro. You can also track the crypto market's prices and access educational content. PayPal, like the U.S. version, relies on Paxos (a New York-regulated digital currency firm) to allow crypto buying and selling in U.K. PayPal stated that it has spoken with the relevant U.K. regulators for the launch of the service.
The Financial Conduct Authority, Britain’s financial services watchdog, did not immediately respond to the announcement.
Steady adoption
PayPal's crypto service looks similar to Revolut, a U.K fintech company. PayPal users cannot move their crypto holdings beyond the app, as is the case for Revolut. Revolut has recently begun testing a feature that allows users to withdraw bitcoin to their personal wallets. PayPal claims that its entry into crypto is to make it easier for people participate in the market. Da Ponte stated that although coins and tokens have been around for some time, you needed to be a very sophisticated user in order to be able access them. "Having this on a platform such as ours is a great entry point." This payments processor is just one of many large financial companies that are making a jump into the unregulated world cryptocurrency. Major firms like Mastercard, Tesla, and Facebook are warming up to crypto despite ongoing concerns about price volatility and consumer protection. Bitcoin, the largest digital currency in the world, reached a record of almost $65,000 in April, before falling below $30,000 in July when Chinese regulators tightened their grip on the market. Since then, it has recovered to $48,400. Although PayPal initially offered crypto trading, the company believes digital currencies will play a larger role in ecommerce over time. PayPal began allowing U.S. customers to use crypto to pay millions of its online merchants worldwide earlier this year. It also increased crypto buying and selling to Venmo its mobile wallet. Da Ponte stated that the firm has ambitions to increase its product offerings in the U.S., U.K., and other markets.
"We have been very careful about beginning with the initial functionality and then we'll watch where the market takes us. Different markets have different needs for products.
