PayPal has enabled its UK customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency
PayPal UK customers can now buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies. PayPal will roll this service out to UK customers this week.
Paypal today announced that it would roll out a new service this week, enabling its UK customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies with Paypal. This announcement marks the first international expansion of PayPal’s cryptocurrency service beyond the US.
Making cryptocurrency accessible
PayPal will allow customers to trade with the four major cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. In addition, users can access real-time crypto prices and educational support on their PayPal account via desktop or the app. By releasing this service to UK customers, PayPal is making crypto trading more accessible to UK citizens on a trusted and well-regulated platform.
“The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives— including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and General Manager, Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal.
“Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the UK to explore cryptocurrency.”
PayPal emphasises that a key part of its service will be the support features for users to understand cryptocurrency better. Users can learn more about the volatility and risks of the currency and the opportunities it presents. It encourages its customers to research the products first, before buying, holding and selling cryptocurrencies with the financial technology company.
“We are committed to continue working closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support—and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce,” he added.
Expansion of cryptocurrency services
Following on from launching this service in the US in October 2020, Paypal also launched a ‘Checkout with Crypto’ in the US in March 2021 to enable US customers to purchase cryptocurrencies worldwide. This service was extended to its mobile payment service in the US, Venmo, in April 2021.
In addition to these new services, PayPal is working to develop the potential of cryptocurrencies. It is doing this by creating new partnerships with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms and worldwide central banks. To achieve this, PayPal has researched blockchain for the last five years to discover how to enhance its financial services. Its most important partnership of note is with Paxos Trust Company, which enabled its cryptocurrency offering in the US and UK. In addition, PayPal’s venture capital arm has also made investments in blockchain and cryptocurrency-related startups, including TRM Labs, TaxBit, and Talos.
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About PayPal
PayPal has remained at the forefront of the digital payment revolution for more than 20 years. By leveraging technology to make financial services and commerce more convenient, affordable, and secure, the PayPal platform empowers more than 400 million consumers and merchants in more than 200 markets to join and thrive in the global economy.
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