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PayPal and Venmo Crypto Support – What Do You Need to Know?

Are PayPal and Venmo crypto purchases on the horizon? According to Forbes, they might be.

Hot of the press Bitcoin news suggests that PayPal will soon allow users to buy cryptocurrency instantly using their PayPal wallet balance. Further rumors suggest that Venmo crypto purchases are also in the pipeline. The only question is, are rumors credible?

PayPal and Venmo Crypto Support Facts vs Fiction

Might PayPal soon make it even easier for people to buy Bitcoin? While the idea is exciting, it is important to note that PayPal hasn’t made an official statement to this effect. At this point, PayPal and Venmo crypto rumors are just rumors.

  • News announcing possible Paypal support for cryptocurrency payments was initially broken by Coindesk.
  • Coindesk hasn’t made public the identities of its sources. However, Coindesk claims that PayPal/Venmo crypto speculation is the result of leaks from two prominent industry insiders.
  • Coindesk’s sources have not put a deadline on when PayPal or Venmo crypto purchases will become a reality.

This is not to say, though, that rumors might not be credible.

PayPal Entering the Crypto Payments Arena is Long Overdue

At present, there are several reasons why PayPal and PayPal owned Venmo should look to establish closer ties with the cryptocurrency market.

First launching in 1998, PayPal was once the Internet’s go-to payment gateway for millions of businesses. However, recent years have seen several competitors start stealing PayPal’s limelight.

  • In 2018, eBay decided to drop PayPal as its main payment provider for the benefit of eBay users.
  • Skrill, Neteller, Revolut, and several other PayPal competitors now exist, all of which already allow users to either buy cryptocurrency or top-up digital wallet balances with coins like Bitcoin.
  • PayPal charges significantly higher fees than many of its current competitors, without offering anything in the way of extra value.

In short, not allowing users to buy cryptocurrency or top-up wallet balances with cryptocurrency, is already putting PayPal at a competitive disadvantage.

What Will PayPal and Venmo Crypto Support Mean for Bitcoin?

Assuming that PayPal does roll out support for cryptocurrency, there are several reasons for investors to get excited.

Globally, PayPal has approximately 277 million users. “How can I buy Bitcoin with PayPal” has also been a top trending Google search term since 2009. PayPal and Venmo could, therefore, become a major on-ramp to cryptocurrency for millions of people who are unable to buy coins like Bitcoin at exchanges.

It is also worth noting that there is only enough Bitcoin in circulation, for every individual PayPal user to own 0.01 BTC. Only a few million PayPal users would, therefore, have to buy cryptocurrency to give coin prices a major boost. However, it is also the case that PayPal might have an ulterior motive for becoming more crypto-friendly.

Is PayPal Coin on the Horizon?

In 2019, Facebook was quick to boast that PayPal was a major supporter of its now largely forgotten Libra project. PayPal has also recently begun hiring several in-house blockchain technology experts. It might, therefore, be the case that PayPal plans to launch its own cryptocurrency at some point.

If PayPal were to create its own cryptocurrency, doing so might see PayPal start directly competing against coins like Bitcoin. For now, though, this is pure speculation. All that market watchers can do at present is wait for PayPal to make its position on crypto clear via an official statement.

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