PayPal CEO Says Digital Currencies Will Go Mainstream As Merchants Turn Away From Physical Payments

Chief Executive Officer of PayPal Holdings Inc., Dan Schulman, said the use of digital currencies is set to go mainstream as merchants begin to take a digitally focused approach to payments during the Web Summit Conference this week.

He added that merchants are starting to look into accepting payments via smartphones and QR codes. Additionally, customers are beginning to use digital wallets more frequently, which lend themselves well to cryptocurrencies. In anticipation of this digitally-focused payments world, PayPal launched services to buy, sell and custody crypto for its 305 active users.

The announcement of PayPal’s crypto services rocked the industry with crypto holders now able to use supported currencies — Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin — at 26 million merchants. Schulman ended his statements noting that moving away from cash and towards digital payments is the company’s largest opportunity for growth.

PayPal first announced crypto offerings in October in partnership with Paxos. The daily volume on the Paxos’ trading service itBit exchange quickly rose from $5 million in October to $25 million by mid November. On November 26, PayPal crypto volume reached an all-time-high of $75.65 million, according to itBit exchange data. The daily trading volume on leading exchanges including Coinbase and Kraken both exceed $500 million, so there is still a long way to go until PayPal is a competitor to leading exchanges.

By Emily Mason

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