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PayPal said this was one of the most demanded features by users since the company first began offering the purchase of crypto on its platform in 2020.
PayPal has announced that it will let users transfer cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin to other wallets and exchanges.
The payments giant said yesterday (7 June) that the feature is available to select users in the US, with plans to roll it out to all eligible US customers in the coming weeks.
This feature has been one of the most demanded by the company’s users since it began offering the purchase of crypto on its platform, according to PayPal SVP and general manager of blockchain, crypto and digital currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte.
“We’re excited to connect PayPal’s customers to other wallets, exchanges and applications, and we will continue to roll out additional crypto features, products and services in the months ahead,” he said in a statement. “Adding the ability to transfer, send and receive cryptocurrencies is another step in our journey to building a more inclusive and effective financial system.”
The new feature will allow PayPal users to transfer bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin into their account and move them to external crypto addresses. Users will also be able to send crypto to family and friends on PayPal with no fees or network charges.
PayPal first launched crypto trading services in October 2020 and has continued to take steps to embrace cryptocurrency. In March 2021 it acquired crypto security company Curv, after it rolled out crypto functions to its Venmo payments app.
In a first-quarter earnings call in May 2021, PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said that there had been a “tremendous amount of really great results going on tactically with our crypto efforts” and that half its crypto users were using PayPal daily.
Last August, the payments giant announced the launch of cryptocurrency buying, holding and selling services for UK customers. This was the first expansion of the company’s crypto-related services outside the US market.
Other major fintech players have been carving out their own corner of the crypto market. Mastercard acquired cryptocurrency intelligence company CipherTrace for an undisclosed sum last September. The acquisition followed the company’s earlier announcement that it planned to support cryptocurrencies on its payments network.
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