PayPal has become the first major U.S. fintech firm to launch its own cryptocurrency with a stablecoin called PayPal USD. Issued by Paxos Trust Company, PayPal USD is 100 percent backed by dollar deposits, U.S. treasuries and cash equivalents, and will maintain a value of exactly $1, according to the company. Initially available only to U.S. customers, CEO Dan Schulman says PayPal intends to make cryptocurrency a part of its overall payments infrastructure and will soon integrate it with its Venmo mobile payment app. PayPal shares, in a slump since last year, were up 3 percent on the news. Continue reading PayPal Is First Major U.S. Fintech to Launch Own Stablecoin

Cryptocurrency Bitcoin is on a roll, rising to a record high since the advent of the global coronavirus pandemic. In March it had skidded to below $4,000. This time, however, its growth is not being driven by the same speculative forces that led to its peak of $19,783 in 2017. Instead, American companies and other traditional investors are gravitating to Bitcoin as an alternative asset, similar to gold, that enables them to place part of their financial portfolio outside the influence of governments and the traditional financial systems. Continue reading Investments in Bitcoin Increase During the COVID Pandemic

PayPal Holdings’ Q1 earnings report revealed that 40 million people used its digital money transfer service Venmo in the last year, making it one of the most popular financial apps in the United States. Venmo is also growing dramatically in overall volume with the total number of payments made on its platform skyrocketing 73 percent to $21.3 billion in Q1 2019. Most Venmo transactions are between two people, with the company swallowing the processing fee. But PayPal prizes the app since a younger, more active cohort favors it. Continue reading PayPal Monetizing Venmo, Which Now Has 40 Million Users

PayPal plans to make the largest purchase in its history: $2.2 billion for Stockholm-based financial tech startup iZettle. The purchase puts PayPal in thousands of brick-and-mortar retail shops around the world, and sharpens its rivalry with Square, which focuses on small businesses with physical locations. Dubbed the “Square of Europe,” iZettle produces technology and devices that allow almost half a million businesses in a dozen European countries, Brazil and Mexico to accept credit cards. Continue reading PayPal to Acquire European Payments Startup iZettle for $2.2B