Benzinga - What comes as a sigh of relief for many customers using crypto assets in the United States, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is set to roll out a key new feature for its 60 million Venmo customers that will allow users to transfer cryptocurrencies between its platform and other crypto wallets. This comes after PayPal introduced a similar feature for its customers back in 2022.
PayPal Enables Crypto Transfer For Venmo
According to PayPal's most recent earnings statement, Venmo -- which PayPal acquired in 2013 -- completed a total of $245.3 billion in transactions involving fiat currency in 2022 alone. In order to launch the new transfer mechanism, PayPal has formed a strategic partnership with Paxos, a cryptocurrency company that specializes in stablecoins.
While speaking about the new development, the firm was quoted as saying:
We're excited to connect Venmo's customers to the community, other wallets and exchanges, and we intend to continue to roll out additional crypto products and services in the year ahead.
Paypal's Push For Crypto Adoption
The announcement from PayPal is one of the company's first crypto-related updates since February, when the firm reportedly halted its stablecoin project following alarming reports that Paxos -- its partner in the stablecoin offering -- was under investigation by the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
At a time when the cryptocurrency market as a whole is being challenged with increased scrutiny by U.S. regulators, the decision to extend the crypto service to millions of Venmo consumers starting next month comes at an interesting juncture. PayPal users were given permission to send supported tokens such as Bitcoin, ether, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin to external wallets beginning in June of the previous calendar year.
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