On Friday, PayPal Holdings Inc. publicly announced its plans to roll out its own stablecoin as stated in a Bloomberg news article. According to the publication, the financial payment giant confirmed that it is in fact working toward launching a private stablecoin that will be backed by the U.S. dollar. This expansion of its cryptocurrency offerings was discovered after the “PayPal Coin” graphic below was found on the company’s iPhone app.
In a statement to the media outlet, PayPay’s senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies reportedly said, “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will, of course, work closely with relevant regulators.”
PayPal currently provides retail customers the opportunity to buy and sell a handful of cryptocurrencies, namely: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash specifically – with as little as $1, to start.
Additionally, PayPal offers a suite of crypto solutions for small businesses. More than 30 million merchants have a small-to-medium business account with PayPal. Merchants use their respective accounts to accept customer payments online, in person, or on-the-go. PayPal also enables owners to take out loans, automate bookkeeping, and generate invoices.
As background, stablecoins are a type of blockchain-based digital money that’s pegged to non-blockchain physical assets such as fiat currencies, gold, or government bonds. The rationale goes that staking a stablecoin to an established resource, such as the U.S. dollar, reduces the price volatility common with crypto assets.
PayPal isn’t the first tech company to explore its own crypto-coin. Amazon currently has a unique digital currency of its own that’s been around for years. It’s called AmazonCoins. While the tokens can currently be used only for Amazon-hosted gaming and apps, it already exists and has traction within the Amazon ecosystem.
There was not any mention of a timetable for rollout or target date for launch.
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