PayPal was founded in 1998 and is an online third-party payment service provider. Musk was one of the co-founders. Currently, PayPal is the world’s largest third-party payment provider. In Taiwan, PayPal collaborates with Yuanta Bank, allowing users to withdraw US dollars or Taiwanese dollars from PayPal using Yuanta Bank’s Yuanta Global Pass.
Since 2020, PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, allowing users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies. The PayPal-issued stablecoin PYUSD (PayPal USD) was officially launched in August 2023. At the Consensus conference on May 29th of this year, it was announced that PayPal is partnering with Solana. PYUSD is currently ranked seventh in terms of market value and is issued by Paxos with a supply of $399 million (compared to USDT’s supply of $112 billion).
PayPal has been deploying cryptocurrency payment features since 2020, allowing users to check out and pay with cryptocurrencies. Users can choose to pay with cryptocurrencies if they have them in their PayPal account. PayPal is gradually expanding its development of cryptocurrency e-commerce services and is oriented towards blockchain technology.
In the United States, PayPal has introduced the functionality to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies. Through a collaboration with stablecoin issuer Paxos, PayPal has increased its cryptocurrency payment capabilities and brought cryptocurrency transaction services to the UK. Consumers can store and make payments with cryptocurrencies on PayPal. Enabling cryptocurrency transfers on PayPal marks a new milestone in mainstream e-commerce transactions with stablecoins.
The PayPal and Venmo wallets have user-friendly interfaces, allowing users to send PYUSD on Ethereum or Solana. PYUSD supports Ledger cold wallets and MetaMask wallets for storing PYUSD. PayPal holds a virtual currency business license issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services, and Paxos, the issuer, is a government-chartered trust management company.
PYUSD operates on the Ethereum ERC-20 standard and supports multiple blockchains. It is designed as a stablecoin system for Web3, supporting transactions with third-party exchanges, wallets, decentralized applications (dApps), and NFT markets. PYUSD can help developers integrate Web3 payment functions and serve as an entry point to Web3-compatible services.
Developers can use PYUSD to develop their own products, connecting traditional financial services with regulated and programmable cryptocurrencies. PayPal’s deployment of PYUSD also includes its use as a token for metaverse games, NFT trading, and more.
PYUSD can be traded at a 1:1 ratio with the US dollar through PayPal and Venmo. Some compliant US users can trade PYUSD without transaction fees. The issuance of PYUSD in US dollars is significant during periods of inflation, as it helps control costs for global small and medium-sized traders. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, stablecoins like PYUSD are not classified as securities or stocks.
PayPal’s focus on PYUSD is for the global commercial market. At the Consensus conference on May 29, 2024, PayPal officially announced the integration of PYUSD with the Solana blockchain. This blockchain upgrade allows consumers to choose which blockchain they want to use PYUSD on. PayPal users and businesses can use PYUSD across fiat currencies, stablecoins, and various blockchains.
Solana blockchain is known for its low cost and high-speed processing of transactions. PYUSD’s selection of Solana’s token expansion technology allows for encrypted transmission of transactions, calling of program hooks, and filling of transfer records, making it faster for businesses requiring cross-border transactions to receive payments.
Crypto.com, Phantom, and Paxos are the first to offer early users the ability to use PYUSD on the Solana blockchain. The collaboration between PYUSD and Solana could lead to applications in the NFT market, Web3 games, metaverse, and e-commerce platforms. With support from the Solana Foundation for game and NFT teams, the collaboration with PayPal could drive a new wave of token economy, bringing global gamers and new users to PayPal.
Leveraging PayPal’s position as a leading third-party payment provider and combining it with PYUSD wallet technology, integrating payment subscription features with social media platforms like X can bring more revenue to creators.
PayPal, PYUSD, Web2