Paypal will adopt the use of cryptocurrency on its platform including the ability to buy, hold and sell select cryptocurrencies, initially featuring Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. This can be done directly within a PayPal digital wallet. The service will be available to PayPal account holders in the U.S. in the coming weeks and after expand the features to selected international markets in the first half of 2021. The service is enabled in the U.S. through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a regulated provider of cryptocurrency products and services.

"PayPal has been granted a conditional Bitlicense by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS)."

As part of this offering, PayPal will provide account holders with educational content to help them understand the cryptocurrency ecosystem, the risks and opportunities related to investing in cryptocurrency, and information on blockchain technology. There are no service fees when buying or selling cryptocurrency through December 31, 2020, and there will be no fees for holding cryptocurrency in a PayPal account..

Beginning in early 2021, PayPal customers will be able to use cryptocurrency holdings as a funding source.

PayPal customers will be able to use cryptocurrency holdings as a funding source to pay at PayPal's 26 million merchants around the globe. Consumers will be able to instantly convert their selected cryptocurrency balance to fiat currency, with certainty of value and no incremental fees. PayPal merchants will have no additional integrations or fees, as all transactions will be settled with fiat currency at their current PayPal rates. Therefore cryptocurrency simply will become just another funding source inside the PayPal digital wallet.

In addition to providing cryptocurrency services, PayPal will explore the potential of digital currencies through partnerships with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms and with central banks around the world. For the past five years, PayPal has increased its focus and resources on exploring the next generation of digital financial services infrastructure and enhancements to digital commerce through an internal blockchain-focused research team. In 2019, PayPal Ventures, the company's venture capital arm, invested in TRM Labs, a company focused on helping financial institutions prevent cryptocurrency fraud and financial crime, and Cambridge Blockchain, a blockchain-based identity management and compliance software company. PayPal will continue exploring the potential of distributed ledger technologies to improve financial services and assure they are faster, more secure and less expensive. The company intends to work hand-in-hand with regulators, governments and central banks in this quest.