Swirling rumors (and a couple of job postings) fan hopes that the two fintech giants will embrace cryptocurrencies.
According to a report by Coin Telegraph, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) is looking to recruit digital experts such as a Crypto Engineer and a blockchain research engineer. Significantly, the first posting describes the role to include “designing, developing and maintaining key crypto products/features targeted towards availability, performance, and scalability of PayPal services.”
These job ads have popped up simultaneously with rumors in the crypto world that payments giant PayPal and digital wallet subsidiary Venmo are about to make a splash in cryptocurrencies. NewsBTC cited a well-placed industry source to say that the two companies are about to embrace cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin on their platforms.
PayPal’s Change of heart?
Is PayPal having a change of heart towards cryptocurrencies? It could that it is drawing inspiration from organizations that allow crypto transactions such as Square (NYSE: SQ), challenger bank Revolut, and broking disruptor Robinhood.
One of the “sources” told CoinDesk: “My understanding is that they are going to allow buys and sells of crypto directly from PayPal and Venmo. They are going to have some sort of a built-in wallet functionality so you can store it there.”
The source added that PayPal likely “would be working with multiple exchanges to source liquidity.”
Another source said the crypto operations could commence as soon as within three months.
Currently, PayPal users complain that the platform blocks them from using it to transact cryptos. However, it does allow inward remittances from certain exchanges, such as Coinbase, where a user may be cashing out their cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin adoption
Bitcoin will benefit hugely from increased adoption by the masses as well as institutions.
Already there is evidence of a rising groundswell of institutional interest in digital assets. Fidelity Digital Assets recently issued a report on digital assets based on a survey of nearly 800 institutions in the U.S. and Europe conducted from November 2019 through early March 2020.
The report revealed that 80% of institutional investors found something appealing about the asset class and that 60% actually believed that they should invest in digital assets.
Further evidence shows that during the month of May there were sharp increases in the open interest of bitcoin derivatives on a major exchange, indicating that institutions may be on the prowl.
In such circumstances, if PayPal’s 305 million customers get unfettered access to bitcoin transactions, it would give a huge shot in the arm to the cryptocurrency’s adoption.
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