PayPal to Allow Crypto Transfers to External Wallets

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  • PayPal intends to allow its customers to transfer their crypto to third-party wallets by adding a crypto withdrawal function.
  • Though it is not clear when the firm will bring on this new development.
  • This update is very bullish for the entire crypto industry in that it facilitates a new level of accessibility for the mainstream.

PayPal’s executes revealed that the payment giant is planning to allow users to transfer their acquired crypto through PayPal to external, third-party wallets.

It has been seven months since PayPal first announced that it will allow its US customers to buy, hold, and sell crypto through their PayPal wallets. Though, at present time, the firm does not let users move cryptocurrency holdings off its platform.

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and Head of crypto and digital currencies at PayPal, appeared at CoinDesk’s Consensus 2021 conference and asserted that a withdrawal function is imminent. “They want to bring their crypto to us so they can use it in commerce, and we want them to be able to take the crypto they acquired with us and take it to the destination of their choice,” he said.

Da Ponte said the company is bringing new developments every two months, though it is not clear when the withdrawal functionality will be added.

When asked about the company’s plans to launch its own stablecoin, the blockchain lead responded insouciantly, saying “this is way too early.” PayPal’s Vice President declared that he has also met with central banks and that he believes it is reasonable for them to issue CBDCs. “It absolutely makes sense that central banks will issue their own tokens,” he said.

Bullish For the Crypto Industry

PayPal, as the leading online payments system, has an enormous influence on the whole digital payment world. It can be argued that Visa and Mastercard, which announced their intention regarding dabbling in crypto earlier this year, could have been actually provoked by PayPal’s act.

To add to the mix, PayPal’s embrace of crypto is an indication that the firm believes in digital assets as part of our future. Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, previously had said that we will witness a “tremendous decline in the use of cash” over the next decade, he stated:

All form factors of payment will collapse into the mobile phone. Credit cards as a form factor will go away, and you will use your phone because a phone can add much more value than just tapping your credit card.

Finally, PayPal has almost 300 million customers worldwide. If PayPal provides all these customers exposure to cryptocurrencies and enables them to withdraw these assets to the wallet of their choice, the crypto market will reach a record level of accessibility.

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