Payments giant, PayPal has played a significant role in the crypto market. While PayPal has time and again voiced interest in crypto, the platform desired to elevate its presence in the market with the launch of its own coin.
Back in October 2020, PayPal shocked the entire world with a crypto-friendly announcement. The payments platform not only allowed purchases with the supported crypto assets but also permitted US citizens to hold the coins. Currently, the firm supports prominent cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, [BTC], Ethereum [ETH], Litecoin [LTC] as well as Bitcoin Cash [BCH].
The firm was clearly not satisfied with its limited presence in the crypto market. The payments platform decided to take things up a notch and drop hints about the launch of its native stablecoin.
While the payments giant hasn’t released an official statement about the same, the company told Bloomberg that it was exploring the idea of rolling out its own stablecoin called the PayPal Coin. Since stablecoins are pegged to fiat, the PayPal Coin would most likely be backed by the US dollar.
Despite being in the exploratory stage, the senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies at the payments firm, Jose Fernandez da Ponte noted that they were quite serious about this venture. He stated,
“We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators.”
PayPal dives deep into crypto
Developer Steve Moser was the first to shed light on PayPal’s imminent stablecoin. Moser went on to discover hidden codes as well as images that pointed towards the development of the PayPal Coin. The code reportedly revealed that the coin was going to be backed by the US dollar. Moser then shared the news with Bloomberg.
This isn’t the first time that PayPal made news in the stablecoin space. The entire globe was curious to witness Facebook’s infamous Libra project. PayPal was particularly inquisitive as it was part of the social media giant’s crypto project. While there is no sign of Facebook’s stablecoin, PayPal certainly stepped up its game and was seen prepping to launch its own stablecoin.