Payment services giant, PayPal, and remittance service provider, Western Union, have filed trademark applications for crypto-related services. The news was shared on Twitter by USPTO-licensed trademark attorney, Mike Kondoudis.
As per the document, PayPal has filed trademark applications for “PAYPAL” and its overlapping Ps logo. The trademark document claimed that the firm plans to exchange, trade, and process transfers of blockchain and digital assets, including crypto. The application was submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office on October 18th. The serial numbers for the applications are 97636933, 97636892, and 97636857.
Western Union on the other hand has applied for three trademark applications. The company plans to foray into financial, banking, and insurance, including a virtual currency exchange. Moreover, the document also mentions commodity and crypto trading and brokerage, as well as issuing tokens of value.
Western Union filed its trademark application on the same day as PayPal, with serial numbers 97641189, 97641182, and 97641176.
Payment giants can’t escape Crypto fever either?
Over the past several months, financial giants are becoming more and more open to cryptocurrencies and digital assets. Moreover, this is not PayPal’s first encounter with Crypto.
PayPal introduced Checkout with Crypto in March of last year, enabling users to pay for online purchases with cryptocurrencies. Thereafter, PayPal revised its user guidelines in March 2022 and excluded NFT sales of above $10,000 from the Seller Protection Program. This action is viewed as a proactive defense against fraud in the NFT market.
On the other hand, Western Union is one of the largest remittance companies in the world. Hence it is not surprising that the firm is looking for a way into cryptocurrencies. Moreover, many people around the world are looking for ways to send crypto, just the way they send fiat.
At press time, the global crypto market cap stood at $1.04 trillion, up by 7.1% in the last 24 hours.