Paypal launches cryptocurrency service for UK customers

By Gaia Lamperti

PayPal today announced the launch of a new service to enable its UK customers to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies on the platform in a secure and responsible way, marking PayPal’s first expansion of its cryptocurrency service beyond the US.

The new service will be rolled out this week supporting 4 types of coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash), another step towards increased digital currencies adoption in traditional financial institutions.

“The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives – including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services,” Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and General Manager, Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal, said. “Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the UK to explore cryptocurrency.”

The service will leverage the brand’s trust to offer PayPal’s customers the opportunity to explore and learn about cryptocurrency, with the potential to truly become mainstream in the UK. Consumers will be able to view real-time crypto prices, access educational content to help answer commonly asked questions, and learn more about cryptocurrencies by simply accessing their PayPal account via the website or the mobile app.

PayPal will focus on highlighting both opportunities and risks before users make a transaction. As part of this offering, account holders can access educational content to help them understand the cryptocurrency ecosystem, its volatility, and the risks associated with purchasing cryptocurrency. “We are committed to continuing working closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support—and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce,” da Ponte added.

Customers can start by buying as little as £1 of cryptocurrency through PayPal, choosing from pre-determined purchase amounts or entering in their own purchase amount. The new services will also allow users to sell cryptocurrency with available quickly to spend in their PayPal account.

PayPal is one of the largest companies globally to enter the market for digital currencies since the service was launched in the US last October. In March, the company also announced ‘Checkout with Crypto’, a feature enabling customers in the US to use their cryptocurrency alongside other payment methods in their PayPal wallet to make purchases at businesses around the world.

In addition to providing these cryptocurrency services, for the past five years, PayPal has been focusing and investing resources in its internal blockchain research team to explore the next generation of digital financial services infrastructure and digital commerce. The company has been forming partnerships with licensed and regulated cryptocurrency platforms and central banks around the world.

PayPal’s venture capital arm has also made investments in blockchain and cryptocurrency startups, including TRM Labs, leading cryptocurrency risk management software; TaxBit, a provider of crypto tax software to customers and exchanges; and Talos, institutional-grade infrastructure technology for digital asset trading.

In the UK, PayPal’s new crypto offering will start to roll out this week and will be available within the next few weeks for all eligible customers directly in their PayPal account via the website and their mobile app.