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PayPal (PYPL) Enters U.K. Crypto Space With Latest Move

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PayPal (PYPL - Free Report) is making strong efforts to expand its presence in the global cryptocurrency market on the back of its strong solutions.

This is evident from its latest move of unveiling its cryptocurrency service, which allows users to buy, hold and sell digital currencies directly from their PayPal account, in the U.K. This marks the foray of PayPal into the crypto market of the U.K.

British customers are now able to trade with bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum or Litecoin, using the underlined solution.

The solution lets customers know the prices of cryptocurrencies in real time, which will benefit their digital currency trading.

The latest move marks the first expansion of the company’s cryptocurrency service outside the United States. The service was launched in the United States last year.

Growing Crypto Efforts

The latest move bodes well for the company’s strengthening crypto initiatives.

Apart from the latest move, the recently launched crypto on Venmo, which lets Venmo customers to customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly within the Venmo app. Customers can also check cryptocurrency trends from the app.

The company recently made an announcement related to acquiring a digital asset security technology provider — Curv. Post-acquisition, Curve will join PayPal’s newly created business unit dedicated to blockchain, cryptocurrency and digital currencies.

It unveiled a feature called Checkout with Crypto, which allows customers to convert their cryptocurrency holdings seamlessly into fiat currency at the checkout.

With the latest move, the company is offering a new way for customers to pay and businesses to get paid. Customers can check out with cryptocurrency from a transaction, without any additional transaction fee.

With all the endeavors, PayPal remains well-poised to penetrate rapidly into the booming cryptocurrency market amid the pandemic, which has highlighted the importance of digital currency transactions.

Per a report by MarketsandMarkets, the cryptocurrency market is expected to hit $1.6 billion in 2021 and reach $2.2 billion by 2026, witnessing a CAGR of 7.1%.

Per a report by Fortune Business Insights, the market is expected to reach $1.8 billion in 2027, witnessing a CAGR of 11.2% between 2021 and 2027.

Competitive Scenario

We note that the latest move along with the above-mentioned efforts is likely to strengthen PayPal’s competitive position against one of its biggest peers namely Square (SQ - Free Report) .

Square, which facilitates the buying and selling of bitcoins via its Cash App, is riding on growing bitcoin revenues. This has turned out to be the key catalyst to its top-line growth.

In second-quarter 2021, Square generated revenues of $2.7 billion from the bitcoin category (58.2% of total revenues), up significantly from $211.2 million in the year-ago quarter. The company is continuously gaining from the increasing uptake of the Cash App, and strong customer demand and growth in bitcoin activities.

Apart from Square, Facebook and Overstock.com are also leaving no stone unturned to gain a strong foothold in the cryptocurrency space.

Reportedly, Facebook-backed crypto project Diem intends to roll out a U.S. dollar stablecoin, which is a digital currency pegged to a fiat currency.

PayPal’s strong crypto initiatives along with the growing crypto volume are likely to strengthen its position in the intensifying cryptocurrency battle against the above-mentioned companies.

Currently, PayPal carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


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