PayPal Holdings Inc announced that it will allow customers in the UK to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies starting from this week. This is the first time that PayPal will launch its crypto services outside of the United States.
The backstory – PayPal announced its entry into the crypto sphere with an announcement in October 2020. Earlier this year, PayPal announced its plans to allow the buying, selling, and holding of cryptocurrencies on its network. The company also enabled its users to spend digital assets at millions of merchants on its network.
PayPal Offers Crypto Services in the UK
PayPal’s crypto service now extends to the UK where users can purchase cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ether, Litecoin, etc. for as little as $1. These services resemble PayPal’s services in the U.S., though there are transaction limits for UK customers.
Jose Fernandez da Ponte, vice president and general manager for blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies at PayPal, mentioned that PayPal is committed to working continuously with the UK regulators and they would like to contribute to the digital currencies going to play in the future of global finance and commerce.
Looking ahead – We may likely witness several leading companies gradually expanding their footsteps considering client demand.
Tag: crypto
El Salvador Adopts Bitcoin as Legal Tender
On Wednesday, El Salvador became the first country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender officially. The bill proposed by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele treats Bitcoin as a legal tender along with the U.S. dollar. Most of the nation’s legislature voted in favor of this bill, making it the first nation to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender.
The details – The proposal for El Salvador to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender received a supermajority of votes. Sixty-two members from the legislature voted in favor of the bill, 19 in opposition, and 3 in abstentions. One of the major considerations, as per president Nayib Bukele, was that the step would boost financial inclusion in the country where 70% of citizens lack access to financial services.
What Does This Mean?
Under the provisioning of the bill, which will treat Bitcoin as a legal tender, it will mandate all businesses to accept Bitcoin as a payment method for goods and services. At the same time, the government will provide facilities for the entities who do not want to accept Bitcoin payment due to its volatile nature. In addition to this, citizens can pay their taxes in Bitcoin. There will not be capital gains taxes on Bitcoin transactions.
A trust fund will be set up at the Development Bank of El Salvador. The trust fund would sell some of the Bitcoin it receives for dollars to replenish the fund. Furthermore, Bukele also revealed that the country plans to offer permanent residency to any individual who invests three BTC into El Salvador’s economy.
Coinbase debuts crypto rebate for online shopping via Apple Pay and Google Pay
Online shoppers who pay with their Coinbase Card via Apple Pay and Google Pay will begin enjoying crypto rebates.
In an announcement issued on Coinbase’s blog on Tuesday, the exchange service revealed that starting in June, some whitelisted customers will be selected to begin enjoying the crypto rebate feature.
As part of the announcement, Coinbase revealed that customers who use their Coinbase Card via Apple Pay and Google Pay can earn up to 4% in crypto rewards for online shopping.
“Splurging for guacamole with your Coinbase Card is a no-brainer when you can earn 1% back in Bitcoin or 4% back in Stellar Lumens,” the announcement added.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Coinbase became a direct Visa card issuer back in February 2020. By March 2020, Coinbase Card users in Europe could already utilize their cards via Google Play.
The Coinbase announcement comes amid significant growth in mobile phone payments in the United States. While mobile phone payment penetration in the U.S. still lags behind China, the sector experienced 29% growth in 2020.
Apart from receiving up to 4% in crypto rebates, the exchange said it has other plans to expand its Coinbase Card reward program. Since June 2019, Coinbase Card has added more countries to its coverage while increasing its supported digital currencies to even include stablecoins like Dai.
Crypto debit cards have continued to be a significant part of efforts to promote retail cryptocurrency utilization for microtransactions. Meanwhile, payment giants like PayPal have also entered the retail crypto payment arena, with U.S. customers able to pay for online shopping with Bitcoin (BTC).
According to a Mastercard survey from May, 40% of respondents across the globe expressed interest in adopting crypto payments in 2022
Altcoin day trading madness: 100% rebound in hours for Polygon, Maker
The volatility of the cryptocurrency space was on full display again on Monday, as several altcoins experienced gigantic price rebounds following the market crash of the past week or so.
Two altcoins in particular doubled in value in just over 12 hours leading into Monday morning, as Polygon (MATIC) and Maker (MAKER) recorded over 100% growth amid a strong market bounce.
Polygon climbed from a valuation of $0.75 late on Sunday afternoon, to a peak of $1.51 by early on Monday morning — marking 101% gains in less than a day.
The rapid rebound comes shortly after Polygon suffered 72% losses in less than a week, as it fell from a valuation of $2.68 to $0.74 since May 18.
A similar pattern was observed in the governance token of the MakerDAO protocol, Maker, on Monday. The coin price rose from $1,835 on Sunday, to $3,694 by Monday morning, equating to a 101% increase.
Like Polygon, Maker’s miraculous pump follows a 71% decline since the coin hit an all-time high in early May, and a 63% decline in the past week alone.
The intensity of the rebounds experienced by coins on the day appeared to be tied to the severity of their recent market crashes. As such, the altcoin market proved to be the ripest venue for day traders on Monday, many of whom could feasibly have doubled their money between supper and breakfast.
Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) were subject to less dramatic rebounds, with the foremost cryptocurrencies gaining 17% and 32% respectively. Both coins experienced less volatility throughout the duration of the recent market pump, and their subsequent losses proved to be less severe, with BTC and ETH losing 51% and 60% respectively since their recent all-time highs.
Many traders rejoice in such volatility, yet the harsh fact remains that day trading is a full-time job, and according to some estimates as little as 1% of day traders actually turn a profit.
ETH price reaches new all-time high
The price of ETH has hit a new all-time high of more than $2,060, according to data from TradingView.
ETH first breached $2,000 in late February. The previous all-time high $2,041, reached on Feb. 20. Since then, it’s dipped back below the $2,000 level until now.
BlackRock Has Begun Trading Bitcoin Futures
Investments giant BlackRock has indeed “started to dabble” in the bitcoin market, according to regulatory filings published Wednesday.
A source familiar with the matter told CoinDesk the asset manager held $6.5 million in CME bitcoin futures contracts earlier this year. Those contracts had appreciated $360,457 on reporting day, according to documents reviewed by CoinDesk.
The holdings represented 0.03% of BlackRock’s massive Global Allocation Fund on reporting day Jan. 31 – “very small,” the source said. (The gains represent just 0.0014%.) BlackRock’s original 37 contracts expired on March 26.
PayPal launches crypto checkout service
PayPal Holdings Inc will announce later on Tuesday that it has started allowing U.S. consumers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to pay at millions of its online merchants globally, a move that could significantly boost use of digital assets in everyday commerce.
Customers who hold bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin in PayPal digital wallets will now be able to convert their holdings into fiat currencies at checkouts to make purchases, the company said.
The service, which PayPal revealed it was working on late last year, will be available at all of its 29 million merchants in the coming months, the company said.
“This is the first time you can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your PayPal wallet,” President and CEO Dan Schulman told Reuters ahead of a formal announcement.
Checkout with Crypto builds on the ability for PayPal users to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, which the San Jose, California-based payments company launched in October.
The offering made PayPal one of the largest mainstream financial companies to open its network to cryptocurrencies and helped fuel a rally in virtual coin prices.
Bitcoin has nearly doubled in value since the start of this year, boosted by increased interest from larger financial firms that are betting on greater adoption and see it as a hedge against inflation.
PayPal’s launch comes less than a week after Tesla Inc said it would start accepting bitcoin payments for its cars. Unlike PayPal transactions where merchants will be receiving fiat currency, Tesla said it will hold the bitcoin used as payment.
Still, while the nascent asset is gaining traction among mainstream investors, it has yet to become a widespread form of payment, due in part to its continued volatility.
PayPal hopes its service can change that, as by settling the transaction in fiat currency, merchants will not take on the volatility risk.
“We think it is a transitional point where cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset class that you buy, hold and or sell to now becoming a legitimate funding source to make transactions in the real world at millions of merchants,” Schulman said.
The company will charge no transaction fee to checkout with crypto and only one type of coin can be used for each purchase, it said.
Bitcoin is now ‘too important to ignore’, Deutsche Bank says
Bitcoin’s (BTC) market capitalization of $1 trillion and potential for continued growth have made the cryptocurrency “too important to ignore,” according to Deutsche Bank analysts.
Deutsche Bank Research, the financial research subsidiary of global banking giant Deutsche Bank, issued a report devoted exclusively to Bitcoin, titled “The Future of Payments: Series 2 Part III. Bitcoins: Can the Tinkerbell Effect Become a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy?”
In the 18-page study, Deutsche Bank Research describes the basic characteristics of Bitcoin and analyzes the key drivers of its historical price growth to a $1 trillion asset.
Deutsche Bank analysts suggested that the Bitcoin price “could continue to rise” further as long as asset managers and companies continue to enter the market. The firm emphasized that central banks and governments now “understand that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are here to stay” and thus are expected to start regulating them by late 2021.
Despite its rising valuation, Bitcoin’s growth as an asset class could be hampered by its “still limited” tradability and liquidity, Deutsche Bank Research warned. “The real debate is whether rising valuations alone can be reason enough for bitcoin to evolve into an asset class, or whether its illiquidity is an obstacle,” the analysts stated.
Bitcoin is expected to “remain ultravolatile” in the short term, Deutsche Bank analysts concluded, forecasting a turning point for Bitcoin in the next “two or three years” as a consensus about its future may emerge.
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