PayPal’s European Commission response renews digital currency support rumors

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PayPal’s response to the “European Commission’s public consultation on building an EU framework for markets in crypto-assets” has surfaced on the internet, fueling speculation that the online payments system will soon support digital currencies.

In their letter to the European Commission, PayPal said, 

“PayPal is monitoring the evolution of the crypto-asset space. In 2019, PayPal initially signed a non-binding letter of intent to participate in the Libra Association with the intention of learning more about the proposed use of blockchain technologies to provide financial services to unbanked populations across the globe. Since the project’s inception, PayPal has taken unilateral and tangible steps to further develop its capabilities in this area, and therefore – without questioning the value of the project – took the decision not to participate in the Libra Association and to continue to focus on advancing our existing mission and business priorities to democratize access to financial services.”

PayPal saying that they are “further developing capabilities’ in blockchain technologies gives credence to the rumor that Paypal and Venmo will be integrating digital currency services into their platforms. Although it is short of a definitive confirmation, many people are viewing PayPal’s statement as supporting evidence to the rumor.

Paypal, Venmo, and digital currency

In late June, a rumor regarding PayPal and Venmo began to circulate on the internet; individuals said that PayPal was looking to allow its 325 million users to buy and sell digital currency directly from PayPal and Venmo within the next three months.

“My understanding is that they are going to allow buys and sells of crypto directly from PayPal and Venmo,” an industry source was quoted by CoinDesk saying. “They are going to have some sort of a built-in wallet functionality so you can store it there.” However, this rumor was neither confirmed nor denied by PayPal staff, who responded to a request for information on this matter by saying, “PayPal does not comment on rumors or speculation.” 

Although PayPal has not directly confirmed the rumor, the release of the letter to the European Commission shows that PayPal is developing some sort of service or feature that relates to using blockchain technology to assist the underbanked populations of the world. Whether that means they will integrate digital currency services directly into PayPal and Venmo remains unknown.