The CoinGeek Pulse Episode 72: PayPal explores stablecoin, US tightens regulation, NFT boom continues

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With the rise of digital currency payments around the world, payments giant PayPal looks into stablecoins.

As it pursues digital currency-related plans, PayPal is now exploring the launch of its own stablecoin. The company confirmed the move after developer Steve Moser discovered some leads inside PayPal’s iOS app. The app showed hidden codes and some images that reveal the company is working on a so-called “PayPal Coin,” which will be backed by the U.S. dollar.

In September 2021, PayPal made digital currencies accessible to its users who can buy, sell and hold their BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH within the platform. However, PayPal doesn’t allow anyone to transfer their digital currencies to other accounts within or outside the platform. 

“We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators,” Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s senior vice president of Crypto and Digital Currencies, told Bloomberg, 

Speaking of regulators, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chairman Gary Gensler seeks more regulatory enforcement in the digital currency sector this year. Gensler reiterated in a recent media interview that many popular digital currency tokens are securities.

“If you are raising money from the public, and the public is in anticipation of profit based upon that promoter, sponsor, that group’s efforts — that’s within the securities laws,” Gensler explained.

He added that there need to be basic disclosures to protect consumers against “lies and frauds.” 

Last year, many digital currency companies received a warning when Gensler said that digital currency tokens are unregistered securities. This means that these companies must comply with the SEC rules. 

Meanwhile, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report suggesting tightening regulations on digital currency ATMs. 

GAO recommends collaboration between the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in regulating the BTC kiosks, which are allegedly tied to surges in human and drug trafficking. GAO is a government agency that provides auditing and investigative services for the U.S. Congress. 

In other news, the NFT craze proved to be a lucrative trend last year. NFT sales alone hit $25 billion in 2021. Although sales are showing signs of going down, more industry leaders are taking their shot with it. 

The Associated Press announced it is launching its own NFT marketplace for photojournalism—offering collectors “exclusive, historic, and stunning visual content.” Videogames leader GameStop is also working on an NFT marketplace where users can buy, sell and trade NFTs of their virtual videogame goods like avatar outfits and weapons. 

And in the BSV ecosystem, the NFT music platform for independent artists Jamify launched this week. Founder Frames Jenco explained his motivation for building this unique platform. 

“This was something born out of necessity. I saw artists like MC Mandeep and Phillie B releasing really high-quality music on RelayX where it was easy to get lost in the feed of random JPEG mints,” he shared.

The latest episode of Hashing It Out with Becky Liggero came out this week, featuring Phillip Runyan. He talked about blockchain technology as the tool for owning our identities and facilitating frictionless payments. Watch the full episode on the CoinGeek YouTube channel.