By the end of 2022, PayPal held over $600 million in digital assets in crypto on behalf of its users. These included $291 million in Bitcoin (BTC) and $250 million in ETH. According to PayPal s annual SEC report to shareholders, the remainder of its $63 million in crypto was spread between Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC).
The company’s sales in dollar figures were significantly lower than in Q3 2017, when the Bitcoin price was approximately $19,400. The FTX stock had declined by October 31, bringing its value down to $16,600 per share. The assets belonged to people who used PayPal’s wallet service, which allowed customers to view, buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency. In June 2017, the company began allowing users of this service to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in euros, pounds, and dollars.
- In dollar terms, that’s less than what the firm held in Q3 – when Bitcoin’s price was roughly $19,400. FTX’s collapse followed about a month later, bringing the asset’s value down to $16,600 each by December 31.
- The assets belonged to customers using PayPal’s wallet service, which lets customers buy, sell, hold, and receive cryptocurrency. In June, the company began allowing users to withdraw their Bitcoin and Ethereum to external wallets.
- PayPal’s top brass, including CEO Dan Schulman and co-founder Peter Thiel, is primarily bullish on digital assets. The former believes stablecoins, CBDCs, and digital wallets have the power to revolutionize finance; the latter praises Bitcoin as an alternative to central banking as we know it.
