PayPal will begin providing cryptocurrency buying, holding, and selling services to residents of the UK this week, marking a major step forward for a business that just started offering cryptocurrency related services in the final quarter of 2020 and has since grown to serve millions of customers.
The international payments company said on Sunday that UK clients would soon be able to use PayPal’s webpage and mobile app to purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The news marks the first time PayPal’s cryptocurrency facilities have been offered outside of the United States, after the service’s initial introduction in November 2020.
One of the main reasons for venturing into crypto sector, according to Jose Fernandez da Ponte, a senior executive for PayPal’s crypto business, was the “digitization of money” during the epidemic. “Our worldwide presence, digital payments experience, and understanding of consumers and companies, coupled with stringent safety and compliance mechanism, give us with the distinct potential, and duty, to assist individuals in the United Kingdom in exploring cryptocurrency,” he added.
PayPal may perform a major role in boosting exposure to virtual currencies in the nation by providing bitcoin services to UK citizens. According to reports, the United Kingdom has the greatest PayPal usage compared with any European country, with more than 2 million monthly active users.
PayPal’s cryptocurrency services extension ambitions have been floating since July, when CEO Dan Schulman informed investors that the crypto related services are planned to be made available in the UK shortly. Furthermore, the firm is also focusing on advances in decentralized finance (DeFi), which may be a prelude to future integration ambitions.
On the legislative aspect, the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), is progressively clamping down on cryptocurrency exchanges that fail to satisfy its enrollment criteria. Binance’s UK operations were forced to close earlier this summer after the Financial Conduct Authority informed the exchange that it was not allowed to provide regulated trading activities in the nation.
PayPal’s da Ponte said that his firm is “committed to continuing to work hand in hand with authorities in the United Kingdom and across the globe” in developing its crypto services.
