Dan Schulman, the CEO of PayPal, recently discussed the companies decision to offer crypto solutions to 200M+ users. At a recent online conference with 100,000 attendees, Dan stated the “time is now” for digital currencies. He strongly believes that cryptocurrencies are on track to become everyday payment tools around the globe. This sentiment comes only a few years after Dan stated in 2017 that Bitcoin could not be used as a currency because of its volatility.
PayPal Crypto Services
Following the decision for PayPal to enter the crypto space, the CEO of the payments giant shared his outlook on an online conference called Web Summit. It is important to note that PayPal’s decision to offer crypto solutions ( buy, hold, and sell ) is potentially some of the biggest news ever in this emerging sector. The reasons for this are quite simple. PayPal is essentially giving more than 200M users the ability to affiliate with digital assets. In a market that is still foreign to many, PayPal is expected to drive retail adoption in digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum. In addition to retail, PayPal also has plans to introduce more than 20M merchants to crypto payments.
Dan Schulman At Web Summit
Dan Schulman, the CEO and President of PayPal, recently spoke about the companies shift into digital assets. He spoke at Web Summit, which was an online conference that accumulated 100,000+ attendees. Some of the prominent figures included Mike Schroepfer ( Facebook CTO ), Mark Cuban ( Dallas Mavericks owner ), Ursula von der Leyen ( European Commission President ), and many others.
Crypto Will Be An Everyday Payments Tool
At the conference, the CEO of Paypal stated that crypto could evolve as an everyday payment tool. The company is seeing changes in macro trends, including the abandoning of cash during a global pandemic. Schulman also admitted that the global pandemic forced Paypal to alter its roadmap for 2020. In regards to launching crypto services this year, parts of the plan were always there, but the pandemic also forced the payments giant to fast track other components.
The CEO and President of Paypal, Dan Schulman further stated that:
“We were going to provide the capability for our customers to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies inside the PayPal wallet, because we had done market research and something like 54 percent of our base wanted that capability,” Schulman said. “What we hadn’t had on our roadmap is the ability to use cryptocurrencies as a funding instrument to purchase at any one of our 28 million merchants. We moved that up, because, once you buy cryptocurrency, you really want to be able to use it both as an investment vehicle but, importantly, as a funding source to make other purchases.”
In terms of going mainstream, Schulman believes this is something that could happen in the foreseeable future. He has a positive outlook on digital currencies and stated that:
“I think that if you can create a financial system, a new and modern technology that is faster, that is less expensive, more efficient, that’s good for bringing more people into the system, for inclusion, to help drive down costs, to help drive financial health for so many people… So, over the long run, I’m very bullish on digital currencies of all kinds.”
Fast Forward From 2017 Thoughts
Schulman admitted that some of his concerns around volatility still exist. If we go back to 2017, the CEO stated in an interview that Bitcoin could not be used as a currency due to its high volatility. During this time, Schulman was placing more value in blockchain, which is the underlying infrastructure that cryptocurrencies depend on.
In a push to ensure merchant confidence, Paypal will implement a solution where customers are fully aware of the exchange rate at the time of purchase. In this type of environment, merchants will not have to worry about volatility risk. In an era where businesses are already struggling to stay afloat, Paypal wants to make sure that digital assets do not cut into merchant profit margins. Dan added:
“It bolsters the utility of that underlying cryptocurrency, and you can do more with it than just ride the ups and downs of it. In effect, you’re taking that as an instrument that can conduct commerce at our 28 million merchants.”
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