Opinion: PayPal will not be the last finance titan to double down on tokens

Written by Mel Gelderman

Posted on August 10th, 2023

PayPal has launched a stablecoin on Ethereum. Mel Gelderman explains why this is good news for tokens, and how he expects other finance firms to react.

Another positive news story broke in the token space this week as PayPal announced its new stablecoin. The payments titan has unveiled a dollar-pegged crypto token called PYUSD with Paxos, and customers can transfer it, make purchases, and trade it for other tokens. PayPal has previously shown interest in tokens, but this is arguably its biggest update yet. And I’m sure it won’t be the last big firm to double down on the technology. 

PayPal prepares stablecoin play 👀

PYUSD is similar to other stablecoins like USDC. It’s fully backed by US dollar bank deposits, treasury bills, and cash equivalents. Still, it’s not surprising that PayPal has entered the market. The firm’s CEO Dan Schulman has long expressed his belief in the tokenized future. In this week’s announcement, PayPal said that stablecoins could “transform payments in Web3 and digitally native environments.” 

“PayPal is saying it believes in Ethereum and the tokenized future.” 

So it’s clear that PayPal sees huge potential in the technology. But it’s not the only big finance player to do so. Many of the biggest fintech apps have supported crypto for a while, and we know that traditional finance firms like BlackRock and Citadel are preparing to compete with the top exchanges.

PYUSD to run on Ethereum

I’m absolutely convinced that more titans will jump into the space once sentiment picks up. token.com is another player in the market, though we differ from our competitors as we’ve been in the space for a while. Plus, our core focus is making tokens accessible.

Overall, token enthusiasts should welcome PayPal’s announcement as it signals growing adoption. In my view, it’s particularly good news for Ethereum as PYUSD will run on the network. PayPal is saying it believes in Ethereum and the tokenized future. Other firms will be close behind, and that’s good news for global token adoption. 

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Please note: Investing in cryptoassets is risky. Due to the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, investors run the risk of losing their funds when they make an investment. Returns from cryptoasset investing are not guaranteed, therefore users should always be aware of the risks.