After the rumors that had been running for weeks about a Paypal project linked to the creation of its own stablecoin, now the first confirmations arrive from sources of the American electronic payment company.
Paypal and cryptocurrencies2021 was a year in which Paypal showed a growing interest in cryptocurrencies and related applications. Last March, it acquired the Israeli startup Curve, which specializes in cryptographic security, for an amount close to 200 million dollars. At the end of March, the long-awaited Bitcoin payment service also arrived first only for US users, extended to the rest of the world in November. Both in the USA and in Great Britain it is possible to exchange the main cryptocurrencies through the app. On the other hand, in 2021, Bitcoin's P2P network exceeded that of Paypal in terms of quarterly transaction volumes. It is therefore almost natural that all this interest of the electronic payments giant in cryptocurrencies could soon lead to its own project linked to the cryptographic world. Paypal's stablecoin The news of this dollar-pegged stablecoin project was reportedly unveiled in Bloomberg two days ago by well-known cryptographic developer Steve Moser, who also mentioned it on his Twitter profile. The news would also be confirmed to Bloomberg by PayPal's senior vice president for cryptocurrencies and digital currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte, according to which the company is actually exploring possible options to create its own stablecoin. He said da Ponte: “We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we try to move forward, obviously we will work closely with the relevant regulatory authorities " Still speaking to Bloomberg, the Paypal manager also referred to the limits of the currently existing stablecoins saying: "I don't think we've seen a stablecoin that works well for payments yet." Stablecoins could replace cash Stablecoin instead of cash According to the American economist Eswar Prasad, author of the bestseller "The future of money", which explains how digital innovation is transforming finance and coins, Covid-19 would have accelerated the digital revolution also in payments, and will lead to a near future to make payments more and more cashless. Cryptocurrencies and especially stablecoins could be, according to the economist, the natural substitutes for traditional cash. He stated: "The end of money is on the horizon and the time has come for a broad public debate on what takes its place. After all, it will affect not only money, but also the economy, finance and society ". And speaking specifically of cryptocurrencies, Prasad is convinced that they are destined not to be a passing phenomenon: “Cryptocurrencies have certainly opened up a dimension that central banks cannot undermine and that is why central bank digital currencies may be here sooner than expected. However, digital currencies are thought to be here to stay ”. Therefore, in a similar context it is almost inevitable that companies like Paypal, which make digital payments their core business, look with increasing interest to digital assets as future payment instruments.
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