Paypal has just announced that they will now allow users to transfer their crypto out of Paypal into other wallets. This upgrade brings more flexibility to PayPal users and shows that Paypal is willing to expand its cryptocurrency services.
Paypal Users can now send crypto from Paypal to outside wallets. This is wonderful news and a good move on the payment platforms part. Not allowing users to hold their own crypto is contrary to why many people seek to get into crypto in the first place. If you’re unaware, until today users could not transfer their crypto out of PayPal and had to hold it on their platform.
Next step for PayPal: Lightning transfers?
Bitcoin evangelist Michael Saylor welcomed this move from PayPal and even calls this adoption a “requirement” to stay competitive. He even hints that the next step is for PayPal and other payment platforms to support “lightning” transfers. Lightning transfers are considered the speed dial of payments. They are ultra fast and simplified transfers between two users at very low costs. This is possible with blockchain and very likely the next step for payment platforms such as Paypal.
PayPal adapts to users needs
With this move PayPal is adapting to their customers needs as this has been criticized and requested by many. PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said:
“We’ve got a tremendous amount of really great results going on tactically with our crypto efforts.”
It’s likely the company has experienced a lack of user interaction with crypto considering their former strict guidelines of not allowing customers to send their crypto off of Paypal to their own wallets. Because the reason many people buy crypto in the first place is to hold financial assets without the authority of a central institution.
Final thoughts
This upgrade is a healthy development for cryptocurrency adoption. Paypal now had the chance to test if users wanted to buy cryptocurrencies on their platform. With that being a success, they are now willing to expand their services. This will be a great example for other payment providers and they will now how have pressure to follow suit. Technology has been changing rapidly in recent months and years and it appears that those companies who do not adapt will have problems in the future. Paypal is on the forefront of cryptocurrency adoption and it will be interesting to see how the rest of the industry will react.
Aaron is passionate about blockchain and has been an investor in cryptocurrencies for the past years. He enjoys engaging with other people in the cryptocurrency community online, particularly on Telegram, and learning from experts.