PayPal Is Looking Into Launching Its Own Stablecoin, Sources Say

According to PayPal spokesperson, the global payment giant is looking into launching its own stablecoin as the company grows its crypto business.

According to sources PayPal subsidiary Curv was actively working on developing a stablecoin in September last year.

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies at PayPal said:

“We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators.”

Bloomberg reported on evidence of the PayPal’s exploration into building a stablecoin. It was first discovered in PayPal’s app by developer Steve Moser. Hidden code and images show work on what is called a “PayPal Coin.” The code suggests such a coin would be backed by the U.S. dollar. 

PayPal has been very active with its cryptocurrency efforts recently, increasing the amount of crypto its customers can purchase, as well as investing in educating its users on crypto and working to allow them to withdraw their crypto safely to third-party wallets.

A PayPal spokesperson told Bloomberg that images and code inside of the PayPal app stemmed from a recent internal hackathon – an event in which engineers team up to quickly explore and build new products that may never see a public release – within the company’s blockchain, crypto and digital currencies division.

On the recent Unchained podcast, Fernandez da Ponte said that PayPal has “not yet seen a stablecoin out there that is purpose-built for payments.” For PayPal’s use, a stablecoin would need to support payments at scale and have security. He said:

“There would have to be clarity on the regulation, the regulatory frameworks, and the type of licenses that are needed in this space.”

PayPal isn’t the first tech giant to explore launching its own coin. Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook, has been helping develop a stablecoin called Diem, and Visa has recently allowed a stablecoin backed by the U.S. dollar to settle a transaction with the network.