In a recent interview with CNBC, PayPal CEO, Dan Schulman, revealed that – from early 2021 – the company will allow cryptocurrencies to be a funding source for any transaction that takes place across all 28 million of their merchants.
The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated the shift to digital payments. It has, similarly, been an influencing factor in the recent rise in the crypto market. Schulman pointed out that, due to COVID-19, the use of cash had declined exponentially, adding that 40-70% of consumers no longer want to transact using cash.
Schulman further argued that it is only a matter of time before more central banks launch their own digital currencies (CBDCs):
“It’s a matter of not if but when and how we’ll start to see more and more central banks issue forms of digital currencies. I think you’ll have more and more utility happen with cryptocurrency.”
"As paper money slowly dissipates and disappears from how people are using transactions, central banks especially on the retail side will need to replace paper money with forms of digital fiat currency," says @PayPal CEO Dan Schulman. pic.twitter.com/pLuvc2RxPY
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) November 23, 2020
PayPal has over 300 million active users, and has reportedly been buying up a large amount of Bitcoin to sell to its customers. According to a recent report by Pantera Capital, PayPal is buying 70% of the newly-issued Bitcoin, while Square’s Cash App is estimated to be buying around 40%. The buying pressure from these companies is allegedly creating a Bitcoin shortage in the market, resulting in higher Bitcoin prices.
Feature image by Tim Reckmann from flickr
