PayPal USD has launched a stablecoin PYUSD. The coin is is issued by Paxos Trust Co and fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term Treasuries and similar cash equivalents, the San Jose, California-based payments company said on Monday. It’s pegged to the dollar and will be gradually available to PayPal’s customers in the US.
This is the first major company that has launched its own stablecoin.
The coins are usually used to move digital currencies between exchanges and rarely as consumer payment tools. I don’t see a great case for using this within PayPal (why not just use USD?). The business case for PayPal is likely an effort to pry consumer assets off of crypto exchanges and into PayPal.
Bloomberg first reported the story and said the company now believes the regulatory environment is “progressing toward more clarity” and sees rising demand for an alternative stablecoin because of how concentrated the market is, citing Jose Fernandez da Ponte, head of PayPal’s blockchain and digital currencies team.
