PayPal Kicks Off its Crypto Service in U.K.

Fintech company PayPal has officially launched its cryptocurrency service in the United Kingdom.

The company now allows British customers to buy, hold and sell digital currencies.

The move marks the first international expansion of PayPal’s crypto product since it launched in the U.S. in 2020.

The company announced the news on Monday.

“It has been doing really well in the U.S.,” Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s general manager for blockchain, crypto and digital currencies, told CNBC. “We expect it’s going to do well in the U.K.”

The company’s crypto feature lets customers buy or sell bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum or litecoin with as little as £1. Users can also track crypto prices in real-time, and find educational
content on the market.

PayPal relies on Paxos, a digital currency company, to enable crypto buying and selling in the U.K. PayPal said it has engaged with relevant U.K. regulators to launch the service.

PayPal is aiming to make it easier for people to participate in the market.

“The tokens and coins have been around for a while but you had to be a relatively sophisticated user to be able to access that,” da Ponte said. “Having that on a platform like ours makes a really good entry point.”

“We definitely have ambitions to continue to expand the product range in the U.S., the U.K. and other markets,” da Ponte said.

We are very deliberate about starting with initial functionality, and then we’ll see where the market is going to take us. Different markets have different appetite for products.”
“It makes sense that, as there is increased consumer interest and increased volume, the regulators are putting more attention into this space,” da Ponte said, adding that the company has built

“strong regulatory relations.”

Bitcoin, the world’s biggest digital currency, hit a record high of nearly $65,000 this past April. The coin is now hovering over $50,000 after months of plummeting.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.