In a bold expansion of its cryptocurrency strategy, PayPal Holdings Inc. has announced a groundbreaking feature that will allow merchants to accept over 100 cryptocurrencies at checkout — including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether (USDT), and Circle’s USDC.
Dubbed “Pay with Crypto,” the new feature will launch in the coming weeks and will integrate with popular digital wallets such as Coinbase, OKX, MetaMask, Phantom, and Exodus. Customers will be able to make purchases directly using crypto, with PayPal instantly converting the funds into fiat or its own stablecoin, PYUSD, before depositing it into the merchant’s account.
“You have globally 650 million users that participate in the $3 trillion market of cryptocurrencies. We wanted to give small businesses access to this customer base that is growing,”
– Frank Keller, General Manager, Enterprise & Merchant Platform, PayPal (via Bloomberg)
Keller, who recently took over from former blockchain chief Jose Fernandez da Ponte, is aiming to make crypto payments a native part of PayPal’s infrastructure. He emphasized that growing demand from consumers is accelerating faster than expected.
Key Benefits for Merchants:
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Lower fees: Initial transaction fee set at 0.99%, significantly lower than traditional card processing fees.
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Instant settlement: Near-immediate conversion and payout in fiat or PYUSD.
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Yield on stablecoin holdings: Merchants opting to keep their funds in PYUSD could earn about 4% annually.
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Access to a global crypto-savvy customer base, projected to surpass 1 billion users by 2026.
With cross-border transaction costs for small businesses often exceeding 10% and taking days to settle, this move positions PayPal as a serious disruptor in the payments landscape. It could also bridge the adoption gap for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often lack access to crypto payment infrastructure.
Keller added, “We want to show that we’re long-term invested in the crypto space. I took over to really embed it into the core of our payment rails.”
While crypto payments have traditionally been dominated by major platforms like BitPay, Coinbase Commerce, and NOWPayments, PayPal’s global reach and user trust could mainstream the trend and set a new standard for digital commerce.
