PayPal announced today the launch of a native dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by cash equivalents and short-term treasuries.
Liam J. Kelly•
PayPal is taking another step into the crypto industry, rolling out its very own stablecoin called PayPal USD.
Issued by Paxos Trust Co., the dollar-pegged stablecoin is expected to become "a part of the overall payments infrastructure," PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told Bloomberg.
PayPal USD is backed by short-term treasuries, dollar deposits, and cash equivalents, per the firm's announcement. The token will be issued on the Ethereum network as an ERC-20 token.
PayPal and Paxos did not immediately respond to Decrypt's request for comment.
A stablecoin is a cryptocurrency that tracks the price of a fiat currency, such as the dollar or the pound. Currently, the market leaders in this sector are Tether (USDT) and Circle (USDC).
PayPal's offering is expected to work in tandem with its other crypto offerings, reportedly allowing users to swap the dollar-denominated tokens for cash or other assets on its platform.
This move comes as the latest in the payments giant's entrance into the crypto industry.
In March 2021, PayPal finally launched a crypto checkout service for merchants, letting users pay with crypto. It continued its crypto push in May that same year with third-party integrations that allowed users to buy Bitcoin on the platform and then send it off the platform.
Editor's note: This story is breaking and will be updated shortly.