Digital payment giant Paypal said on Sunday, August 22, that the platform would officially launch its cryptocurrency service in the UK this week.
This is the first expansion of this service in other countries after its launch in the US in November last year, an important milestone for Paypal to enter the cryptocurrency service.
In November 2020, PayPal announced that all US users would be able to buy bitcoins and three other cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), or Litecoin(LTC), directly through their PayPal digital wallet.
The U.S. online payment giant stated that it would support British customers to buy, hold and sell digital currencies this week.
Customers can enjoy trading service by conducting four cryptocurrency transactions of Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, or Litecoin at prices as low as 1 pound. Currently, it is only available for verified UK users and does not support PayPal-related corporate accounts.
Jose Fernandez da Ponte, the general manager of PayPal’s blockchain, encryption, and digital currency, stated that PayPal expects encryption services to perform very well in the UK and added:
“Our global reach, digital payments expertise, and knowledge of consumer and businesses, combined with rigorous security and compliance controls provides us the unique opportunity, and the responsibility, to help people in the U.K. to explore cryptocurrency.”
As early as the end of July, Paypal had revealed its cryptocurrency service expansion to the UK. As reported by blockchain.News on July 30, PayPal Global payment provider PayPal Holdings Inc. announced the company was planning to develop the next market in The United Kingdom to provide its crypto trading services.
Da Ponte said that:
“We definitely have ambitions to continue to expand the product range in the U.S., the U.K., and other markets,”
In addition, PayPal has also integrated cryptocurrency services into its popular mobile wallet Venmo. Paypal‘s Venmo mobile payment service announced on Tuesday, August 10, that it had launched a credit card feature that allows users to convert their cash-back rewards into Bitcoin and other crypto-assets.
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