Online payments firm PayPal announced on Wednesday that it will allow U.S. merchants to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency via its platform using their business accounts. Previously, only individual account holders had this option.
The company also announced business accounts will have the ability to send cryptocurrency to supported third-party wallets and receive supported crypto tokens from external blockchain addresses.
“Since we launched the ability for PayPal and Venmo consumers to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency in their wallets, we have learned a lot about how they want to use their cryptocurrency,” PayPal stated in a press release. “Business owners have increasingly expressed a desire for the same cryptocurrency capabilities available to consumers. We’re excited to meet that demand by delivering this new offering, empowering them to engage with digital currencies effortlessly.”
PayPal has been one of the early adopters of cryptocurrency among major fintech companies. It provided users with a crypto management service in 2020 and later introduced the option to pay with cryptocurrencies through its stablecoin offering. The company also partnered with crypto exchange Coinbase and MoonPay, a provider of payment infrastructure for crypto, to allow its users easier cryptocurrency purchases.
PayPal’s stock dipped by 1.25% on Wednesday to close at $77.36 per share. The company’s shares still remain 25.87% up year-to-date.