Users can now transfer coins to other wallets and exchanges as PayPal expands crypto offerings

PayPal’s crypto chief, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, stated that plans to enable users to transfer their crypto assets to third-party wallets have been in the works since 2021.

Since the fintech giant’s crypto buy, sell, and hold service went live in October 2020, cryptocurrency holders have been asking for the ability to move their digital assets off its platform to other wallets and exchanges.

Other major fintech companies, like widely traded app Robinhood, which is launching a new crypto wallet focused on decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), are riding the wave of moving away from regimented custodial platforms and toward more open systems.

In an interview, da Ponte stated, “We are definitely responding to demand from users, that is one aspect.” “We’ve also been very vocal from the beginning that we’re in this because we are a payments and commerce company, and we think that our role in the ecosystem is about increasing access.”

As per a blog post, the option to move bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), and litecoin (LTC) from PayPal’s crypto platform to external wallets is accessible to certain U.S. users (not in Hawaii) starting Tuesday and will expand to all eligible U.S. customers in the weeks ahead.

When PayPal initially revealed its entry into digital assets, it appeared to kick-start a bull run in the cryptocurrency markets.According to Walter Hessert, head of strategy at Paxos, a PayPal infrastructure provider, PayPal has become the world’s largest blockchain-enabled consumer digital wallet by enabling its users to send and receive bitcoin.

He called the platform “a monumental step in the mainstream adoption of digital assets and Web3” in a statement.

When asked about expectations for increasing platform usage in view of the new transfer features, da Ponte responded, “the early signs in terms of demand are very promising.”

“I don’t know if it’s going to be about the absolute number of users, or it’s going to be more about folks continuing to move in the adoption cycle,” da Ponte stated, adding:

“We have a ton of people now who have adopted the basic product, and as they grow, they want to do more things. So, it’s less about bringing sophisticated users from the outside, it’s more continuing the learning curve for our base. “

Despite a seemingly cautious strategy towards crypto, there is a lot more happening at the moment at PayPal, which acquired tech-heavy cryptocurrency custody firm Curv in March of last year and was discovered to be working on a dollar-backed “PayPal Coin” earlier this year.

“We want people on our platform acquiring digital currencies to be able to then use them to do something, whether it’s buying NFTs or interacting with games or other things, and stablecoins are a component of that and really important for the commerce and payments aspect to grow,” added da Ponte.