It’s another big week for the crypto boom…
Yesterday it was Visa Inc. (NYSE: V). Today it’s PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL).
Reuters reports both companies have made moves appearing to show a wider acceptance of cryptocurrency among the mainstream financial industry.
The news has cryptocurrency investors buying — and the price of bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, has rallied more than 10% in the past two days, peaking above $59,000. The rally brought the price within 4% of all-time highs.
Visa, one of the world’s largest payment processors, is dipping its toe in the water. According to Reuters, Visa “will allow the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network.”
USD Coin was created by Coinbase and is known as a stablecoin. The price is tied to the U.S. dollar. According to Coinbase, “you can always redeem 1 USD Coin for US $1.00, giving it a stable price.”
The move is reported to be due to demand from customers.
Cuy Sheffield, head of crypto at Visa, said, “We see increasing demand from consumers across the world to be able to access, hold and use digital currencies,” as reported by Reuters.
And while Visa is just starting out, PayPal began allowing its customers to buy, sell, and hold certain cryptocurrencies last October. Reuters reports it will now expand into payments.
Paypal’s latest feature, “Checkout with Crypto” expands its reach as a major player in the cryptocurrency world. PayPal’s president and CEO Dan Schulman said the new feature will “seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your PayPal wallet,” Reuters reports.
While cryptocurrency prices continue to climb, the reaction on Wall Street has been somewhat muted. V stock rose about 0.5% yesterday after the announcement but is trading down about 0.6% today. PYPL is near flat on the day.
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