Coindesk has confirmed that PayPal (PYPL) is ready to launch its stablecoin while trying to flex its muscles in the cryptocurrency market. The PayPal subsidiary Curv has been laying the foundation for the stablecoin launch since September.
Bloomberg initially reported that PayPal is looking into the possibility of launching its own stablecoin. The stablecoin details were accidentally spotted on the company’s iPhone by developer Steve Moser and shared with Bloomberg. The hidden code and pictures revealed details of a “PayPal currency”. In addition, the codes showed that the U.S. dollar would support the stablecoin, Bloomberg noted in its report.
PayPal has been very active in the cryptocurrency space and has also increased the restrictions on cryptocurrencies its customers can buy and invested to educate its users about cryptocurrencies. In addition, it enabled its customer base to securely withdraw their cryptocurrencies in third-party wallets.
The US fintech giant #PayPal has confirmed its intention to launch its own #stablecoin called PayPal Coin.
Developer Steve Moser first discovered the development of an internal stablecoin in the source code of the PayPal iPhone app. @PayPal #cryptocurrency pic.twitter.com/RrLfnKnEuiPayPal trivializes hidden code on the iPhone
However, the PayPal spokesperson tried to trivialize the problem, saying it was constrained by a recent internal hackathon. A hackathon is an event where teams of engineers come together quickly to research and develop new products that may never be released.
PayPal is one of the largest e-commerce payment platforms in the world. It was created in 1998 and was founded by Peter Thiel, Luke Nosek and Max Levchin. Originally known as “Confinity Inc.” It later merged with Dogecoin advocate Elon Musk’s online banking company “X.com” in 2000 and changed its name to “PayPal” a year later.
In 2002, it was acquired by online marketplace giant eBay for $ 1.5 billion and has become the standard payment method for its 185 million users. In 2015, it split from its parent company and became a publicly traded independent company with the same PYPL symbol as it did before the eBay acquisition.
Today PayPal is the 54th largest company in the world and has over 377 million users worldwide. It has a market capitalization of $ 282.58 billion. In the fourth quarter of 2020, the platform processed 3.47 billion transactions for a total of $ 277 billion.