PayPal Takes a Stance and Says Blockchains Are the New Financial Rails

PayPal has made it clear: people want a better payments experience and crypto is the only technology that can deliver it. It also made clear that it's not backing down in the face of regulatory pressure.

The payments giant said it's convinced blockchain is the new financial rail, and that stablecoins are the way to deliver the promise of crypto to the world. PayPal said its stance is not a fad, but a belief that this technology simply works better for moving money.

"Blockchain technology is the only technology that offers a fundamentally new way of doing payments," PayPal wrote on Mirror today.

This rallying cry for crypto coms just two weeks after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission subpoenaed the company, requesting documentation on its PYUSD stablecoin.

The fact that the open letter was posted on Mirror, which describes itself as "the home for web3 publishing," is a signal on its own.

Stablecoin Stance

There's a gap in existing payment systems, as settlements take days, transactions are subject to closing hours and cross border payments are rife with friction, PayPal said.

The firm argues blockchains can solve these problems as their settlement times are "near instant to both a customer and a business — at any time, anywhere in the world."

While PayPal says their position on crypto is neutral and that they "have no ideological horse in this race," it takes a stance on stablecoins: It believes its customers "want easier, faster, and cheaper payments," and that stabelcoins, and in PayPal's case, PYUSD, can fill that need.

Companies can pay vendors swiftly, and individuals can transfer funds across borders, free from cost and time concerns. PayPal's PYUSD promises fast, cost-effective, and globally accessible payments, the company said.

"To say it another way, what we believe is simple: pay with crypto means pay how you want," PayPal wrote.