PayPal to Enable Cryptocurrency Withdrawal to Third Party Wallets

PayPal, the US payments giant, is planning to let its clients withdraw their cryptocurrency to third party wallets, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, the firm’s blockchain lead, revealed in a recent Consensus conference.

The expected withdrawal function is designed to give users more options to choose from, allowing them the flexibility to pay in any way they want to pay. "They (Paypal's users) want to bring their crypto to us so they can use it in commerce, and we want them to be able to take the crypto they acquired with us and take it to the destination of their choice," said da Ponte.  

The date when the withdrawal functionality is coming is not confirmed yet. Also, da Ponte responded pessimistically to the rumor that PayPal plans to launch its own stablecoin by saying "This is way too early".

Commenting on the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), da Ponte held a different view from the common one that only one out of stablecoins or CBDCs would become dominant. Additionally, he said he believes financial institutions like PayPal are the natural way to distribute CBDCs to the public when the time comes.

Paypal enabled purchasing of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies back in October 2020. However, this is the first time that the payments giant unveiled its plan to let users move cryptocurrency holdings off-platform.