Reports say PayPal and Venmo plan direct cryptocurrency buying and selling
CoinDesk reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that PayPal and Venmo were preparing direct cryptocurrency buying and selling—a reported precursor to PayPal’s official Bitcoin announcement four months later.
On June 22, 2020, CoinDesk reported that PayPal planned to let users buy and sell cryptocurrency directly through PayPal and Venmo, citing three people familiar with the plans. PayPal had not yet announced a product, so the story was a reported development rather than a launch.
The distinction matters historically. PayPal already connected to parts of the cryptocurrency economy as a payment or withdrawal rail, but direct buying and selling inside its own consumer products would place digital assets in front of hundreds of millions of existing accounts.
The report proved directionally accurate: PayPal formally announced support for Bitcoin and several other cryptocurrencies in October. In June, however, the meaningful event was that credible reporting had surfaced the company’s intended move before the company itself made the commitment public.