The CEO and President of PayPal (PayPal shares ticker: PYPL) Dan Schulman spoke at the 2020 online tech conference organized by the New York Times last week, telling the audience of about 100.000 estimated attendees that this is the time for cryptocurrencies, "Time is now" and PayPal is ready to face it .
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the trend of digital payments
Interviewed by New York Times columnist Andrew Ross-Sorkin, Schulman predicted that digital currencies will soon become mainstream and be a daily payment tool.
The Covid-19 pandemic that has affected the whole world has accelerated some trends that were already underway, such as the "abandonment of cash" by consumers, who are increasingly opting for digital payments, has affirmed.
Schulman explained what his optimistic view is based on, saying that digital currencies of any kind and the financial system that supports them will be successful thanks to their new and modern technology, faster and cheaper, more efficient and inclusive, useful for reducing costs and helping many people to maintain good financial health.
PayPal announced in October its opening to the crypto sector, allowing its users to transact using cryptocurrency as a funding tool across a network of 28 million merchants starting early next year. The company is already allowing customers in the United States to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies within their PayPal wallet.
PayPal's inevitable choice to embrace cryptocurrencies
Schulman said the company conducted market research ahead of time which found 54% of the PayPal user base wanted a cryptocurrency offer. “As we imagined, digital wallets are a natural complement to digital currencies.
We have over 360 million digital wallets and it is necessary to embrace cryptocurrencies, ”said the CEO of PayPal. Bitcoin's (BTC) volatility had previously been Schulman's main concern, prompting him to view it as a "poor form of currency" with the potential to wipe out small traders' profits.
To address this issue, PayPal will allow consumers to know the exact exchange rate of cryptocurrencies at the time of purchase, eliminating the risk of volatility. The new PayPal project "Strengthens the usefulness of each underlying cryptocurrency, and you can do more with it than speculate on its ups and downs," he said.
"In fact, you can consider it as a perfectly usable tool for shopping at our 28 million merchants." Schulman was joined at the virtual conference by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Facebook (FB) CTO Mike Schroepfer and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.
