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PayPal Q4 2020 revenue up 12% QoQ as cryptocurrency transaction volume surges

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Users who buy cryptocurrencies through the platform log into PayPal twice as often as before buying cryptocurrencies

Rhythm BlockBeats news, on February 4, according to PayPal’s report to investors, in the fourth quarter of 2020, PayPal added a net of 16 million active accounts and processed $277 billion total payment amount. Users who buy cryptocurrencies through the platform log into PayPal twice as often as they did before buying cryptocurrencies.

This is the payment giant's first profit since it launched a cryptocurrency buying service late last year. On November 12, 2020, PayPal's 350 million users can buy BTC, ETH, LTC, and BCH directly through the platform.

PayPal’s transaction revenue rose approximately 12% sequentially in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $5.7 billion. The company also noted that it will recognize these increases as trading revenue from its cryptocurrency buy, sell and hold products, but will not include cryptocurrency-related transactions in its total payment volume.

It is worth noting that, PayPal's spending on technology rose more than 30% year-over-year to $732 million.

"The volume of cryptocurrency transactions on our platform has significantly exceeded our expectations," said PayPal CEO Dan Schulman (Dan Schulman) said on the company's fourth quarter 2020 earnings conference call. "We are excited to build on this early success by allowing customers to use their cryptocurrency balances as a source of funds. We hope to launch our first international marketplace in the coming months."

In addition, PayPal's cryptocurrency business is expected to expand to Venmo, PayPal's mobile payment service, and international markets in the first half of 2021. Venmo’s integration with cryptocurrencies is expected to happen “in the coming months.” PayPal CEO Daniel Schulman said on the company's earnings conference call that it is investing heavily in a new encryption, blockchain and digital currency business unit to help shape a more financially inclusive future.