Table of Contents

· Launching PYUSD in August, cautiously responding to regulatory requirements

· PayPal has nearly $1 billion in cryptocurrency assets with patent layout in Web3

BlockBeats News, on November 1st, according to CoinDesk, payment giant PayPal has successfully registered as a cryptocurrency service provider with the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Companies providing encryption services in the UK must obtain registration approval and comply with FCA's anti-money laundering rules. According to information on the regulatory agency's website, PayPal UK Limited has been allowed to conduct "specific crypto asset activities" since Tuesday's registration, which means that PayPal can create and distribute promotions and advertisements related to cryptocurrency under the latest marketing regulations.

In August of this year, PayPal stated in an email sent to some users that due to new rules introduced by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), PayPal will temporarily suspend its cryptocurrency purchase service in the UK from October 1, 2023, and will resume in early 2024, with no specific date yet.

According to a spokesperson cited by CoinDesk, obtaining approval for cryptocurrency registration in the UK does not affect PayPal's suspension announced in August.

8月推出PYUSD，谨慎应对监管要求

Translation:

Launch of PYUSD in August, cautious response to regulatory requirements

On August 7th, PayPal launched the USD stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), for transfers and payments. The stablecoin is issued by Paxos and backed by the US dollar, short-term government bonds, and cash equivalents. It will gradually be made available to PayPal customers in the United States.

Industry observers believe that based on the blockchain technology architecture and PayPal's own expanded business ecosystem, PYUSD can directly compete with Tether and Circle, and is expected to become a dark horse in the Web3 payment field.

Related reading: "PayPal's stablecoin may lead the cryptocurrency industry to the mainstream".

"The launch of PYUSD may not only change the current stablecoin market landscape, but also the profit logic of traditional payment businesses, opening up a new round of business model evolution for the traditional payment industry."

As a global Web2 payment giant platform, PayPal was cautious in handling regulations when launching PYUSD. On August 9th, Timothy Massad, former chairman of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), stated that this was the first time a traditional financial company had launched its own stablecoin, and PayPal's stablecoin debut showed that the technology "has value beyond encryption".

On August 14th, PayPal sent an email to some users stating that due to new regulations introduced by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), PayPal will temporarily suspend its cryptocurrency purchase service in the UK starting from October 1st, 2023, and will resume in early 2024, with no specific date yet. Despite being unable to purchase cryptocurrency, PayPal stated that users will be able to hold and sell their cryptocurrency during the service interruption period.

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currencies at PayPal, said in an interview with cryptocurrency journalist Laura Shin that although PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD, currently launched on Ethereum, can only be obtained through the PayPal wallet, the goal is to make PYUSD available on major trading platforms. "PayPal's vision is to become a channel between fiat currency and Web3, enabling stablecoin payment systems to be widely adopted."

Shortly after the launch of PYUSD, PayPal updated its terms to introduce the "Cryptocurrency Hub" service, which will allow for the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. Additionally, it will facilitate payments for purchases made through PayPal by using funds stored after selling cryptocurrencies.

Not all users are able to explore this new feature, as PayPal will determine access based on individual decisions. To be eligible to use the cryptocurrency center, PayPal users must "have a personal PayPal account and a normal balance account." In addition, PayPal will verify the necessary identity information provided by users, including name, physical address, date of birth, and taxpayer identification number. When launching this feature, the cryptocurrency center will be directly linked to the user's PayPal account and can be accessed using existing credentials.

Related reading: "Paypal's stablecoin is expected to lead the cryptocurrency industry to the mainstream".

"On July 27, 2023, the US House Financial Services Committee introduced the "Clarity for Payment Stablecoins Act of 2023". The purpose of this bill is to provide a clear regulatory framework for stablecoins and to protect American investors and consumers by establishing uniform standards."

After Paypal announced its stablecoin plan, Patrick McHenry, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, immediately expressed his support: "Paypal's statement is a clear signal that stablecoins issued under a clear regulatory framework are expected to become the cornerstone of our 21st century payment system. Paypal's stablecoin makes it more important than ever to continue pushing for legislation."

After

, trading platforms such as Bitget, Crypto.com, and social payment platform Venmo under PayPal have successively launched PYUSD and opened trading.

On September 12th, PayPal announced the launch of a cryptocurrency exchange service that allows customers to buy and sell supported cryptocurrencies in the United States (subject to applicable state laws) and exchange them directly for US dollars, which can be used for shopping or transferred to a bank account. The service is supported on wallets, DApps, NFT markets, and MetaMask through the integration of On and Off Ramps.

On October 1st, according to DefiLlama data, PayPal's stablecoin PYUSD has increased nearly 5 times since September 29th, with a current circulation of 60.97 million coins.

申请专利布局 Web3，PayPal 有近 10 亿美元加密资产

Applying for patents to layout Web3, PayPal has nearly 1 billion US dollars in encrypted assets

In March 2022, PayPal applied for a series of patents (published in September of this year) related to the Layer2 and NFT fields.

One of the patent applications proposes a "new method and system" for conducting off-chain transactions through the NFT market. Another application mentions the concept of the "entire universe," implying a product that handles multiple metaverses. PayPal has developed an "online transaction processor" that provides recommendations for which digital assets users should purchase based on their blockchain preferences and which metaverses they most frequently interact with.

The third application describes another conceptual "online transaction processor". The goal of this processor is to facilitate payments between users and merchants running on different network layers (L1 and L2) in a more efficient manner.

In May of this year, PayPal disclosed in its 10-Q report submitted to the SEC that it had $943 million worth of customer assets on its balance sheet, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC). PayPal also stated in the report that customer crypto assets have increased by $339 million since the end of last year.

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