PayPal launches UK buy and sell cryptocurrency By Reuters

By Anna Errera

LONDON (Reuters) – PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ 🙂 will allow UK customers to buy, sell and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies starting this week, the company said Monday.

The publication, which marks the first international expansion of PayPal’s crypto service outside the United States, may inspire more mainstream adoption of the new asset class.

With more than 403 million active accounts globally, the San Jose, California-based company is one of the major financial companies providing consumers with access to cryptocurrencies.

PayPal launched buying and selling cryptocurrency in the US early this year, later enabling customers to use their crypto holdings to shop at millions of merchants on its network.

The company had hoped that its entry into the new asset class would encourage global use of virtual currencies and set up its network of new digital currencies that companies and central banks might develop.

“We are committed to continuing to work closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to provide our support – and to contribute meaningfully to shaping the role.

Digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Vice President and General Manager of Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies at PayPal, said in a statement.

In the UK, PayPal will compete with cryptocurrency exchange services like Coinbase (NASDAQ:) Global Inc, as well as fintech startups like Revolut.

Customers will be able to purchase Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash through their PayPal wallets online or on the mobile app.

The move comes as more and more established financial firms begin offering their customers, both consumers and institutions, access to digital assets, amid rising cryptocurrency prices.