Crypto Adoption To Outpace Internet If PayPal and Venmo Rumor Is Confirmed

In what might be the biggest news for cryptocurrency adoption since the debut of Facebook’s Libra project last year, rumors from sources familiar with the matter claim that PayPal and its recently acquired subsidiary, Venmo, may soon launch the ability to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies right from each payment provider.

If the rumors are true, and one of crypto’s biggest competitors concedes and starts embracing the digital asset class, it could cause an explosive butterfly effect of hastened cryptocurrency adoption.

PayPal To Embrace Competition Through Cryptocurrencies

A recent Coindesk report reveals that PayPal and Venmo, two of the largest payment services and apps in the world, are close to launching a cryptocurrency wallet so users can store and send cryptocurrencies, in addition to a fiat payment gateway that allows users to buy and sell Bitcoins and other crypto assets.

More than one source claims to have knowledge of the plans, according to the media outlet. Currently, PayPal doesn’t allow the purchase of cryptocurrencies, and even blocks some users from using the service to do so.

PayPal does, however, work directly with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, to allow users to withdraw USD from their accounts directly to their PayPal accounts.

Coinbase is among the more popular fiat payment gateways today. Other services allowing the purchase of Bitcoin, include Square’s Cash App, or PrimeXBT, a Bitcoin margin trading platform that recently introduced a new fiat payment gateway for debit and credit card Bitcoin purchases.

Over 300M Active User Accounts To Be Exposed To Bitcoin and Altcoins

PayPal and Venmo joining these current industry solutions will immediately expose the massive, existing users base on each platform to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. These platforms also may offer tools that encourage more users to begin to utilize the futuristic payment technology.

Currently, data suggests that there are over 40 million blockchain wallets that currently exist today. Most users own more than one wallet, perhaps several. But on the high end, it could be assumed that that means there are 40 million or fewer users of cryptocurrencies in the world.

PayPal alone has over 300 million active user accounts, and Venmo is aggressively aiming to reach over 50 million by the year’s end.

Combined, the two offer nearly ten times the users of all cryptocurrency wallets combined. And these are active users on PayPal and Venmo, not once-used, lost, or forgotten blockchain wallets.

How Crypto Adoption Can Outpace The Internet

Instantly exposing over 350 million users and immediately giving them blockchain wallets would take the total figures to over 400 million blockchain wallets and counting.

According to internet adoption, over 4.6 billion global citizens now use the internet. Cryptocurrency adoption is currently a fraction of a percent of that number going by the number of blockchain wallets.

PayPal and Venmo acting as a Trojan horse for cryptocurrency wallets would take the number immediately to 8% of internet users.

Previously, it was speculated that if Bitcoin stayed on pace with current internet adoption, it could reach the same level of user penetration by 2043. But with such an explosion in growth accelerated exponentially due to the immediate impact of PayPal and Venmo, cryptocurrency adoption could quickly outpace the internet.