PayPal’s daily crypto volumes surpassed $125 million with the latest Bitcoin rally
IN BRIEF
- ItBit, which handles PayPal transactions, surpassed $125 million in daily transaction volume on January 7.
- Transaction volume has grown exponentially since PayPal began supporting digital assets.
- Volume is expected to increase as PayPal gradually immerses itself in this asset class.
Daily cryptographic transactions on PayPal have exceeded $125 million. These volumes are expected to continue to grow as the service expands.
PayPal’s transaction volume has exceeded $125 million, according to transaction volume data from ItBit, which manages transactions for the payments giant.
PayPal’s crypto volume skyrockets
The 24-hour trading volume on January 7 shows that trading volume reached a record level, with Bitcoin and Ethereum forming the majority. This represents a five-fold increase in transaction volume since PayPal recently began supporting encryption.
The ItBit exchange belongs to Paxos, which PayPal chose to manage its transactions in October 2020. Nomics‘ data shows a substantial increase in exchange volume since the collaboration. PayPal currently has about 340 million users, although most of them do not have access to the service.
The large volume suggests that PayPal could play a role in spreading the asset class to the general public. It is also expected to offer crypto genius services to its 26 million merchants in the coming months. Combined with a very optimistic market sentiment, PayPal could very well match its CEO’s high ambitions for digital assets.
With further updates and expansions expected soon, this could be the beginning of a flood of retail investors. Existing users can easily store Bitcoin on the platform, and this user base could become quite lucrative for the company.
Advantageous market position
ItBit’s growth in trading volume unsurprisingly accompanies the market’s bullish rally, which saw Bitcoin break through $37,000. Market capitalization has now surpassed $1 trillion, or about one-third of private gold investments.
Analysts have questioned whether PayPal’s entry into the market has had a significant impact on the market. Most agree that the real impact will not be visible until 2021, when the service will be integrated into the market. This year will also see the service expand internationally, with potentially more functionality in the pipeline.
PayPal’s support for encryption was considered a huge victory by the crypto community, which celebrated it as a sign of legitimacy. There were occasional criticisms, however, as some users reported being suspended after trading. PayPal has been working on adjusting purchase limits due to the huge interest in the service.