Paypal CEO: “crypto is an interesting idea, blockchain shows a lot of promise”
TechnologyBit News Today2 min read
In an interview, PayPal CEO Daniel Schulman disclosed that he personally owns bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency in the world. Speaking to Fortune, Schulman stated that he holds bitcoin and does not own any other coins.
Despite owning bitcoin himself, Schulman remains skeptical about cryptocurrency due to its volatility. In January, Schulman told TheStreet that the volatility of the cryptocurrency makes it actually unsuitable for retailers to accept as a real currency, emphasizing that merchants operate on very small margins.
While Schulman expressed skepticism about cryptocurrency, he acknowledged that the underlying blockchain technology holds promise. During the interview with Fortune, Schulman reaffirmed that PayPal has been experimenting with its own blockchain and cryptocurrency projects, although he refused to disclose any details about the company's next product or acquisition.
PayPal has also made progress in the field of blockchain. In April, the company took part in a Series A funding round for Cambridge Blockchain, a startup enabling people to manage their online identities without intermediaries like Facebook. However, integrating or supporting cryptocurrency has not been a major priority for the company.
PayPal's involvement with blockchain and cryptocurrencies extends beyond its own projects. PayPal has also filed several crypto-related patents, although the company has yet to announce any specific crypto projects.
While Piper Jaffray analyst Jason Deleeuw believes that PayPal's patent applications and company announcements suggest that any near-term crypto merchant solutions may have been deprioritized, Schulman says he and his team are exploring. "It's intriguing to us," Schulman told Fortune, "but it really needs to do something that the traditional rails can't do."
In June, the company was one of 28 to sign on to Facebook's ambitious cryptocurrency project, Libra. However, PayPal withdrew from the venture, deciding instead to dedicate its resources to its own plans for advancing financial inclusion.
In an interview with Fortune, Schulman pushed back on the theory that PayPal withdrew from Libra due to fear of compliance issues. "We have an extremely robust relationship with every regulator out there," he told Fortune. Instead, Schulman claimed that PayPal concluded that it could advance financial inclusion faster by focusing on its own roadmap rather than putting all its resources into Libra.
