Sokipiriye Dokubo
PayPal users can now exchange PYUSD for dollars to facilitate international payments through Xoom.
Today, payment giant PayPal unveiled a new feature enabling U.S. customers to utilize its stablecoin for cross-border transactions.
In a recent press release, the company disclosed that users can convert PayPal USD (PYUSD) to fiat currency and transfer funds to recipients in around 160 countries via its Xoom payment service, all without incurring any fees.
PYUSD, a virtual token built on the Ethereum blockchain, maintains a stable value pegged to the U.S. dollar, backed by cash equivalents and short-term treasuries. Launched by PayPal last year, the token is issued by Paxos Trust Co.
Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s Senior Vice President of Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, and Digital Currency, emphasized that this initiative aligns with the company’s objective of promoting widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies.
“When we decided to introduce PayPal USD, our aim was twofold: to establish a stable asset to enhance user confidence and to ensure its practicality for commerce and payments,” Ponte remarked.
Stablecoins, unlike volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are digital assets pegged to stable entities, such as the U.S. dollar. They offer stability and are commonly used in the crypto sphere to expedite transactions, particularly when immediate access to traditional fiat currencies is unavailable.
Although PayPal’s stablecoin initiative is smaller in scale compared to leading counterparts like Tether’s USDT, which boasts a market cap of $106 billion, PYUSD has garnered a market cap of $109 million.
Furthermore, PayPal enables its users to trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum on its platform and transfer them to external wallets.