Online payment giants PayPal is launching its cryptocurrency offering in the UK. The company has announced it will extend its digital currency offering to British consumers, who will be able to buy, hold and sell digital currencies.
The digital currency expansion is PayPal's first outside of the U.S and will allow users to transact with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash. Having been introduced last October in the U.S, PayPal is looking to build on the success of the service by accessing their second largest market. Although UK users will not be permitted to withdraw digital currencies into personal wallets like US consumers, the feature may be implemented once fully established.
The service also allows users to track digital currency prices in real time, find educational content on the market and trade from £1 GBP. The system, which is set to be operational in the coming weeks, will not allow users access to other PayPal features, such as the Checkout with Crypto' service. It is likely, however, after the company monitors the adoption of the service in the UK, more features may be added.
The news comes as little surprise as many large companies, such as Apple, Sotheby's and eBay - to name a few - have all shown keen interest in the digital asset market. The expansion reaffirms a clear belief among financial institutions that crypto-assets are going to become increasingly integrated into the financial world.
Despite hesitant action by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), who banned the sale of derivatives referencing crypto-assets last October, PayPal expects the service (which doesn't involve derivatives referencing crypto-assets) to flourish in the UK. The company has been in contact with UK regulators to facilitate the launch of the service.