## PayPal’s Exciting Plans for PYUSD Integration in 2025
PayPal is gearing up to weave its PYUSD stablecoin into its suite of products throughout 2025, leveraging its impressive network of 20 million merchants to stand out against competitors like Tether (USDT). Michelle Gill, the general manager of PayPal’s small business group, shared that the primary aim of the stablecoin is to motivate merchants to bring their vendors into the PayPal ecosystem, thereby facilitating quicker transactions. “A lot of the payments we’re expecting,” Gill noted, “are going to be cross-border because merchants in the US are looking to pay vendors and suppliers overseas. The idea was: Can we make that happen on PYUSD rails to eliminate currency conversion, reduce friction, and save time?”
Currently, merchants encounter numerous fees and delays when purchasing from online suppliers, primarily due to currency conversion costs, which complicate and inflate the business process. PayPal’s stablecoin could address this challenge by offering a single token that merchants can utilize without the constant need for currency exchanges.
PayPal is also looking to enhance PYUSD by incorporating cross-blockchain functionality. At present, the token is available on Cardano, thanks to Wanchain’s cross-chain capabilities. This access to various blockchains will enable PYUSD to facilitate digital payments online. PayPal aims to broaden this capability by lifting more restrictions for merchants. In August 2023, PayPal introduced PYUSD on the Ethereum blockchain, and in May 2024, it expanded its network to Solana to benefit from faster transaction speeds and lower fees.
The impact of PYUSD on the cryptocurrency landscape has already been significant, with a market cap reaching $1 billion by December 2024. This growth can be attributed to the 100 million users in the U.S. market who utilize services like PayPal and Venmo, as well as other applications such as the fee-free cross-border payment app Xoom, which further enhances the stablecoin’s visibility.
Additionally, PayPal acquired Hyperwallet to specifically target online payments, allowing clients to pay freelancers and contractors globally using PYUSD, thus reducing costs and bureaucratic hurdles. By integrating a stablecoin into its established business model, PayPal is challenging the traditional banking sector’s dominance. “We’ve been talking about blockchains for like a decade now,” remarked Alex Chriss, President of PayPal. “The concept of these things never becomes real until you actually can start to spend it.”
PayPal purchased the financial services company Hyperwallet for $400 million in 2018 and anticipates managing payouts using the PYUSD token by mid-2025. Meanwhile, the Ripple stablecoin RLUSD has a supply of $120 million and operates on both Ethereum and Ripple networks. The increased market exposure from PYUSD may influence Bitcoin prices in the short term, potentially adding pressure to the cryptocurrency market and increasing supply.
