Paypal Completes Rollout of Crypto Offering in UK: First International Expansion Outside US

Paypal has completed the first international expansion of its cryptocurrency offering outside of the U.S. Paypal Crypto is now available to customers in the U.K. allowing them to buy, hold, and sell four kinds of cryptocurrencies.

Payments giant Paypal Inc. announced Friday that it has completed the rollout of its crypto offering in the U.K. The rollout began in late August when the company announced the launch of its crypto service in the U.K.

The official account of Paypal U.K. tweeted:

We are delighted to share that all eligible customers in the UK can now buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash & litecoin from their Paypal account.

The company’s website explains that the crypto service in the U.K. is provided by Paypal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A., a credit institution supervised by Luxembourg’s financial regulator, Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier. However, the crypto service is not regulated by any regulators, including the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

Paypal further detailed: “You can buy, sell and hold cryptocurrency through Paypal’s cryptocurrency service, but you can’t use it to send cryptocurrency. Purchases and sales of cryptocurrency aren’t reversible and cannot be changed.” However, the company said in May that it plans to allow crypto transfers to third-party wallets.

The payments giant noted that the U.K. launch “marks the first international expansion of the company’s cryptocurrency offering outside of the United States.”

Paypal announced that it was launching a crypto service in the U.S. in October last year to allow “its millions of U.S. customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies.” According to Paypal, its platform is available in over 200 markets, serving more than 400 million consumers and merchants. The company’s cryptocurrency offering is through a partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a New York-based financial institution and technology company specializing in blockchain.

In March, Paypal announced “Checkout with Crypto” and then rolled out crypto service on its mobile payment service Venmo in April. In July, the company unveiled its plans to expand crypto services, hiring over 100 crypto positions.

In addition, Paypal’s venture capital arm has made investments in blockchain and crypto startups, including crypto risk management firm TRM Labs, crypto tax software provider TaxBit, and institutional-grade crypto infrastructure technology Talos.

What do you think about Paypal launching in the U.K.? Let us know in the comments section below.