By Dhirendra Tripathi
Investing.com – PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) and Bitcoin (BitfinexUSD) rose Tuesday as the digital payments company enhanced its adoption of cryptocurrencies.
PayPal shares climbed almost 1% in Monday’s premarket following the announcement that customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the U.S. will be able to choose ‘check out with crypto’ within the wallet. The shares gave back some of their gains after the opening bell, trading flat. The announcement comes a day after Visa Inc Class A (NYSE:V)said it would start processing payments using a cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin rose 2%, at $59,150. ETH/USD rose nearly 3% and Litecoin 1%.
It’s important for a currency to be stable and have a predictable value, a major reason the high volatility in cryptos has held them back from winning a wider acceptance with payment companies and consumers.
PayPal already allows customers to buy and sell bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and bitcoin cash. Customers will be able to convert these holdings into fiat currencies at checkouts to pay for goods and services. That means merchants will not take on the volatility risk.
Cryptos are slowly moving away from being speculative instruments to a stage where experts now see them as a hedge against inflation and also as an option to gold. PayPal’s extended offering is being seen as a step in that direction.