Picking Ethereum for PayPal Stablecoin Was an ‘Easy Choice’- PayPal Exec

PayPal’s Senior Vice President and General Manager of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies Jose Fernandez da Ponte claimed that picking Ethereum (ETH) for the platform’s stablecoin was an ‘easy choice’ because the developer community was already there.

The PYUSD Stablecoin

PayPal joined the stablecoin battle recently with the launch of its Ethereum-based stablecoin dubbed PYUSD. The stablecoin is pegged to the United States dollars and it puts PayPal in the same position as other firms that are known for instantaneous transfer of value around the globe on-chain including Tether and Circle, which issues USDT and USDC respectively. 

The stablecoin PYUSD is an ERC-20 token, deployed on the Ethereum blockchain. He, therefore, confirmed that the stablecoin can be transferred to other wallets that enable ERC-20 tokens. 

In the Podcast with Unchained Journalist, Laura Shin, Fernandez explained that PYUSD is quite different from this other stablecoins like USDT and USDC. First, he pointed to the fact that it leverages the PayPal ecosystem which gives it access to two-sided networks.

He noted that the stablecoin can also be used as a payment alternative on e-commerce sites and with merchants that accept PayPal settlement. Another advantage of the PYUSD highlighted by PayPal’s SVP is its connectivity to fiat currency.

PYUSD is an Evolution of PayPal’s Vision

When asked about the motivation behind PayPal’s decision to launch a stablecoin, Jose pointed out that the company believes that stablecoins are the “killer application” for blockchain at the moment. 

He also noted that they are very close to the payments market which is core for PayPal. Fernandez went on to highlight that the launch of PYUSD is an evolution of PayPal’s vision to be the “conduit between fiat and Web3.0 that can bring mainstream adoption to a system for payments.”

During their discussion, the PayPal Executive attested to the fact that stablecoin’s mainstream adoption may take some time, maybe years, to become a reality. Meanwhile, Democrat congresswoman Maxine Waters expressed concern about the new PayPal stablecoin launch amidst unclear crypto regulatory framework. 

“Given PayPal’s size and reach, Federal oversight and enforcement of its stablecoin operations is essential to guarantee consumer protections and alleviate financial stability concerns,” she said.

While starting with Ethereum, Fernadez said there is no reason why the stablecoin will not be adapted to support other chains in the future, a move that aligns with its diversity vision.