Payments giant PayPal and Galaxy raise $20 million

They are based in New York City and run their company from there. The cloud platform that is in charge of the upkeep of blockchains and protocols is managed by Chaos Labs, which also has the responsibility of monitoring the platform. Chaos Labs is in charge of the administration of this platform. The well-known online payment network PayPal and the investment management company Galaxy worked together in order to infuse an initial capital of twenty million dollars into the fledgling firm. This was made possible via their collaboration. We were able to do this through cooperating with one another.

In order to protect cryptographic protocols against threats that are derived from the outside world, Chaos Labs makes use of an automated risk management platform. Because of this, it will be easier to protect the protocols against threats that come from the outside world. The platform is capable of running agent-based simulations as well as scenario-based simulations; using any of these two types of simulations helps to the platform’s capacity to protect protocols against economic vulnerabilities and market manipulation events. Due to the aforementioned reason, the platform is in a position to accomplish the objective that was stated before.

The initial funding will be put toward the primary objective of the investment, which is to make it possible for Chaos Labs to increase the degree to which it is able to automate on-chain risk optimization. This will be accomplished by making it feasible for Chaos Labs to increase the degree to which it can automate on-chain risk optimization. This will be achieved by putting the money into working toward the achievement of this objective.

There were a total of 23 different companies that took part in the round of fundraising, in addition to the six angel investors who were involved. The members of this organization include a number of well-known companies and individuals, including Coinbase Ventures, Polygon, Avalanche, OpenSea UniSwap, and Balaji Srinivasan, to mention just a few examples. Balaji Srinivasan is also a part of this organization as a member of its membership.

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PayPal Xoom Offers Debit Card Deposit Cross-Border Remittance

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The international money transfer service Xoom, which is owned and operated by the financial technology company PayPal, has introduced a new offering that enables customers in the United States to send money straight to users of Visa debit cards.

A recent release made by PayPal indicated a partnership between Xoom and the financial services company Visa. This partnership makes it possible for debit card customers to receive payments straight from Xoom.

There are now 25 nations that support the functionality, some of which include the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Ukraine, and Vietnam. Users no longer have to wait the standard amount of time for wire transfers, which is five business days, since a recently introduced feature now makes it possible for them to have access to their money in a matter of minutes.

According to Wei-Lin Lee, vice president of remittances at PayPal, the new service has the potential to assist individuals throughout the winter and during the holidays. Lee noted that during those times, many customers were transferring money to their friends and family located in other countries, and that this process needed to be completed as rapidly as possible.

Yanilsa Gonzalez-Ore, the CEO of Visa Direct North America, observed that there has been a rise in demand for “digital solutions that assist eliminate hurdles” among those who want to transfer money to other countries.

In the meanwhile, PayPal has become more comprehensive in its coverage of all aspects of financial transactions. In improving its product offerings in international financial transactions, the firm has now begun accepting cryptocurrencies as payment.

In 2018, the company launched the pilot program for its cross-border payments, which resulted in considerable time and cost savings for participating institutions.

In the year 2022, the business began enabling native transfers of digital assets from PayPal to other wallets and exchanges that were hosted on third-party platforms. Cross-border payments for companies are often connected with Ripple within the crypto space. Ripple is the company that is behind the XRP coin, which is now at the center of an ongoing court case.

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PayPal Joins Coinbase TRUST Network to Comply with Travel Rule

PayPal announced on Tuesday that it has joined Coinbase’s Travel Rule Universal Solution Technology, aka the TRUST Network, in order to comply with the financial industry’s Travel Rule.

Early this year, Coinbase launched TRUST, a global industry-driven solution designed to increase compliance with a requirement known as ‘the Travel Rule’ while prioritizing the privacy and security of customers.

The Travel Rule is a US law under the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires financial institutions and firms to share information about customers if they are sending money above a threshold — the starting point for identifying fund transactions and the parties involved is $1,000.

Since its launch in February, TRUST has onboarded more members including several major crypto firms such as Binance.US, BitGo, BlockFi, Nexo, Crypto.com, Robinhood, and Circle, including Coinbase, among others. PayPal’s decision to join TRUST puts the Voyager group’s membership count at 38.

In a statement, Coinbase said: “The addition of PayPal marks another milestone in TRUST’s journey to become the global, industry-standard solution for Travel Rule compliance.”

The move by firms joining the TRUST comes as an increasing number of crypto-related firms want to expand their businesses while becoming compliant with regulations. These companies believe that being compliant opens more business opportunities while maintaining customer confidence, thus helping them to fulfil their goals.

TRUST was reportedly formed in response to crackdowns from the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) policies.

Brands Embracing the Potential of Crypto

The recent crypto market crash has sparked a wave of fear, uncertainty, and doubt in the entire industry. Despite the troubles triggered by the stablecoin crash, crypto adoption has remained at an all-time high, given the number of mainstream companies that are adopting cryptocurrencies for business transactions.

PayPal, a US multinational fintech firm operating an online payments system, gave its users the ability to purchase, sell and hold cryptocurrencies in October of 2020. Then, in March last year, PayPal launched Checkout with Crypto, a feature that allows consumers to check out millions of online businesses using cryptocurrency.

In response to customer demand, PayPal in June of this year started allowing its users to transfer crypto from their accounts to other wallets and exchanges.

Some of the other major firms taking crypto mainstream include the likes of Starbucks, Burger King, Microsoft, and AT&T, among others including online retailers such as Overstock and carpooling companies such as Ryde.

The above examples show that the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies is on the rise. Despite the ups and downs of the market, there is still a lot of interest in the use of cryptocurrency. This is likely to continue as more and more firms start to see the benefits of using crypto.

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Binance.US Hires Ex-Paypal CFO Jasmine Lee as CFO

Jasmine Lee, a veteran financial expert has joined Binance.US as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

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The appointment of Lee by Binance.US is primarily centred on tapping her expertise as the former CFO and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of fintech firm, Acorns.

Prior to her joining Binance, Jasmine Lee had an 8-year stint with Paypal. At Paypal, she held various leadership positions, driving PayPal’s growth through strategic partnerships, pricing initiatives, and acquiring new businesses, and served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer for the Consumer Product Group at PayPal.

Over the years, Jasmine Lee has gathered all the experience that will be suited for Binance.US as the trading platform works to go public over the next few years.

“Jasmine is a rare talent who possesses more than 20 years of deep knowledge in both fintech and high-growth startup environments. Her experience at Paypal, a public Fortune 500 company, in particular, will be invaluable as we chart our path to an IPO in the coming years,” said Brian Shroder, Chief Executive Officer of Binance.US. “Binance.US entered the current crypto market environment from a position of strength, with significant capital, active hiring plans, and a robust pipeline of new value-add products and services. We are pleased to continue to execute our growth strategy with Jasmine as a key part of the executive team.”

Jasmine Lee will be answering to Brian and she will lead the trading platform’s finance department and oversee all aspects of financial operations, accounting, investor relations, treasury, and tax.

Binance.US is valued at $4.5 billion after it raised $200 million back in April this year. While the trading platform has not fixed an exact timeline for its Initial Public Offering (IPO), efforts are currently underway to achieve this feat, as it looks to trail the paths of Coinbase Global Inc which went public on the Nasdaq Exchange back in April 2021.

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Paypal Crypto Owners Can Now Transfer Tokens to Wallets

Fintech giant Paypal Holdings has upgraded its crypto wallet capabilities. Users of the app can now send supported digital assets to other wallets.

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With this upgrade, users can now send Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to other Paypal users as well as external wallets, which may also include those from trading platforms.

The move has now effectively opened Paypal’s crypto-economy, which at best was closed up before. The move is also being seen as a way to integrate users’ interests and demands while eliminating the monopoly tag from Paypal as a platform.

“Adding the ability to transfer, send, and receive cryptocurrencies is another step in our journey to building a more inclusive and effective financial system,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, SVP and GM of blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies at PayPal, in a statement. “We’re excited to connect PayPal’s customers to other wallets, exchanges, and applications, and we will continue to roll out additional crypto features, products, and services in the months ahead.”

The newly added functionality, in accordance with Fernandez da Ponte, will permit crypto holders within the Paypal app to do more with their digital assets. The move was made at a time when the digital currency ecosystem was experiencing a massive correction. Despite the current outlook, Paypal remains committed to the ecosystem in which it has started expanding beyond the shore of the United States.

“This move shows we’re in this for the long term,” Fernandez da Ponte added. “I think it’s important to stay the course and continue to invest in the space.”

Besides Paypal, other Fintech companies are also taking the initiative to support crypto transfer from one wallet to the other. Revolut is one of the platforms that has also made this move, as it looks to diversify its options to foster a broader financial inclusion.

Besides the new wallet functionality, Paypal also announced it has received a full BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).

 

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CashApp Accepts Users to Invest their Earnings in Bitcoin

CashApp, one of the world’s most popular payment applications, has announced integrating a new feature that will allow its users to convert their paycheck to Bitcoin (BTC) automatically.

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While it is a traditional fintech outfit operated by Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc, CashApp comes off as one of the first mainstream payment apps to support Bitcoin since 2018.

The ‘Paycheck-to-Bitcoin’ feature integration comes as the platform’s way of re-energizing its support for BTC across the board.

“We believe that bitcoin is the world’s best digital, sound money period,” said Miles Suter, Crypto Product Lead at CashApp. “We believe that Bitcoin is for the people and that in America, Cash App is the financial app for the people.”

While this new feature is billed to come in handy to every of the app’s users, Suter also confirmed that the platform has also launched an integration with the Lightning Network, a provision that will easily let its users receive Lightning Network transactions, a provision that compliments earlier allowance CashApp introduced back in January that lets its users receive payments via the Lightning Network.

“To make Bitcoin even more universally accessible, we’re announcing Lightning receives,” said Suter. “In the coming months, you’ll be able to receive bitcoin over the Lightning Network with no block confirmations needed.”

Cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, are going mainstream, and top payment firms are actively exploring avenues to offer their users more value in this regard. Beyond CashApp, PayPal is also broadening its support for Bitcoin and has provided a way for its users to buy a limited range of digital currencies, including Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC) respectively.

While PayPal launched its crypto trading services relatively later than CashApp, it has since extended the service to the United Kingdom in an aggressive push under CEO Dan Schulman.

Beyond these top fintech outfits, other notable payment companies, including PayPal-owned Venmo, also extend their capabilities to bring Bitcoin payments to their users. With the traction recorded in the fintech space thus far, Bitcoin payment integration will be a trend that will span into the foreseeable future.

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Paypal CEO Dan Schulman Doubles Down on Crypto Future Potential

Paypal’s Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman is excited about the future of digital currencies and their inherent role in the payments ecosystem.

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Speaking to Israeli tech-media outfit CTech, the payments giant’s boss, said the current trading activities and outlook of the nascent asset class are not to be compared with the deep utilities they present, most of which are still currently being figured out.

“I’m very excited about what crypto and digital ledger technology can do to the financial system going forward,” PayPal CEO Dan Schulman told CTech ahead of his keynote speech at Axis Tel Aviv. “I think the initial things that everyone thinks about Crypto, buying and selling it, and what the price of bitcoin is going to be tomorrow, that’s the least interesting part about digital currencies to me. That is thinking about digital currencies as an asset class. To me, the real exciting thing about digital currencies is what kind of utility can they provide in payments.”

Paypal is one of the first mainstream payment companies to dip its feet into the world of digital currencies when it rolled out support for the major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) back in 2020. Since then, the company has extended the crypto payments support services from the United States to the United Kingdom, a move that helped expose millions of its app users to the developing world of cryptocurrencies.

Paypal-owned Venmo has also rolled out support for Bitcoin. The acquisition of Curv, a crypto custody firm back in March 2021, has further ingrained the company into the diverse, decentralized digital currency world. The latest doubling down on cryptocurrencies confirms Schulman’s unwavering support for the nascent asset class he declared is fated to go mainstream as far back as October 2020.

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Four Payment Operators join in Suspending their Services in Russia amid Ukraine Crisis

More payment operators follow the orders of sanctions issued by the U.S., American Express, Visa, Mastercard, and PayPal announced on Saturday that they are all suspending their operations in Russia in protest of the country’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Four operators stated that cards issued by them would no longer function at shops or ATMs in Russia. This also means that customers will no longer be able to use their Russian cards abroad or for international payments.

Both Mastercard and Visa had already announced that they would comply with sanctions introduced by Western countries since the beginning of the conflict.

In a press release, Al Kelly, the Chairman and CEO of Visa Inc, said: The firm “was compelled to act following Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, and the unacceptable events that we have witnessed. We regret the impact this will have on our valued colleagues, and on the clients, partners, merchants and cardholders we serve in Russia. This war and the ongoing threat to peace and stability demand we respond in line with our values.”

In a statement, Mastercard termed the ongoing invasion of Ukraine as “shocking and devastating”.

American Express also described Russia’s attack on Ukraine as “unjustified” and stated that it is terminating all business operations in Belarus and Russia.

PayPal, on the other hand, mentioned on Saturday that it had shut down services in Russia but that it would support withdrawals “for a period of time”. In a statement, PayPal said that the shutdown would still “ensure that account balances are dispersed in line with applicable laws.”

Mastercard and Visa alone control about 90% of credit and debit payments worldwide, outside of China.

Susannah Streeter, senior markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, talked about the Ukraine crisis and said that China’s UnionPay could be the alternative “system of choice” for Russian banks as it is already accepted around the globe, though not as widely as Visa and Mastercard.

Many Russian banks suggested that they would begin issuing cards that use the Chinese UnionPay system, together with Russia’s Mir payment network, to avoid any impact for their customers.

“But it will take significant time to re-issue millions of cards, and will add to the financial turmoil in the country,” Streeter further elaborated.

 

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PayPal Establishes Advisory Committee, Focusing on Crypto Affairs

Major U.S. payment processor PayPal has established a blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital currency advisory committee.

In an official Tuesday announcement, PayPal said it warmly welcomes leading experts in distributed technology, economics, and regulation to join the committee with the aim of improving current and future products and creating a more inclusive digital financial ecosystem.

At present, six top talents from various industries have joined them, including Peter Briger, Co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group, Chris Brummer, Professor of Georgetown University Law Center. All six members have related achievements in the crypto industry.

Jose Fernandez da Ponte, general manager of blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and digital currencies at PayPal said that:

“We believe it is crucial to engage with the world’s best leaders to better understand the industry’s most compelling opportunities and complex challenges.”

Paypal has been evolving remarkably in its product offerings. Previously, Blockchain.News reported that the company began offering cryptocurrency trading services to its US customers back in November 2020.

On January 10, American payments giant Paypal Holdings Inc has confirmed it is working on its own digital currency, which will take the form of a stablecoin called PayPal Coin.

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PayPal establishes advisory council for crypto and blockchain

Major U.S.-based payment processor PayPal has assembled a team of industry experts to act as advisors on crypto, blockchain, and digital currencies. 

In a Tuesday announcement, PayPal said the addition of six members to its Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies advisory council would help support its current and future products as well as its goal of creating a more inclusive digital financial ecosystem. Fortress Investment Group co-CEO Peter Briger, Georgetown University Law Center professor Chris Brummer, Weizmann Institute of Science professor Shafi Goldwasser, former Commodity Futures Trading Commission chair Timothy Massad, MIT Sloan School of Management finance professor Antoinette Schoar, and MIT Digital Currency Initiative director Neha Narula will be joining the PayPal initiative.

“We believe it is crucial to engage with the world’s best leaders to better understand the industry’s most compelling opportunities and complex challenges,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal’s senior vice president and general manager for blockchain, crypto, and digital currencies.

All six advisers carry years of experience from the crypto and blockchain space from a business or regulatory perspective. Briger was reportedly the one responsible for advising Softbank Group founder Masayoshi Son to invest millions in Bitcoin (BTC) prior to the 2017 bull run. Goldwasser was part of a group of MIT researchers who proposed zero-knowledge proof as an encryption scheme long before the advent of crypto.

During her time with the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, Narula has been in charge of an initiative to help the federal reserve bank of Boston build a digital currency aimed at scaling for consumer use. Brummer was reportedly a candidate for CFTC chair before President Joe Biden officially nominated Rostin Behnam. Massad, who served as CFTC chair from 2014 to 2017, argued after he left his position that regulators should approve an exchange-traded fund offering exposure to BTC.

Related: Visa announces new crypto consulting service for merchants and banks

It’s unclear if the advisory group is aimed at expanding PayPal’s foray into crypto and blockchain. The payments app announced in October 2020 it would be allowing customers based in the United States to purchase cryptocurrencies through the platform, later expanding this offering to include crypto payments at millions of its global merchants. The firm is reportedly

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Bitcoin (BTC) $ 25,799.91 3.82%
Ethereum (ETH) $ 1,817.97 2.66%
Litecoin (LTC) $ 87.67 5.40%
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) $ 109.64 3.83%