According to the business, PayPal Holdings Inc. is considering launching its stable coin as part of its cryptocurrency push, which confirmed the news after proof of the move was found in its iPhone app.
"We are exploring a stablecoin; if and when we seek to move forward, we will of course, work closely with relevant regulators," Jose Fernandez da Ponte, senior vice president of crypto and digital currencies at PayPal stated in a statement to Bloomberg News. Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies funded and priced by the value of an existing currency or commodity.
Developer Steve Moser discovered evidence of the company's efforts to create a stable coin in PayPal's app and shared it with Bloomberg. Work on what has been labeled a "PayPal Coin" is visible through hidden code and graphics. According to the code, such a currency would be backed by the United States dollar.
A PayPal representative said the graphics and stable coins PayPal app came from the company's blockchain, in, crypto, and digital currencies division's recent internal hackathon — an event in which developers collaborate to quickly explore and build innovative technologies that may never see a public release. That implies the final logo, name, and features may change when the product is released to the public.
In recent months, PayPal has stepped up its cryptocurrency efforts, introducing new facilities for buying and holding digital tokens, as well as the option to pay for transactions with them.
Recently, On the Unchained podcast, Fernandez da Ponte stated that the company has "not yet seen a stablecoin out there that is purpose-built for payments." For PayPal's use, he said a stablecoin would need to support payments at scale and have security.
"There would have to be clarity on the regulation, the regulatory frameworks, and the type of licenses that are needed in this space," he said.
PayPal isn't the first internet company to consider developing its cryptocurrency. Diem is a stable coin developed by Meta Platforms Inc., previously Facebook, and Visa Inc. has permitted a stablecoin backed by the US dollar to settle a transaction with the network.
