PayPal has taken its first step with crypto offerings in the European Union (EU), choosing Luxembourg as its point of entry. In the coming days, PayPal customers in the land-locked city will be enabled to buy, sell and store digital assets within their respective PayPal accounts. Users will be able to perform these tasks via mobile app, as well as via the browser. In its new market, the minimum amount that PayPal will allow users to purchase cryptocurrencies for is EUR 1 (roughly Rs. 85).
Bitcoin, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, as well as Ether have been chosen as the first four crypto assets that would be supported by PayPal in Luxembourg.
The company is also willing to collaborate with the Luxembourg authorities in their process of shaping up the industry for digital assets to keep it in alignment with the existing financial systems.
“The introduction of this service offers Luxembourgish customers a new way to explore cryptocurrency in the PayPal environment they know. Adding Luxembourg is an important step in PayPal’s mission to make digital currencies more accessible,” said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, SVP and GM, Blockchain, Crypto & Digital Currencies, PayPal in an official statement.
PayPal’s timing of foraying its crypto business into the EU appears to be a rather calculated decision.
Back in October, the European Parliament Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (ECON) approved the MiCA legislation. First proposed in September 2020, the MiCA rule list draft aims to create a uniform legal crypto framework for all the 27 EU states.
The legislation is expected to roll-out across the EU by 2024, that gives companies like PayPal ample time to adhere to EU’s norms and finetune their operations accordingly.
As for PayPal, the company has been taking steps to understand the crypto industry and expand related services in several of its markets.
In February, the payments processor had appointed a special council to act as its advisory about digital currencies, cryptocurrencies, as well as blockchain technology.
PayPal first began operating in the crypto sector in the US two years ago in 2020, enabling its users in the US to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrencies.
Later in September 2021, the company launched cryptocurrency trading on the platform in the United Kingdom market.
