Venmo adding cryptocurrency options for users

[The Buzz]

Venmo is releasing a feature that will allow users the option to store, buy, and sell popular cryptocurrencies, PayPal announced on Tuesday.

From The Verge:

Similar to PayPal, Venmo will support four different cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. PayPal had said last year that Venmo would get support for cryptocurrencies.

You can get started with as little as $1, and transactions are managed from the app. Venmo said in a press release that it will begin rolling out the feature to some users today, and tells The Verge it anticipates that “most customers” will have access to cryptocurrencies in the app by the end of May.

Venmo’s support for cryptocurrencies could encourage more people to invest in them. PayPal reported in its Q4 earnings reporter that Venmo had 70 million users; given the app operates like a social network, users may find cryptocurrency more approachable if they can see their friends buying and selling right inside Venmo.

Venmo is the latest payment app to offer support for cryptocurrency. PayPal allowed users to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency from the main PayPal app in November and added the ability for US users to make purchases with cryptocurrency in late March. And Venmo and PayPal competitor Square launched support for Bitcoin in its Cash App in 2018.

Read more here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/4/20/2...l-hold-bitcoin

[PROFRBcom]

I cannot tell if adding cryptos to PayPal and Venmo is good or bad.

I suspect eventually these payment processors and banks will accumulate large amounts of crypto and then try to change the protocols (yes, I know they cannot without mining.... but... influence via government intervention and whatnot they can cause pain in cryptoland).

[Inersha]

Is Venmo a big thing in the US? I'm from the UK so I don't know much about it.

[Sherlock]

I cannot tell if adding cryptos to PayPal and Venmo is good or bad.

I suspect eventually these payment processors and banks will accumulate large amounts of crypto and then try to change the protocols (yes, I know they cannot without mining.... but... influence via government intervention and whatnot they can cause pain in cryptoland).

I do not think Paypal will ever accumulate more coins than some top whales. They are all competing now for the rest of 2.5M BTC. They will get very little from the 18.5 that already circulate.

I wonder whether this is just another IOUBTC wallet or if people can really spend the coins and get their keys if they want. It is a big difference to have the custodial coins that you can transfer out and when it is not possible.

[PROFRBcom]

Is Venmo a big thing in the US? I'm from the UK so I don't know much about it.

Yes, it is.

[Media X Limited]

Great news to hear more payment options are starting to accept crypto currency, this is definitely the future of payments!

[Cash Bonus]

It's good to see cryptocurrency starting to finally broaden throughout the world and into the mainstream. But who can say for certain if this will be a good move. I feel that Paypal is not as strong in the field of crypto like Coinbase, Binance, etc. actually are, since they're only just getting started with it. While the said two other companies have been in the crypto business for years.

[rmeeuwsen]

It's good to see cryptocurrency starting to finally broaden throughout the world and into the mainstream. But who can say for certain if this will be a good move. I feel that Paypal is not as strong in the field of crypto like Coinbase, Binance, etc. actually are, since they're only just getting started with it. While the said two other companies have been in the crypto business for years.

To me it is another sign that bitcoin is going mainstream.

For coinbase, that is that is their business - but for paypal, it is just another addon fueled by what? - demand, "the me too" "fear of missing out" syndrome or the future.

For all you youngsters out - I still remember the .com business boom and bust - then it leveled out and became a world changer.

[Sherlock]

I am sorry, but this is all bs as I thought.

Being able to interact with bitcoin directly in the Venmo app is appealing for those who wouldn’t have ventured into the cryptocurrency otherwise but Bitcoiners are prone to criticize the lack of one key feature: the ability to withdraw bitcoin.

Sovereignty over one’s funds is arguably the most fundamental aspect of Bitcoin, yet it appears from the release that Venmo is completely dismissing it, just as its parent company PayPal did in its own addition of cryptocurrency services. The lack of this critical feature may be a turn off for many Bitcoiners who seek to take control of their private keys.

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/business...in-integration

This is fking not that you are buying bitcoin. When you can not withdraw it, it is not BTC. It is not like Coinbase. Maybe if we all will pretend that it is, then will it become a reality?

It is the same bs as Revolut. They also allow you to "buy, sell, hold and trade bitcoin". Just when you send there the money from real bitcoins they block the payment or close the account.

This is all bs. Do not spread it. Venmo is not supporting btc. Just some IOU based on btc.