PayPal has held exploratory talks about launching a stablecoin: sources
Four sources with knowledge of the situation told The Block that PayPal has made the rounds among some of the industry’s stablecoin protocol developers.
PayPal is exploring the launch of a stablecoin, The Block has learned.
Four sources with knowledge of the situation told The Block that PayPal has made the rounds among some of the industry’s stablecoin protocol developers — suggesting the payments giant may be leaning towards working with a third-party company.
Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche blockchain, is one of the organizations that has held talks with PayPal over stablecoin development, according to people familiar with the matter. It is not clear which other protocols have been involved in the discussions.
A PayPal spokesperson told The Block that “PayPal continues to explore the potential of digital currencies, digital financial services infrastructure and how we can help enhance digital commerce as a trusted partner in the space.”
“As a global company working with regulators and industry partners throughout the world to shape the next generation of financial systems, the company is in frequent conversation about technologies that enable these goals. However, rumors and speculation are not predictive of the company’s future plans,” the spokesperson said.
If PayPal did move forward with such a project, it would represent a significant escalation of its work in the crypto space. Stablecoins are digital assets that represent fiat or government-backed currencies, using a blockchain network as a payment rail. There is more than $80 billion in stablecoins circulating in the market today, according to data collected by The Block.
“It looks like they’re more likely to do something with an existing stablecoin partner rather than build something themselves, because I think that that would get something to market faster, and I think that’s their primary concern,” one source told The Block.
Rumors have long circulated regarding PayPal’s stablecoin ambitions. Indeed, one source described the move as the best-known secret in the crypto industry.
Last fall, PayPal announced that it would enable crypto buys and sells on its platform through a partnership with industry startup Paxos. PayPal has moved to widen the scope of its crypto offerings since then.
On March 8, PayPal announced that it had completed the acquisition of crypto security firm and multi-party computation (MPC) start-up Curv.
BitPay Adds Dai Stablecoin and Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) as Payment Option for Merchant Processing and Cross-Border Transactions
Enables Global Businesses to Accept Dai and WBTC, Expands Consumers’ Payment Options
BitPay, the world’s largest provider of Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payment services, today announced the company is adding Dai and WBTC immediately for businesses to accept as a payment option without the need for any integration or enhancements. Dai is the only decentralized dollar-pegged token and WBTC is the first ERC20 token backed one to one with Bitcoin. Settlement in Dai and WBTC is expected to be available this month. Dai and WBTC are available to anyone, accessible anywhere in the world and the market capitalization of these coins is among the top 20 of all cryptocurrencies.
“BitPay merchants use crypto to solve real-world payment challenges especially in transacting in countries with hyperinflation or unstable currencies,” said BitPay’s Chief Commercial Officer Sonny Singh. “Adding Dai and WBTC to the mix of cryptos that BitPay supports offers these businesses fast, safe and secure alternatives to traditional payment methods.”
The ability to transact in Dai is ideal for global businesses and cross border merchants that are looking to attract new customers and want a fast, convenient and low-cost alternative remittance. MakerDAO’s Dai stablecoin, built on the Ethereum network and underpinned by a system of smart contracts and decentralized price feeds, is designed to maintain a soft-peg to the US Dollar. Similarly, the ability to transact in WBTC brings Bitcoin to Ethereum enabling blockchain traders, institutions, and DApps a bridge to the Ethereum network while maintaining exposure to Bitcoin. Its price is pegged to the price of Bitcoin, with the additional benefit of being usable in Ethereum’s rapidly growing DeFi space.
“Dai, which is widely used in DeFi and as a currency for purchasing NFTs in art and gaming, provides merchants with a universal, price-stable payment currency,” said Jen Senhaji from the Growth team operating under MakerDAO. “The trustless, transparent, and secure nature of Dai gives merchants and consumers the freedom to spend and receive payments wherever they are.”
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Businesses and consumers face major challenges when transacting cross borders using traditional payment methods. Blockchain technology addresses these challenges eliminating delays, excessive fees, and making them global, safe, free of delays, or excessive costs. Support for Dai and WBTC also opens up new payment and settlement options for BitPay merchants and businesses. These organizations have a fast, stable and cost-effective settlement solution that does not rely on traditional bank methods.
Dai and WBTC are added to BitPay’s current list of supported tokens including BTC, BCH, ETH, DOGE and stablecoins USDC, GUSD, PAX and BUSD. BitPay previously announced wallet users can store and use Dai and WBTC in a BitPay wallet and to load the BitPay Card.
About BitPay
Founded in 2011, BitPay celebrates its 10th birthday this year as one of the oldest cryptocurrency companies. As a pioneer in blockchain payment processing, the company’s mission is to transform how businesses and people send, receive, and store money. Its business solutions eliminate fraud chargebacks, reduce the cost of payment processing, and enable borderless payments in cryptocurrency, among other services. BitPay offers consumers a complete digital asset management solution that includes the BitPay Wallet and BitPay Prepaid Card, enabling them to turn digital assets into dollars for spending at tens of thousands of businesses. The company has offices in North America, Europe, and South America and has raised more than $70 million in funding from leading investment firms including Founders Fund, Index Ventures, Virgin Group, and Aquiline Technology Growth. For more information visit bitpay.com.
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View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210506005906/en/
Contacts
Jan Jahosky
BitPay
404.448.1035
Stable Coin Developer X8 AG Planning to Have Its Common Shares Listed on North American & European Stock Exchanges
FRIBOURG, Switzerland, May 03, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – X8 AG. (X8) in preparation for the launch of its crypto X8currency stable coin, X8 is planning to have their common shares apply for listing on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) with cross listings planned for the Open Market Segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FSE) in Germany and the Over the Counter Market (OTC) in the USA.
X8 AG has selected Listing Partners Sarl, as exclusive financial advisors in connection with the listings.
Listing Partners will be advisors and underwriters to X8 in a contemplated pre-listing offering of common shares through syndication of the issue to its underwriting group. In addition, as part of the Listing Partners group’s international affiliations, Antevorta Capital Partners Ltd. has been engaged to provide listing services to assist X8 with the listing process on the CSE, FSE and the OTC.
As part of the listing process, X8 is required to have prepared a non-offering prospectus for submission to the securities regulators for review and approval. Should the prospectus clear the approval process an application to list the X8 common shares on the CSE will be submitted for listing approval. Once the CSE listing is granted, submission of application to cross list on the FSE and OTC is planned for.
Gregor Koželj, CEO of X8 said today: “Currently, there are no other stable coin projects listed on a regulated stock exchange. We believe this exclusive position will boost X8’s visibility to the forefront along with gaining significant recognition and access to the capital markets.” He added “Simultaneously X8 AG is applying to have the X8currency stable coin authorized by the Swiss Financial Regulator, FINMA”.
The public listing of X8 AG is expected to allow capital market investors the rare opportunity to invest directly into a stable coin development project that management believes could have a global long-term vision. The X8currency stable coin work in progress is a value preservation digital currency payment instrument that is expected to challenge the established tokenized payment instruments with a cutting edge fintech of its own.
About X8 AG
Established in 2018 and headquartered in Switzerland, X8 AG intends to provide global digital cross-border payment instrument solutions that are cost-efficient and reliable. The company successfully launched its Initial Coin Offering of the X8X utility token. Currently, X8 is preparing to launch its X8currency stable coin as a digital currency by way of its application to FINMA which upon approval would award X8 to move forward with its market operations under a regulatory Sandbox regime and to further apply for a Fintech license (banking license light) as a result. The Regulatory Sandbox regime allows Swiss companies to accept deposits of up to 1 million CHF as a stable coin issuer, while the Swiss Fintech license would allow the company to accept deposits of up to 100 million CHF as a bank, which such deposits could be in the form of the X8currency and assets backing the stable coin units.
Visit: www.X8AG.io
About Listing Partners Sarl and the Listing Partners Ltd group of Companies.
Listing Partners is an international, boutique investment firm operating within the capital markets ecosystem. Their focus is on creating and managing the going public plan for companies by working with top management for successful listing and financing. Antevorta Capital Partners Ltd. is a member of the Listing Partners Group of Companies. It has been successfully assisting small and medium-sized companies in the listing process and raising funds since 1998. Their experience and know-how lead their clients through every aspect of going public, primarily on the Canadian Stock Exchange, which often results in cross listing opportunities in other international markets.
For Investor information contact: info@listingpartners.lu
For More Information about X8 contact: Gregor Koželj, ceo@x8ag.io
Disclaimer
All statements regarding our expected future financial position, results of operations, cash flows, financing plans, business strategy, products and services, competitive positions, growth opportunities, plans and objectives of management for future operations, including words such as “anticipate,” “if,” “believe,” “plan,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “could,” “should,” “will,” and other similar expressions are forward-looking statements and involve risks, uncertainties and contingencies, many of which are beyond our control, which may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from anticipated results, performance, or achievements. X8 AG is under no obligation to (and expressly disclaim any such obligation to) update or alter our forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.