On Monday, PayPal announced that it will be allowing users in Britain to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency through the online payment platform for the first time.
The expansion into the hot digital money trend follows similar moves by the payments giant in the United States earlier this year.
The US firm stated that’s its new service would allow UK-based customers to choose from four types of cryptocurrency: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash which will be available on both the PayPal app and its website.
The expansion is set to start this week and will be available to all eligible customers within the next few weeks.
Paypal also mentioned that a new cryptocurrency tab will be added to its platform, showing real-time currency prices.
Jose Fernandez da Ponte, of PayPal, mentioned that “The pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives, including the digitisation of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services.”
He added that the firm hoped the new offering would “help people in the UK explore cryptocurrency”.
“We are committed to continuing to work closely with regulators in the UK, and around the world, to offer our support and meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce,” he concluded
In April, the PayPal-owned mobile payments service, Venmo began letting users in the US buy, hold or sell cryptocurrency using its app.
This followed PayPal itself in March, allowing people to use cryptocurrency to make purchases from millions of merchants who use the financial platform for online transactions.
