PayPal Scoops 70% Virgin Bitcoins
PayPal’s announcement to enter the cryptocurrency space last month has rejoiced the community. The big daddy in payment platforms has said to be starting its service in the US initially, with more countries joining soon. It will be letting its users buy, hold and sell their cryptocurrencies from PayPal itself. Partnering with Paxos, it will let users pay to their merchants in Bitcoins too, which will be converted to fiat while depositing in merchant accounts. This grand announcement meant PayPal needing to involve more into cryptocurrencies, and Bitcoin especially. Thus, the platform was seen buying Bitcoins extensively last month, with reports tells over 70% of the virgin Bitcoins being purchased by it alone! Mentioned by Pantera Capital, a hedge fund company, it says the volumes in itBit, an exchange for institutional buyers, has soared to new highs last month. It’s not just the PayPal that’s buying Bitcoins extensively, but also the Square’s Cash app, together with buying more than 100% of the freshly minted Bitcoins. Further, 21 institutions including Microstrategy Inc and Galaxy Digital Holdings have a combined holding of 832,351 Bitcoins, which translates to $14.42 billion or 4% of total Bitcoins in circulation. Heavy institutional buying in recent times has rallied the Bitcoin’s price to an all-time high to near 19,000-mark this week, making the trend more stable than that of 2017’s rally.
