PayPal CEO sees big future for crypto payments

The CEO of payments giant PayPal says his company is considering the role of crypto in the future of commerce and payment processing. In a new interview with Yahoo Finance, PayPal CEO Alex Chriss says he and Paypal believe crypto will be important to the future of consumers.

Great future for paying with crypto?

“For me, crypto is a crucial part of the future of trading. But it is mainly a how. It allows us to facilitate trade faster, on a larger scale, globally and at lower costs. And any time you can move money faster and cheaper, that’s better for consumers.

We’ve taken the right steps, and we’re doing it the right way to be regulated so that we can move money safely for consumers and ensure that their money is protected.

But I think we’re only scratching the surface when it comes to the availability of crypto as a means of payment on a global scale. It allows people to transact anywhere in the world – quickly, securely and at low costs,” said PayPal CEO Chriss.

While he makes it clear that PayPal has no plans to become a crypto exchange, Chriss emphasizes that PayPal’s real interest in crypto is in making payments faster, more secure, and cheaper.

“For us, the real transformation is: ‘Wherever I am in the world, how can I make the right payment to any merchant anywhere in the world?’ We want to connect consumers and merchants, do this much faster, much more securely and at significantly lower costs for consumers. Consumers are currently paying a huge amount in transaction costs.”

No role for Bitcoin?

It is striking that the CEO of PayPal constantly talks about crypto and does not mention Bitcoin when talking about payments. Now Bitcoin has the Lightning Network and in theory it can play an interesting role when it comes to Bitcoin payments, but for the time being the technology is not ready for that.

There is a chance that stablecoins will play a bigger role in Chriss’s mind when he talks about crypto. But that is also a matter of speculation, because it is not yet clear what exactly he means and plans to do with PayPal.

That doesn’t change the fact that it is nice to hear that he and PayPal have plans to do something with crypto.