PayPal Showing 13% Revenue Increase, Plans to Expand Crypto Offerings

PayPal released its Q3 2021 financial results showing an increase in revenue and new active accounts. Additionally, the firm confirmed that it plans to bolster its crypto offerings.

PayPal has released its third-quarter financial results, with revenue growing by 13% in Q3 2021. The report, published on Nov 8, notes that total payment volume for the payment platform reached $310 billion with 416 million active accounts. That represents a growth of 26%, with net revenue touching $6.18 billion.

The number of users also increased a modest amount, with 13.3 million new active accounts joining the platform. PayPal estimates that 55 million new active accounts will be added for all of 2021. That would put the year’s count at over 430 million active accounts.

But the crypto market will be most interested in hearing the performance of its crypto offerings, which was introduced late last year. As part of its strategic initiatives, PayPal confirms that it will expand its cryptocurrency offerings.

One of these efforts was the ability for U.K. customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrencies, which was introduced in September 2021. It also plans to introduce cashback to crypto purchases and the ability for Venmo credit card users to purchase crypto using cashback from card purchasers. The report does not make much mention of any other crypto-related metrics.

How has PayPal’s crypto service fared?

PayPal first added crypto buying services in 2020, which was initially met with enthusiasm by the market. Many stated that this would help scale adoption and rope in a wider swathe of investors. PayPal’s CEO Dan Schulman was also optimistic about the crypto market, saying that it was a matter of time before it was adopted.

Despite a good start with over $242 million in volume in the first 24 hours, there have been a few bumps since. The crypto service did not get off to the smoothest start, as one trader was banned for day trading crypto using it. Critics decried the inability to move assets off the platform.

But it has made changes since and is doubling down on the crypto asset class. In Jul. 2021, a video was leaked saying that PayPal was in talks with Uniswap to see how the two could work together. No updates have been offered since. In other efforts, the platform is working on a commercial expansion for its crypto services, which would make crypto an accepted form of payment for shopping.