Venmo, which is owned by PayPal (PYPL), said its more than 70 million customers can buy bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash for just $ 1.
Cryptocurrency can often feel confusing and inaccessible to beginners, so Venmo will provide in-app guides and videos to answer frequently asked questions and share information about the crypto world.
The payment company hopes the new initiative “demystifies some of the common questions and misconceptions consumers may have,” Darrell Esch, senior vice president and CEO of Venmo, said in a statement.
More than 30% of Venmo customers have already started buying cryptocurrencies or shares, according to the payment company. And 20% of these customers started doing this during the pandemic.
Last week, crypto enthusiasm grew when the Coinbase trading platform went public at a valuation of $ 86 billion, followed by a 500% wild rally in Dogecoin – an asset that was created as a joke in 2013. Proponents of cryptocurrencies they spent years insisting that bitcoin, ethereum and other digital currencies could revolutionize the world of finance. That hasn’t happened yet, but Venmo’s announcement is another example of how crypto is getting closer to general acceptance.
Venmo joins a list of other companies that have recently begun to recognize or accept cryptocurrencies. Tesla began accepting bitcoin payments for its cars and now owns some of the digital currency on its balance sheet. Payment processors, inclusive MasterCard (ME), and Visa (V) they are trying to streamline cryptographic payments in their networks. Goldman Sachs will soon offer its private wealth management clients ways to invest in bitcoin and other digital currencies. Morgan Stanley has also announced that it will offer its wealthy customers access to bitcoin funds.