PayPal Delves Into Private Crypto With Internal Token Platform
December 11 2018 - 6:00AM
ADVFN Crypto NewsWire
December 11, 2018 -- ADVFN Crypto
NewsWire -- With crypto markets falling ever lower many are making
an exit from the space. Not all are that quick to jump ship
however, and PayPal is among those looking towards
cryptocurrencies, albeit private ones, starting with an incentive
platform for its employees.
PayPal Tokens For Coffee With The
Boss
The company has launched an internal
private blockchain based platform for its staff to trade and
exchange tokens while contributing ideas and participating in
related programs designed to foster innovation. According to
Cheddar the initiative has been
built by around 25 people taking six months.
PayPal has setup an internal website
for employees to access their private tokens and earn more by
enrolling in learning programs. The tokens are not tradable outside
of the system as they are worthless to all but company workers on
its own blockchain.
Historically, PayPal has been
anti-crypto and has not accepted it on its merchant platform due to
volatility issues. These price fluctuations would be massively
amplified considering the excessive length of time PayPal
transactions take. This latest venture is only an effort to get
staff used to the concept – PayPal still has no intention of
adopting or using public cryptocurrencies.
The company has offered
‘experiences’ such as poker tournaments, martial arts and trail
runs with head executives for employees that want to ‘cash in’
their tokens. One senior executive described it as a “Venmo-like
feed people can like and comment on and see all the activity going
on within PayPal related to innovation.”
It is very unlikely that
PayPal will be venturing into the real world of
cryptocurrencies any time soon. The company made $13 billion in
2017, and a large chunk of that is derived from hugely over
inflated foreign exchange rates. Sending money between PayPal
accounts in different currencies can cost as much as 5%. Borderless
cryptos are obviously a threat to this business model.
PayPal is interested in the
technology however and this latest incentive is another step
towards it. The most likely outcome would be the development of a
‘PayPal token’ that is only redeemable on the platform to
facilitate transactions.
Coinbase recently announced that it
would be allowing PayPal for a
very select number of users to withdraw crypto from its platform.
The full KYC procedure would have to be adhered to which eliminates
any advantage of using PayPal over a regular bank as its charges
are no better, and often higher.
By
Martin
Young | December 11, 2018 |
10:00 am
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