PayPal Holdings PYPL has steadily deepened its crypto involvement since 2020, now offering major tokens and stablecoin services. In April 2025, it added Chainlink (LINK) and Solana (SOL) to its PayPal and Venmo platforms, broadening user access to diverse blockchain ecosystems. This expansion reinforces its strategy to become a go-to gateway for tokenized finance.
Central to PayPal’s crypto ambition is PayPal USD (“PYUSD”), launched in August 2023. Recently, PayPal announced that it is expanding PYUSD to Layer-2 blockchains, beginning with Arbitrum. This deployment offers developers a low-cost, high-speed option for PYUSD integration, pairing the stablecoin’s trusted backing with Arbitrum’s efficient transaction capabilities.
In June, PayPal announced plans to expand its stablecoin, PYUSD, to the Stellar blockchain, pending approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services. Stellar is recognized for enabling fast transactions, minimal fees and practical applications in everyday financial use. This move would enhance PYUSD’s payment capabilities by offering a cost-efficient, fast alternative to Ethereum and Solana, enabling broader use in commerce, micro-financing, and global transactions through improved integration and scalability.
A strategic tie up with Coinbase in April 2025 allows fee-free PYUSD purchases, 1:1 redemption, and co exploration of new use cases for PYUSD in DeFi and onchain platforms. This alliance brings PYUSD directly into the exchange ecosystem, enhancing consumer, merchant and institutional adoption, especially as Coinbase waives fees. Earlier, PayPal also rolled out crypto for business accounts, enabling merchants to buy, hold, sell and transfer crypto assets directly via the platform.
Block, Inc. XYZ is set to join the S&P 500, marking another milestone in crypto’s push into the financial mainstream. Block has integrated Bitcoin through its Cash App, enabling peer to peer transactions and investing. It invested heavily in BTC treasury holdings and rolled out Bitcoin lending pilot programs. Its Square Crypto initiative focuses on Bitcoin developer grants and Lightning Network adoption to boost Bitcoin’s payment utility.
Coinbase Global COIN, the largest U.S. crypto exchange, offers trading, staking, custodial services and launched its Payments platform, including stablecoin support. It waived fees for PYUSD, expanded institutional services and invests in Layer 2 scaling (like Base) to bolster real world crypto use.
