The daily trading volume of cryptocurrency of payment giant PayPal exceeded 240 million U.S. dollars, a record high.
Compared with the previous daily cryptocurrency transaction volume, on January 11, the global payment provider PayPal’s daily cryptocurrency transaction volume doubled, and the digital asset transaction volume on the platform reached $242 million on January 11 .
According to data from the crypto market data aggregator Nomics, PayPal's cryptocurrency transaction volume on January 11 dwarfs the $129 million transaction volume it set on January 6. Since January 1, PayPal's daily cryptocurrency transaction volume has increased by 950% from $22.8.
As the price of Bitcoin soared to a record high, PayPal's transaction volume also surged, and the American payment company seems to be gradually gaining popularity among retail investors. Alex Saunders of Nuggets News said that the surge in PayPal transaction volume may indicate that more and more retail investors are using PayPal for transactions. He wrote on Twitter: "Retail accounts have arrived."
Retail investors have arrived. Yesterday, PayPal settled $242 million in cryptocurrency transactions. This is almost twice the previous record.
-Alex Saunders (@ alexandra saunundersau) January 12, 2021
Although many people in the crypto community believe that PayPal's entry into the crypto market has driven new users into the field of digital assets, some criticized PayPal for creating a "closed" crypto community that does not support withdrawal functions. Twitter user Toomas Zobel speculated that PayPal The surge in trading volume may be caused by the entry of retail investors:
"Is there a way to judge whether this is a buying or selling transaction volume?" In this huge transaction volume, it may only be that retail investors are making a profit exit, rather than creating buying pressure. "
Nexo CEO Antoni Trenchev speculated that Bitcoin's recent plunge from a level of more than $40,000 was caused by retail investors eager to make profits. Soon after, the discussion about whether the PayPal transaction volume milestone indicated the market is bullish or bearish began.
PayPal's cryptocurrency payment service can be obtained through Paxos's exchange ItBit. After launching its digital asset transaction service in October 2020, PayPal chose ItBit to process its cryptocurrency transactions.
PayPal is expected to provide cryptocurrency payment services to its 26 million merchants in the coming months, which may further drive the company's demand for crypto services.