PayPal — one of the most popular digital payments platforms in the world — is teaming up with MetaMask, a cryptocurrency wallet, to allow users to seamlessly purchase and transfer Ethereum (ETH).
The news was announced on December 14th by ConsenSys, the parent company of MetaMask. The new integration will be rolled out to select PayPal users in the United States — MetaMask’s and PayPal’s largest market in terms of users. At first, users will only be able to buy ETH using their PayPal balance, or credit or debit card. But more cryptocurrencies are expected to become available.
MetaMask is one of the most popular non-custodial crypto wallets that lets users store cryptocurrencies and interact with Web3 platforms. However, in the past, to load a MetaMask wallet with crypto, users typically relied on crypto exchanges like CoinBase and Kraken. The new integration makes another option available.
The move should be beneficial to both companies. According to reports, PayPal has over 430 million accounts worldwide, and now MetaMask users will be exposed to a button that lets them buy crypto with PayPal. And for PayPal, the integration will generate more revenue (PayPal charges fees for crypto purchases). It will also allow people who’ve been buying crypto on the platform to utilize it in Web3.
Regardless, the move should make Web3 more accessible to millions of people. And for PayPal, it’s the first integration that serves as an on-ramp to a Web3 wallet, establishing a new link between traditional bank accounts and crypto wallets.
Companies Are Onboarding Users to Web3
MetaMask is one of the most popular Web3 crypto wallets around, and PayPal has millions of users around the world. So their partnership for an integration that lets users acquire crypto is a big deal. But PayPal and MetaMask aren’t the only companies working together to make crypto more accessible. Here two of the top stories from Rarity Sniper about companies onboarding users to Web3.
First, according to a report by Bernstein about a month ago, the Polygon blockchain is the leading gateway for onboarding Web2 consumers to Web3. The report noted the low-cost, high-speed, eco-friendly blockchain had been chosen by several major companies for product launches, including Starbucks, Reddit, Adidas, and Meta.
Next, just over a week ago Stripe, a global payments processor, launched a new tool to let customers purchase crypto with fiat currency. The tool, currently only available to select customers in the U.S., will enable users to buy crypto and opt into the Web3 ecosystem more simply. The company hopes the move will push Web3 and crypto further into the mainstream.
One setback to mass-adoption of Web3 has been that it required a certain amount of tech-savviness and knowledge of cryptocurrency to get started. But with the latest innovations from Stripe, Polygon, and now PayPal and MetaMask, that is beginning to change.
We’ll have to wait to see if the new integration from PayPal and MetaMask is popular with users. But it does look like the integration will make Web3 access easier for a lot more people — and that sounds like a good thing.