September 1, 2021, | AtoZ Markets – California-based payments company PayPal is about to enter the brokerage market. According to CNBC, the company intends to launch a stock trading platform. At the first stage, it will only be available to US residents.
Earlier PayPal appointed Richard Hagen Jr. as one of the directors. Richard was the CEO of Ally Invest and has extensive experience in the trading industry. His LinkedIn profile states that he is the CEO of Invest at PayPal.
The company is presumably exploring investment opportunities in the retail segment. Prior to joining Ally Invest, Hagen Jr. was president and co-founder of TradeKing, Inc., which was later acquired by Ally Financial.
PayPal shares soared with stock trading platform
Sources cited by CNBC claim PayPal is already in talks with "potential industry partners." However, this year the company is unlikely to have time to launch a new service. There are also rumors that the payments giant could either buy or partner with a broker-dealer to bring this plan to life.
After the news came out on CNBC, PayPal shares soared 3% and Robinhood's shares fell more than 3% in response.
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PayPal's plans are in line with the diversification policy that the company rolled out last year. At the same time, PayPal became able to purchase cryptocurrencies.
In July, the payment giant increased its weekly US cryptocurrency purchase limits for eligible customers. Thus, now service customers can buy digital assets worth up to $100,000. This is confirmed by the growing demand for services from consumers. PayPal executives have already noted this fact in the comments to the income statement.
Commenting on the increase in cryptocurrency purchase limits, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, VP, and CEO of Blockchain, Cryptocurrencies and Digital Currencies at PayPal, said:
“We launched the cryptocurrency functionality in October 2020 and have been actively communicating with our clients since then to better understand their needs and make sure that we offer a reliable platform for buying, storing and selling digital assets.”
As a reminder, PayPal launched a new service that will enable eligible customers in the UK to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency.
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