Venmo has added support for cryptocurrencies, making it possible for its more than 70 million customers to buy, sell and hold digital currencies for as little as $1. Crypto support on Venmo is being made possible by a strategic partnership between PayPal and Paxos Trust Company.
PayPal (PYPL) is the first payment company to secure a first-of-its-kind conditional Bitlicense that allows it to enable the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies on the Venmo app. Similarly, Venmo customers will now be able to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash.
PayPal has also confirmed that customers can view cryptocurrency trends. Access to in-app guides, videos and answers to commonly asked questions are also on offer as part of the crypto integration. Venmo users will be able to share their crypto journey through the Venmo feed.
“Crypto on Venmo is a new way for the Venmo community to start exploring the world of crypto, within the Venmo environment they trust and rely on as a key component of their everyday financial lives,” said Venmo’s GM and SVP, Darrell Esch.
Venmo’s ultimate goal is to offer customers an easy-to-use platform that simplifies the process to transact cryptocurrencies. The mobile payments app also plans to demystify some of the misconceptions that customers have about digital currencies.
The addition of the crypto support follows a Venmo Customer Behavior Study that showed more than 30% of Venmo customers are already purchasing cryptocurrencies. The additional support should allow them to enjoy easy access.
PayPal shares are up 12.8% year to date after a 116% gain in 2020. (See PayPal stock analysis on TipRanks)
PayPal adding support for cryptocurrencies continues to elicit interest on Wall Street. Following the announcement, BTIG analyst Mark Palmer has reiterated a Buy rating on the stock. The analyst has a $345 price target implying 30.6% upside potential to current levels.
“Our price target for PYPL is based on a 9x EV/revenue multiple of the company’s FY24E revenue of 44.4$bn. The multiple we employ is based on comparable company analysis”, Palmer wrote in a research note.
Consensus among analysts is a Strong Buy based on 31 buys and 4 Holds. The average analyst price target of $310.25 implies 17.33% upside potential to current levels.
PYPL scores a 7 out of 10 on TipRanks’ Smart Score rating tool which implies that the stock is expected to perform in line with market expectations.
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