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PayPal, the global payments giant with over 400 million active accounts, is adding cryptocurrency to its peer-to-peer (P2P) payments, enabling users to send and receive digital assets directly — a step that could accelerate mainstream adoption beyond investment and trading.
On Monday, the company <a href="https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2025-09-15-PayPal-Ushers-in-a-New-Era-of-Peer-to-Peer-Payments,-Reimagining-How-Money-Moves-to-Anyone,-Anywhere" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="_blank">unveiled</a> PayPal links, a personalized one-time link generated in the PayPal app that can be shared across text, email or chat. The feature will launch first in the US before expanding into the United Kingdom, Italy and other international markets later this year.
In the near term, users will be able to send cryptocurrencies and stablecoins directly through PayPal’s P2P feature, both to PayPal and Venmo users, as well as to compatible digital assets. The supported cryptocurrencies will include Bitcoin (<a href="/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>), Ether (<a href="/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>), PYUSD (<a href="/paypal-pyusd-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">PYUSD</a>) and others, the announcement said.
<figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-09/01994dfe-8dd8-7801-bf76-c740efc076e0" title="" alt="PayPal to integrate BTC, ETH, PYSD in P2P payment push">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">PayPal’s dollar-pegged stablecoin, PYUSD, has gained significant traction, with its market cap reaching nearly $1.3 billion. Source: <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/paypal-usd/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/paypal-usd/">CoinMarketCap&nbsp;</a>
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PayPal emphasized that personal transfers made through Venmo or PayPal will not trigger 1099-K tax reporting, since friends-and-family payments are generally exempt.
Both PayPal links and the crypto P2P capability are being introduced under PayPal World, the company’s new interoperability framework designed to connect wallets and payment systems across borders.
The company has steadily expanded its presence in digital assets. Earlier this year, it rolled out <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/explained/paypal-just-enabled-crypto-for-650m-users-heres-what-that-actually-means" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">“Pay with Crypto,”</a> a blockchain-based settlement service that lets US businesses accept payments in over 100 cryptocurrencies. In April, PayPal <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/paypal-venmo-solana-chainlink" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">broadened its Venmo and PayPal crypto offerings</a> to include Chainlink (<a href="/chainlink-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">LINK</a>) and Solana (<a href="/solana-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SOL</a>).
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-future-utility-payments" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Crypto’s future lies in utility that lets payments scale globally</a>
<h2 id="giving-utility-to-one-of-crypto-s-core-promises">Giving utility to one of crypto’s core promises</h2>
Peer-to-peer payments have long been viewed as one of cryptocurrency’s most compelling use cases, a theme emphasized in <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-whitepaper-returns-to-bitcoin-org-after-craig-wrights-copyright-claim-debunked" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Satoshi Nakamoto’s original Bitcoin white paper</a>.
In its purest form, P2P refers to direct wallet-to-wallet transfers on a blockchain, free of intermediaries or custodians. While PayPal remains a centralized payment processor, its new P2P platform allows users to send cryptocurrencies to external wallets — a feature that aligns more closely with the original ethos of peer-to-peer transactions.
PayPal isn’t the only centralized player moving in this direction. In June, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/kraken-peer-to-peer-payment-system-crypto-fiat" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crypto exchange Kraken introduced Krak</a>, a payments app that enables users to send and receive digital assets across borders.
Meanwhile, the rise of stablecoins is steadily reshaping remittances and P2P payments. The World Bank has noted that stablecoin-based rails could cut transaction costs by as much as 92%.&nbsp;
<figure><img src="https://s3.cointelegraph.com/uploads/2025-09/01994dfe-91b7-7b45-a587-effe2673c997" title="" alt="PayPal to integrate BTC, ETH, PYSD in P2P payment push">
 <figcaption style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1957940564256604442" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" target="https://x.com/Cointelegraph/status/1957940564256604442">Cointelegraph</a>
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Still, not everyone is convinced. The <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/stablecoins-fail-money-bis-report" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bank for International Settlements has cautioned</a> that stablecoins fall short on key monetary principles, arguing they behave more like financial assets than true currency.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/bitcoin-payments-undermined-centralized-stablecoins/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Bitcoin payments are being undermined by centralized stablecoins</a>

PayPal to integrate BTC, ETH, PYSD in P2P payment push

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