PayPal, the world’s highest-valued digital payment platform, now offers its clients access to cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, which make up a significant portion of the company’s financial liabilities.
According to the annual report submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 10, PayPal had a total of $604 million in various cryptocurrencies as of December 31. These included Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
PayPal’s cryptocurrency assets represent 67% of the company’s total financial liabilities of $902 million as of December 31. The company’s total financial assets exceed $25 billion.
PayPal has taken responsibility for safeguarding its clients’ cryptocurrency holdings due to the associated risks, such as technological, legal, and regulatory risks.
To mitigate these risks, the company stores its users’ cryptocurrency holdings with a third-party custodian and contractually requires that these assets are segregated and not mixed with proprietary or other assets.
However, the company acknowledges that it cannot guarantee that the assets will not be treated as part of the custodian’s estate in the event of bankruptcy or insolvency, even if these contractual obligations are duly observed by the custodian.
PayPal began offering cryptocurrency services more than two years ago and has only included an analysis of crypto assets in its recent annual report. The company has allowed clients to buy and trade cryptocurrencies since October 2020.
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