PayPal’s Crypto Holdings Surged by 56% in Q1 2023, Nearing the $1 Billion Milestone!

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PayPal, the popular payment processing company, has been making waves in the crypto market lately. According to their recent financial report for Q1 2023, PayPal’s crypto holdings increased by an impressive 56% over the past quarter, bringing their total holdings to nearly $1 billion.

PayPal Marks A Great Milestone

In a quarterly report submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), PayPal, a financial technology firm, has disclosed its cryptocurrency holdings.

As of March 31, 2023, the company’s combined cryptocurrency assets amounted to $943 million, marking a 56% increase from the previous quarter’s disclosure of $604 million. This quarter, PayPal’s total financial liabilities were $1.2 billion, with crypto assets comprising 77.9%, which is up by over 10% from the reported fourth quarter liabilities in 2022.

In addition, PayPal’s profitability surged in the first quarter of the year. The company reported a per-share earnings of $0.70 on a GAAP basis, which is an improvement from $0.43 in the first quarter of 2022. On a non-GAAP basis, PayPal’s per-share earnings stood at $1.17, up from $0.88 in the first quarter of the previous year.

The report reveals that PayPal views its cryptocurrency assets as a “safeguarding liability” due to the distinct risks associated with digital currencies. Furthermore, the disclosure notes that the company has not altered the specific crypto it holds since the previous quarter. It stated:

“We allow our customers in certain markets to buy, hold, sell, receive, and send certain cryptocurrencies as well as use the proceeds from sales of cryptocurrencies to pay for purchases at checkout. These cryptocurrencies consist of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin (collectively, “our customers’ crypto assets”)”

A 10-Q filing is a mandatory report that publicly traded companies submit to the SEC to disclose their financial performance on a quarterly basis.

According to the filing, the company’s customer crypto assets have grown by $339 million since the end of the previous year. PayPal stated in its 10-Q that it manages the internal recordkeeping of its customers’ crypto assets, which includes tracking the quantity and type of digital currency owned by each customer.

PayPal Insures Crypto Funds Despite Lack Of Regulatory Clarity

Although regulatory safeguards for cryptocurrency investors are yet to be established in the US, PayPal has assured its customers that it will offer protection from any unauthorized purchase or sale activities, subject to its terms and conditions. The company has also stated that it will provide reimbursement for “unauthorized transfers,” capped at $50,000 for a lifetime.

Over the past few years, the payments provider has introduced several cryptocurrency features for its customers, including the ability to transfer to third-party wallets and exchanges, which was launched in July 2022. Additionally, PayPal recently added crypto transfers on Venmo, its mobile payments app, enabling users to move holdings to external wallets and transfer digital currencies to others via the app.