- Online payment leader PayPal recently entered the cryptocurrency space with its own stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD).
- In 2022, Visa processed a total payment volume of $11.6 trillion, while Ethereum settled a total volume of $12 trillion.
- Retail investors also showed strong interest in ETH. According to Glassnode, the number of addresses holding more than 0.01 tokens reached an all-time high of 24,664,304 at the time of writing.
PayPal’s stablecoin PYUSD’s launch is set to take place on the Ethereum network; how will the Ethereum network be impacted by this launch?
PayPal Enters the Crypto Ecosystem with PYUSD
Online payment leader PayPal recently entered the cryptocurrency space with its own stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD). The value of the stablecoin will be pegged 1:1 to the US dollar and will be backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasury bills, and cash equivalents.
It’s important to note that this stable cryptocurrency is an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network. This move is driven by the platform’s capable features and expanding use cases.
As of August 8th, the Ethereum network has even outperformed leading payment institutions. According to analyst Tom Wan, Ethereum has successfully executed transactions worth a staggering $33.4 trillion or more since its inception.
Interestingly, it was found that stablecoins contributed to over 50% of this volume. For comparison, in 2022, Visa processed a total payment volume of $11.6 trillion, while Ethereum settled a total volume of $12 trillion. Ethereum’s on-chain volume might be somewhat inflated due to wallet exchanges on centralized exchanges and speculation, but its role as a neutral settlement layer is evident.
Furthermore, according to Wan, the potential of Layer-2 (L2) solutions was promising due to their faster execution and lower fees, which could lead to increased volume on Ethereum in the future.
Retail Investors Show Interest
Not only institutional players, but retail investors also showed strong interest in ETH. According to Glassnode, the number of addresses holding more than 0.01 tokens reached an all-time high of 24,664,304 at the time of writing. This increased participation highlights Ethereum’s appeal among various investor segments.
However, despite the interest shown in Ethereum, there hasn’t been a significantly positive price movement for the cryptocurrency. At the time of writing, ETH was trading at $1,842. Despite the price dip of ETH, transaction fee usage remained consistent over the past seven days, indicating active protocol usage by users throughout the previous week.
