PayPal CEO Hails Crypto Utility, Downplays Market Volatility Concerns

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman has reiterated his positive stance on the cryptocurrency industry in an interview claiming he's least concerned about the future price of Bitcoin, as to him, the most important feature is the crypto industry's ability to transform the global financial system and highlighting the use cases of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology with the traditional finance world. The actual promise of digital currencies, according to Schulman, is in payments, not in buying and selling them or anticipating their price movements.

Schulman, in an interview with Calcalist Tech, states that he believes that the intersection of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), stablecoins, digital wallets, and enhanced payment utility through cryptocurrencies will bring forth the financial world of the future.

"The initial things that everyone thinks about crypto, buying and selling it, and what the price of Bitcoin is going to be tomorrow, that's the least interesting part about digital currencies to me. That is thinking about digital currencies as an asset class. To me, the real exciting thing about digital currencies is what kind of utility can they provide in payments," says Schulman.

"The intersection between CBDC, stablecoins, digital wallets, and enhanced utility of payments through cryptocurrencies is not just fascinating but I think will redefine a lot of the financial world going forward," he adds.

Meanwhile, PayPal has been fairly active in the cryptocurrency space, increasing the amount of cryptocurrency its clients can acquire and heavily invested in educating its users on crypto. The payments company has also made it possible for its customers to safely withdraw their cryptocurrency and transfer them to third-party wallets.

Dan Schulman's interview arrives weeks before he speaks at the Axis Tel Aviv conference, an international investment, and innovation conference which is set to get underway on March 29 at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Israel. More than 50 investors from foreign venture capital funds and international corporations are expected to meet 70 Israeli startups exploring innovative technologies at this year's conference.