PayPal recently made headlines with the announcement of its new cryptocurrency service that allows its users to trade and pay using Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC). But the online payments giant is back in the news once more with reports saying that PayPal is planning to buy a few crypto firms including BitGo.
PayPal is reportedly planning to acquire cryptocurrency companies including the Bitcoin custodian BitGo, according to Bloomberg citing unnamed people familiar with the matter as its source. The news came just a day after PayPal announced that it will be rolling a new crypto service to its U.S. clients in the coming weeks.
Bloomberg said that PayPal has already been holding talks with the target firm, BitGo, adding that a deal between the two firms could be reached within weeks. However, the publication’s sources asked Bloomberg not to reveal their identities as the deal has not yet been finalized that there is still the possibility that PayPal would opt to buy another crypto firm.
It was not revealed how much PayPal would pay for its acquisition of BitGo. In 2018, BitGo was valued at $170 million when it raised $58.5 million in a fundraising.
BitGo offers multi-signature digital wallets as well as offline storage services for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Palo Alto, California-based firm was founded in 2013 by Mike Belshe.
Both companies have not confirmed nor denied the rumored acquisition. BitGo CEO Mike Belshe declined to comment on the issue while PayPal has not yet responded to an email inquiry on the matter, according to Coindesk.
If the rumor is true, it appears that PayPal might have big plans for its entry into the cryptocurrency niche. On Wednesday, the online payments platform announced that it will be rolling out a new crypto service that will allow its customers to hold, buy, sell, and use cryptocurrency for payments.
The cryptocurrency service will initially support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. The service will roll out in the coming weeks for PayPal’s U.S. users while the feature will be available for international users and users of the Venmo app by 2021.
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