cryptonews.net
PayPal USD (PYUSD), a stablecoin affiliated with US fintech giant PayPal Holdings Inc., is exploring integration into the decentralized lending protocol Aave. PayPal’s stablecoin launched in August as the company, which had ventured into cryptocurrency trading a couple of years ago, sought to strengthen its position in the digital currency ecosystem. Although PayPal’s stablecoin received much-coveted support at launch, its popularity has recently waned.
According to DeFiLlama, PayPal USD ranks 11th with a market capitalization of $243.28 mln. This figure is just a fraction of the market capitalization of the largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), which exceeds $93.7 bln. Now PayPal is looking to expand its influence and Aave is its next target. According to reports, there is an ongoing DAO vote on Aave at the moment which is scheduled to end on January 11. Should the vote finally pass as expected, it will place Aave as the latest DeFi lending protocol after Curve to host the PayPal stablecoin.
PayPal’s entry into the DeFi world comes at a time when the market is preparing for a significant shift in liquidity with the potential launch of a spot Bitcoin Exchange-Traded Fund (ETF) product. The fintech giant is looking to reposition itself and its stablecoin in line with the next major revolution coming to the crypto ecosystem. While it currently has a first mover advantage with the launch of its stablecoin, its success shows that it has a much longer way to go before it can seriously compete with existing alternatives such as USDT and USD Coin (USDC) among the others.
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