According to a report from Bloomberg, PayPal is interested in acquiring cryptocurrency companies. BitGo, a digital asset custodian and prime broker was mentioned as a potential target based on unidentified sources.
The report states that the deal might be reached within weeks but could also flounder.
Given the cryptocurrency world is rife with false rumors, there’s a possibility the news is based on PayPal’s announcement this week that it was launching digital currency services with Paxos as custodian.
BitGo is one of the more established institutional custodians and claims firms such as Japan’s SBI Group and Ripple as customers. The San Francisco startup’s backers include Goldman Sachs and DRW Venture Capital and it has raised $69.5 million to date, according to Crunchbase.
There are a growing number of technology-led custodians in the sector. Many have big name backers, including Anchorage (Visa, Andreessen Horowitz), Curv (Commerz Ventures, coinbase), Leger Vault (Draper Esprit), METACO (Swisscom, StanChart), and Trustology (ConsenSys).
Meanwhile, yesterday Reuters published a report on the PayPal crypto launch after canvassing numerous pundits who don’t believe the PayPal move will suddenly spur Bitcoin to be used for payments. Instead, it allows PayPal to keep abreast with Square and others, and readies the firm for future central bank digital currencies.
