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PayPal’s foray into bitcoin could become a “game changer” for both the payments company and its users, said Mizuho Securities analyst Dan Dolev in an interview with CNBC on Friday.
- During the Fast Money interview, the analyst said the investment bank had surveyed almost 400 PayPal users and found that nearly 20% had started using PayPal's new bitcoin buying and selling service. Of those, half had indicated increased engagement with the firm's services.
- Mizuho sees bitcoin, not as a source of revenue itself, "but as a vehicle to boost engagement on the app," and that could drive revenue growth, he said.
- Further, as people start to use PayPal services more "it's going to make PayPal more the center of their financial life," according to Dolev.
- The same applies to Square, the Jack Dorsey-led payments firm that offers bitcoin buying and selling through its Cash App, he added.
- Dolev predicted that, in 2021, there will be an "inflection point" as more and more people start using these apps, and the "trigger is bitcoin."
- PayPal announced it would allow crypto buying and selling, as well as crypto merchant payments, on Oct. 21 and soon after launched the service early for U.S. users.
