Stablecoins
Coinbase lists PYUSD as ‘experimental asset’
Coinbase is adding support for PayPal’s new stablecoin, PYUSD, on its trading platform, beginning 31 August. What does this mean for the stablecoin?
- Coinbase has listed the PayPal stablecoin under the “experimental asset” label.
- The exchange will list the stablecoin as long as it meets the criteria under the label.
Coinbase [COIN] added the PayPal [PYUSD] stablecoin to its platform listing on 31 August.
Coinbase will add support for PayPal USD (PYUSD) on the Ethereum network (ERC-20 token). Do not send this asset over other networks or your funds may be lost. Transfers for this asset are available on @Coinbase & @CoinbaseExch in the regions where trading is supported.
— Coinbase Assets ?️ (@CoinbaseAssets) August 30, 2023
The exchange has listed the PayPal stablecoin under the “experimental asset” label on the market. The label is applied to assets that are either new to its platform or have relatively low trading volume in comparison to the broader crypto marketplace.
The exchange will list the Paypal stablecoin as long as it meets the criteria. The moment the token doesn’t meet the criteria, Coinbase will remove it.
Coinbase added PYUSD to its roadmap on 25 August.
Asset added to the roadmap today: PayPal USD (PYUSD) https://t.co/rRB9d3iqgA
— Coinbase Assets ?️ (@CoinbaseAssets) August 24, 2023
PayPal launched its stablecoin in collaboration with Paxos on 7 August. Several exchanges, such as Huobi, Kraken and Crypto.com, have already listed the stablecoin.
Customers who owned PayPal USD would be able to transfer the stablecoin between compatible external wallets and PayPal accounts. In addition, they would be able to use PayPal USD to make purchases too.
Pegged to the USD, the stablecoin has been largely successful in maintaining the peg.
Source: PYUSD/USD, TradingView
Has PayPal stablecoin proven to be a disruptive player?
According to data shared by the blockchain analytics firm Nansen on 25 August, Paxos Trust’s wallets themselves held nearly 90% of PYUSD. Crypto exchange wallets such as Kraken, Gate.io, and Crypto.com continued to hold around 7% of the entire PYUSD supply.
Source: Nansen
Less than ten holders, other than smart contracts or exchanges, had balances of more than $1,000. The top holder in the category had less than $10,000 who purchased the token after selling three different memecoins, Nansen added.
As per CoinMarketCap, the total market cap of PYUSD stood at $44 million at press time. The total market cap of all the stablecoins stood at $124.6 billion at the time of writing.
Despite much anticipation, the PayPal stablecoin has not been able to make a dent in the market share of previous stablecoins. Tether USD [USDT], USD Coin [USDC] and Binance USD [BUSD] continue to hold dominant positions in the stablecoin market.
