In May, Venmo will enable fiat-to-crypto payments 

Beginning in May, Venmo users will be able to purchase cryptocurrencies and transmit them to other Venmo users or external wallets, according to an announcement made on April 28 by PayPal executive Jose Fernandez da Ponte. Venmo’s primary entity is PayPal.

In an interview with Consensus 2023 captioned “PayPal’s Next Chapter in Crypto,” da Ponte described how the new feature will function:

“Starting in May, we are going to be enabling on-chain transfers from Venmo wallets, meaning that you can buy crypto on Venmo and send it to another Venmo user; you can send it to a PayPal user; you can send it to [an] external wallet; you can send it to your hardware wallet.”

This feature, according to the executive, will expand the options available to Venmo users and has been successfully implemented on PayPal.

It would also provide a “use case” for digital assets, as crypto will be used for “fast and free near-instant transfers between Venmo wallets and PayPal wallets,” effectively connecting two of the country’s largest networks and wallets.

A Venmo website assistance page published on April 28 indicates that verified users will also be able to receive cryptocurrency from external addresses via a “crypto address QR code.”

In April 2021, Venmo began supporting crypto purchases, and the app’s mobile version presently lists Bitcoin as an option. It appears that the desktop version lacks cryptographic capabilities.

PayPal has partnered with other organizations to expand its crypto services. In December, the payment processor integrated with MetaMask, enabling MetaMask users to purchase cryptocurrencies with their PayPal accounts and have them sent directly to their self-custodial wallets.