PayPal's Move Is Good for Crypto Adoption but Not So Much for Profits: Morgan Stanley

There may be more upside for crypto than for PayPal's earnings, researchers wrote.

By Danny Nelson

Oct 22, 2020 at 7:51 p.m. UTC

Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 10:22 a.m. UTC

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PayPal's pledge to support cryptocurrency as a funding source for 26 million merchants will likely benefit mass cryptocurrency adoption more than it will boost the payments firm's bottom line, Morgan Stanley researchers said in a Wednesday report obtained by CoinDesk.

The move "should expand crypto acceptance online, which to date has stalled at 1% of the top 500 internet retailers," wrote the Morgan Stanley analysts.
It is "unclear" if PayPal's earnings will benefit from that shift. The researchers said bitcoin, bitcoin cash, litecoin and ether funding is "likely immaterial to earnings."
"Assuming PayPal is able to scale its crypto trading activity to Square's current level, it would only add [0.3%] of growth to PayPal's ~$21.3 billion" revenue base for 2020, they wrote.
The reason: Boosting crypto acceptance doesn't necessarily mean greater transaction volumes.
Other upsides of supporting crypto include staying competitive with Square and attracting "a new user base" to PayPal, the researchers said.

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