Venmo, the popular payment app owned by PayPal, has announced a major new feature that is set to shake up the crypto world. The app is launching a full crypto wallet functionality that will allow users to transfer cryptocurrencies between Venmo wallets, as well as to PayPal accounts and external wallets and exchanges.
This marks a significant milestone in the journey toward the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies, as the integration of crypto transfers into such a well-known payment app has the potential to normalize crypto payments for millions of users.
The Venmo App
While Venmo already launched its in-app trading platform in 2021, until now the app only supported buying and selling crypto assets, not transferring them. With the introduction of full crypto wallet functionality, Venmo hopes to attract even more users with a straightforward user experience. Users will be able to identify a recipient with their wallet address or generate a unique identifying QR code that they can share with others.
Venmo’s move into the crypto transfer space may be a reaction to increasing competition in the mobile peer-to-peer payments market. Although Venmo remains one of the most popular payment apps in the U.S., Cash App has also risen to prominence, with its Bitcoin Lightning Network-powered P2P BTC payments allowing for faster and cheaper transactions.
Transaction fees are likely to be a significant consideration for potential Venmo crypto transfer users. While the company has not yet stated how fees and transaction costs will work, the growing popularity of mobile wallets powered by the Lightning Network highlights the importance of low-cost, low-value transactions in driving the adoption of commercial Bitcoin payments.
Venmo’s new crypto transfer feature represents a significant milestone in the journey toward mainstream crypto adoption. With millions of users set to gain access to crypto transfers via a well-known payment app, the potential for the normalization of crypto payments is significant.
