Binance, the leading cryptocurrency exchange in the market, launched ‘Binance Pay’ that will allow users worldwide to pay and get paid in cryptocurrencies.
Chief executive officer (CEO) and co-founder Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao told the Binance Blockchain Week audience during the company’s virtual event that it sneakily launched the beta version of the new application.
According to Zhao, this is the obvious next step for cryptocurrencies. The company launched the beta app to compete with PayPal and other traditional payments service platforms that jumped into the crypto bandwagon.
In November 2020, Paypal joined the crypto market by allowing its US users to purchase, sell, and hold cryptocurrencies through their app. Moreover, during Paypal’s earnings call, CEO Dan Schulman said that they will be expanding the feature to their Venmo app.
The goal of Binance Pay is to get people to use crypto rather than merely holding onto it. It will rival Paypal’s crypto platform as the company moves forward in ramping up their crypto activities.
According to the Binance official website, Binance Pay is a ‘contactless, borderless, and secure cryptocurrency payment technology’. The app is designed to cater to mobile devices and features a built-in cryptocurrency wallet.
The beta app is said to support five cryptocurrencies namely Binance’s BNB, BUSD stablecoin, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Swipe’s SXP, along with Euro.
During Binance’s virtual event, Zhao shared that the beta app encountered challenges during the launch. According to him, most merchants don’t have systems in place that will allow them to accept crypto transactions.
With the Binance Pay app, the system allows users to pay in crypto while the merchants receive stablecoins that they can convert to fiat money. So far, the app only supports Euro conversion, but a representative from the company said that ‘functionalities and plans’ would be released soon.
According to Zhao, this will allow the businesses to receive payments without having to fluctuate with cryptocurrency’s volatility.
A quiet launch for Binance Pay
Although Zhao quietly launched the Binance Pay beta app at the end of January, he claimed to have big plans for the project.
‘Binance Pay is a basket product which we do plan to spend a lot of effort on this year. We think that payments is one of the most obvious use cases for crypto,’ Zhao said during his presentation at the virtual Binance Blockchain Week event.
Given the app’s almost secretive launch, the Binance CEO said in jest, ‘If you can find the product, you can try it’.
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