Cryptocurrency continues to dominate the headlines in recent weeks as companies spanning multiple industries have begun to accept bitcoin and other forms of peer-to-peer payment. The phenomenon isn’t just limited to heavy spenders like big tech and art auctions—now smaller establishments, like fast-food restaurants, online marketplaces, and even local venues have jumped onto this fast-moving financial bandwagon. Businesses across the globe are now giving clients and consumers even more options for how to spend the currency than ever before. Amidst the mad rush to the front of the pack, Paxos, the first regulated blockchain infrastructure platform, is prepared to take the lead as the cryptoboom edges its way into the mainstream.
Paxos has indeed made a name for itself, most notably last October with the announcement that it had been chosen by PayPal to facilitate the use of cryptocurrency for purchases through its product Paxos Crypto Brokerage. In April, the PayPal subsidiary Venmo added the same option for purchases.
In spite of the volatility of cryptocurrency, Paxos founder and CEO Chad Cascarilla recognized that building his company in close cooperation with established financial regulators would secure its position as a harbinger of what can be expected of cryptocurrency services, bringing reliability and security to the forefront. Paxos recently announced that it has secured preliminary conditional approval for a bank charter by the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of Currency, a move that will aid in solidifying the company’s goal to be the most trustworthy choice in the rapidly growing world of cryptocurrency and ecommerce.
With a recent funding round of $300 million, Cascarilla believes the company now has the capacity to serve additional clients similar in size to PayPal. He hopes Paxos can continue to build infrastructure and white-label services for myriad businesses that wish to incorporate cryptocurrency products for their own customers.
“Demand for our enterprise solutions has accelerated much faster than we could have anticipated,” said Cascarilla. “It validates our approach to providing the most innovative and regulated enterprise solutions to re-platform the financial system and create the digital economy of the future.”
Cryptocurrency has been a fairly unpredictable branch of a global economy that has already seen its fair share of recent ups and downs. However, by developing strong ties early on with stable, established financial giants, Paxos is well-positioned to instill crypto confidence into even the most hesitant adopters down the road.
