La ambición de PayPal en el ámbito de las criptomonedas: capturar la frontera de los pagos por valor de 3 billones de dólares

The opportunity PayPal is chasing is vast and largely untapped. The global payments market it targets is valued at over $3+ trillion. For years, businesses have lost billions to complex, costly cross-border banking systems. PayPal's new Pay with Crypto service aims directly at this pain point, promising to connect merchants to that massive market by enabling instant conversion between crypto, stablecoins, and fiat. The setup is clear: a $3 trillion frontier where established players with merchant reach now compete against a new generation of crypto-native rails.

The structural shift is accelerating. 2026 is expected to be a pivotal year for adoption, with stablecoins poised to become the internet's dollar for payments. This isn't just a niche trend; it's a fundamental re-engineering of financial infrastructure. As CEO Alex Chriss noted, if the payments system were designed today, it would likely be built on blockchain. This creates a winner-take-most dynamic, where the platform that captures the most merchant and consumer adoption in this new layer stands to dominate.

PayPal is entering this race with a significant advantage: its unmatched merchant network and brand trust. Its new crypto payment solution offers tangible savings, with transaction fees that can be decreased by up to 90% compared to traditional international credit card processing. Yet the competition is formidable. New, purpose-built rails like Stripe and Paradigm's Tempo blockchain are launching public testnets, backed by giants like Mastercard, UBS, and Klarna. These crypto-native platforms are designed from the ground up for low-cost, instant settlement and native stablecoin support, directly challenging the legacy model PayPal is trying to upgrade.

The race is now on to own the next layer of commerce. PayPal's scale gives it a head start in merchant reach, but Tempo and similar projects are building a superior technical foundation. The winner will be the platform that best balances massive market penetration with the frictionless, low-cost settlement that stablecoins promise. For PayPal, the $3 trillion TAM is real, but capturing it requires not just integration, but leadership in a new, fast-moving ecosystem.

Scalability Metrics: PYUSD Growth and Network Expansion

The numbers tell a clear story of rapid adoption and strategic scaling. PayPal USD (PYUSD) has recorded 216% growth in under 90 days, tripling its market cap to $3.8 billion. This explosive growth, driven by increased payment activity and broader blockchain availability, positions PYUSD as a major new player in the foundational layer of global payments.

The key to this scalability is network expansion. PayPal's recent integration with Solana and Arbitrum via LayerZero is a critical move to improve liquidity and user access. By becoming cross-chain, PYUSD can flow more freely across decentralized finance platforms, reaching a wider pool of users beyond early crypto adopters. This technical infrastructure is what allows the stablecoin to handle the volume needed for mass-market payments.

This growth also capitalizes on shifting market sentiment. As the largest stablecoin, Tether (USDT), faces renewed regulatory scrutiny and a recent downgrade, PayPal USD's momentum offers a compelling alternative. Its rapid climb to become the sixth-largest stablecoin by market cap highlights a tangible opportunity to capture market share in a sector that is becoming the internet's dollar for commerce.

For the growth investor, this is a forward-looking signal. The metrics show PYUSD is not just a novelty but a scalable payment rail. Its ability to triple in value and expand its network footprint in a few months demonstrates the underlying demand for a trusted, integrated digital dollar. The next phase will be seeing if this traction translates into the merchant and consumer adoption needed to truly compete in the $3 trillion payments frontier.

The Competitive Threat: Optimized Infrastructure vs. Legacy Scale

The threat from new entrants is not theoretical; it is being built with the design input of financial giants. Stripe and Paradigm's Tempo blockchain has launched its public testnet, a critical step toward real-world use. This payments-focused Layer 1 is being developed with direct design input from Mastercard, UBS, Visa, and Shopify, creating a formidable competitor to legacy processors. Its core promise is optimized infrastructure: targeting transaction fees of one-tenth of a cent and offering instant finality with native stablecoin support. This is a direct assault on the cost and speed of traditional rails.

For PayPal, the challenge is clear. Its advantage has long been its scale-the 650 million+ crypto users and vast merchant network. Yet Tempo's architecture is purpose-built for the new paradigm. It eliminates the complexity of separate gas tokens, allowing fees to be paid directly in stablecoins, and is engineered for high-volume, low-cost settlement from day one. This creates a potential scalability hurdle for PayPal, which must integrate crypto into its existing, more complex legacy platform.

The competition is now a race between optimized infrastructure and entrenched reach. Tempo's institutional backing signals a coordinated push to capture the next layer of commerce. PayPal's fee savings of up to 90% are compelling, but Tempo aims to slash costs even further while offering a cleaner, more integrated technical foundation. The winner will likely be the platform that best balances massive market penetration with the frictionless, low-cost settlement that stablecoins promise. For now, PayPal leads in user base, but Tempo is building a superior technical moat.

Catalysts, Risks, and Forward-Looking Scenarios

The path to capturing the $3 trillion payments frontier is now defined by a few clear catalysts and significant risks. For PayPal, the investment thesis hinges on its ability to execute flawlessly in a race where timing and technical superiority are everything.

The primary catalyst is regulatory clarity. As noted, 2026 could be a pivotal year for cryptocurrency adoption, driven by anticipated regulatory clarity in 2025. This creates a favorable tailwind for institutional adoption and stablecoin use, directly benefiting established issuers like PayPal with its brand trust and scale. The broader trend is structural: stablecoins are becoming the internet's dollar for commerce, a shift that PayPal's Pay with Crypto and PYUSD are built to capture.

Yet execution risk is high. PayPal must seamlessly integrate complex crypto features-like instant settlement and cross-chain stablecoin support-into its existing platform without alienating its core merchant base or incurring prohibitive technical and operational costs. The competition is building optimized infrastructure from the ground up, while PayPal is retrofitting a legacy system. The key indicator will be PYUSD's continued growth rate and, more importantly, its share of total transaction volume. Rapid expansion in market cap is a start, but the real test is whether PYUSD becomes the default digital dollar for PayPal's 650 million+ crypto users and its vast merchant network.

The forward-looking scenario is binary. If PayPal successfully leverages its scale to drive PYUSD adoption and fee savings, it could dominate the next layer of commerce. The alternative is getting left behind by a new generation of crypto-native rails that offer cleaner, cheaper settlement from day one. For now, the company has the head start, but the race is on to own the infrastructure of global payments.