Paypal Invests in a Blockchain Company for the First Time

Paypal has been oddly quiet on the blockchain space. Although Peter Thiel, the co-founder of Paypal, has been active in investing his time and money in the technology, the Paypal company itself has not. However, we now have news of an investment by Paypal which is the first time the payment processing firm has put its money towards blockchain-based innovation. The lucky recipients of the funding are Cambridge Blockchain — particularly its startup Digital ID. The technology hopes to give users greater security and control over their digital identity, something that very much aligns with Paypal’s overall mission. This is not the first time Paypal has ventured into decentralized digital identities, however. The company has joined other companies like Microsoft, IBM, and Mastercard in a nonprofit called the Decentralized Identity Foundation. Digital ID is, therefore, just a step up from its previous efforts. According to Cambridge Blockchain CEO Matthew Commons, Paypal has been involved in his company for about one year now. For example, Cambridge was part of the accelerator program sponsored by Paypal. As an added bonus, Cambridge has also been working with LuxTrust, another digital identity-focused company, based in Luxembourg. So, it may (or may not) be a coincidence that Paypal moved its European headquarters to Luxembourg just recently. The fact that both companies are based in Luxembourg will “help get things moving,” according to Commons. However, it was only when Cambridge started working directly with Paypal’s corporate venture group in San Jose, California that the funding was all but assured. Cambridge currently boasts just 15 employees, but it expects to rapidly expand given that it raised a total of $10M during its Series A funding so far. Will Paypal be one of the first payment companies to utilize decentralized digital identity technology? Is blockchain a good fit for the company’s current services? Let us know your thoughts below! 

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