Fintech company PayPal disclosed its cryptocurrency assets hold BTC and ETH worth $499 and $362 million, respectively, which is more than a 56% rise in its most recent quarterly report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The filing claims that PayPal had a total of $943 million in cryptocurrency assets as of March 31, 2023, a 56% increase over the previous quarter when the company disclosed $604 million.
PayPal’s reported total financial liabilities for this quarter were $1.2 billion, with crypto assets comprising 77.9% — an increase of more than 10% compared to the reported liabilities for the fourth quarter of 2022.
According to the report, PayPal views its crypto assets as a “safeguarding liability” because of the “unique risks associated with cryptocurrencies.”
The disclosure also indicates that the company’s cryptocurrency holdings have remained unchanged since the previous quarter.
“We allow our customers in certain markets to buy, hold, sell, receive, and send certain cryptocurrencies as well as use the proceeds from sales of cryptocurrencies to pay for purchases at checkout. These cryptocurrencies consist of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin (collectively, “our customers’ crypto assets”).”
PayPal continues to entrust the assets it holds on behalf of its customers to third-party holding companies. This statement was carried over from last quarter’s filing, but the filing also indicates that no such fault has yet occurred.
“As of March 31, 2023, the Company has not incurred any safeguarding loss events, and therefore, the crypto asset safeguarding liability and corresponding safeguarding asset were recorded at the same value.”
The breakdown of PayPal’s cryptocurrency assets for the first quarter of 2023 includes $499 million in Bitcoin (up from $291 million in December), $362 million in Ether (up from $250 million), and $82 million in Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin (up from $63 million).
The profitability of PayPal increased during the first quarter. The company reported GAAP earnings per share of $0.70, up from $0.43 in the first quarter of 2022. PayPal’s non-GAAP earnings per share increased to $1.17 from $0.88 in the first quarter of 2022.
