Venmo to Allow Cardholders to Buy Crypto With Cash-Back Options

(Bloomberg) -- PayPal Holdings Inc.’s Venmo is expanding its cryptocurrency offerings just months after allowing the digital assets on its platform.

Venmo created a new “Cash Back to Crypto” offering that allows credit cardholders to automatically buy crypto from their Venmo account using cash back earned from purchases, the company said Tuesday in a statement. The crypto purchases made using this option won’t have any transaction fees, but there will be a cryptocurrency conversion spread built into each monthly transaction.

In April, PayPal said it would allow users of the Venmo app to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, opening the company’s platform up to these digital assets. Other finance firms and startups have also started offering more crypto options, with Renaud Laplanche’s Upgrade Inc. introducing a Bitcoin rewards card in July.

“The introduction of the Cash Back to Crypto feature for the Venmo Credit Card offers customers a new way to start exploring the world of crypto, using their cash back earned each month to automatically and seamlessly purchase one of four cryptocurrencies on Venmo,” Darrell Esch, a senior vice president and general manager of the Venmo app at PayPal, said in the statement.

Customers who use the crypto function can choose from four options: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash, the company has said. The new cash-back feature is rolling out to customers starting Tuesday and will be more widely available in the coming weeks. The new offering was earlier reported by TechCrunch.

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