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Venmo's "Crypto on Venmo" starts to roll out today (April 20, 2021) and will be available to its 70 million customers directly in the Venmo app within the next few weeks. The service will let its users buy, hold and sell crypto-assets (BTC, ETH, LTC and BCH) within its mobile app, using funds from their balance with Venmo, or a linked bank account or debit card. Similar to its parent company's (PayPal) app, Crypto on Venmo is enabled through a partnership with Paxos, which facilitates the transactions behind the scene.

Venmo announced Cash Back to Crypto, a new way for Venmo Credit Card customers to automatically purchase cryptocurrency from their Venmo account using cash back earned from their card purchases. The new feature will not have any transaction fee associated with the purchase, with a cryptocurrency conversion spread built into each monthly transaction.

PayPal's PYUSD on-chain dollar-denominated stablecoin 100% backed by U.S. dollar deposits, short-term U.S Treasuries, and similar cash equivalents, is available on Venmo to select users and will be rolling out fully in the coming weeks. Transfers between PayPal and Venmo users are fast and free, connecting two wallets with millions of users each. Individuals using compatible external wallets, and merchants accepting payments in PYUSD, will also be able to receive transfers from Venmo users. Blockchain network fees apply. Also, PYUSD has been greenlisted by the New York State Department of Financial Services, making it easier for virtual currency entities licensed in New York to support PYUSD.

In the next few months, Venmo users will gain the ability to buy, hold and sell crypto inside the Venmo mobile app, along with other "investment alternatives."

PayPal -owned payments app Venmo announced support for instant transfers to U.S. bank accounts. The feature is an optional alternative to Venmo's standard bank transfer service, which typically takes one to three business days to process transactions. With Instant Transfer, however, funds from your Venmo account can hit your bank account within minutes.

Many PNC clients are having trouble connecting their bank accounts to their Venmo apps, cutting off their access to the popular mobile-payment system, owned by PayPal. When they have sought help, they have found the two companies blaming each other for the disruption. PNC suggested in tweets that customers switch to Zelle, a payment app that it and other big banks operate jointly and that competes with Venmo.

Transfer volumes across stablecoin platforms have risen considerably in 2019. While the number of on-chain transactions across tracked stablecoins still trail that of Venmo, the aggregate total on-chain transfer volume across the largest stablecoins has now surpassed Venmo's total payment volume .

PayPal has received a Civil Investigative Demand ("CID") from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB") related to Venmo's unauthorized funds transfers and collections processes, and related matters. The CID requests the production of documents and answers to written questions. From the Wall Street Journal: "Venmo's debt-collection tactics have come under scrutiny in the past. The company has threatened to dispatch debt collectors on users who overdraw their accounts, even when those users are victims of scams. Venmo also previously amended its user agreement to give itself the power to recover money its customers owe by seizing it from their other accounts at PayPal."

PayPal reportedly plans to roll out direct sales of crypto-assets to its 325 million users. Currently, PayPal can be used as an alternative means for withdrawing funds from exchanges such as Coinbase, but this would be a first in terms of offering direct sales of crypto. They are apparently going to have some sort of a built-in crypto-asset wallet functionality.

These days, by far the fastest and most efficient way of delivering money is via smartphones and mobile devices. The U.S. government should simply provide a general portal to a wide range of payment delivery mechanisms. Visa and Mastercard are easily capable of handling these payments, especially as their normal transaction volumes have fallen significantly due to the shutdown. But the government should also work with platforms such as Venmo, Zelle, Square Cash, Paypal, Apple Pay and Google Pay [Chime, a San Francisco fintech startup, says it's piloted a way to distribute the $1200]. And it could also offer payment in cryptocurrency as an option.

Deutsche Telekom is purchasing Celo tokens in "significant" size, and investing in infrastructure to support the Celo network, which is working to build a decentralized version of Venmo-style peer-to-peer payment platforms. Celo maps user mobile phone numbers to the public key for a blockchain wallet, which simplifies access to crypto. Deutsche Telekom sees a variety of opportunities using Celo, including remittances.

Facebook's Messenger app now supports Venmo-like QR codes and personalized links for P2P payments with Facebook Pay for US users. With the update, users can access their QR code and link in Messenger's settings in order to request a payment. The features work even if you aren't already Facebook friends. The codes will work between any Messenger users in the US, and won't require a separate payment app, any sort of contact entry, or upload process to get started. Facebook said that the feature would be rolling out soon to more apps in countries around the world.

Facebook confirmed it's testing a new QR code feature and payment links for use with Facebook Pay to make it easier for people in the U.S. to send or request money from one another. The QR code feature, similar to Venmo's QR codes and others, will allow a user to scan a friend's code with their smartphone's camera to send or request money, while the sharable payment links will let you publish your payment address outside of Facebook itself.

PayPal said consumers flocked to its service in the final months of the year as they hurried to finish their holiday shopping and started using the company's wallets to buy and sell cryptocurrency. The firm added a record 72.7 million active accounts in 2020, with the addition of 16 million accounts in the fourth quarter alone. Venmo, PayPal's P2P service, processed $47 billion in payments, up 60% from a year earlier.

As more people and places say 'No' to cash, apps like Venmo and Zelle are emerging as the new dominant payment methods in the United States.

Silicon Valley fintech group Plaid has expanded to the UK as it seeks to capitalise on Britain's push to open up banking. Plaid provides the technology for other financial technology companies to link to customers' bank accounts via apps such as Venmo and Coinbase.

Data aggregator Plaid Inc., whose software is used by apps including Venmo, Coinbase, Square, and Stripe, accesses user bank accounts and collects detailed financial information without consent, a new class suit filed in federal court claims. Plaid's software is used by more than 2,000 apps to link consumer financial accounts, and about 1 in 4 people in the U.S. have an account linked via Plaid, the suit says.

Visa's $5.3 billion deal to buy Plaid is reportedly in jeopardy because of U.S. Department of Justice antitrust concerns. Plaid makes software that allows banks and fintechs to plug into consumers' various financial accounts, enabling those companies, with users' permission, to aggregate spending data, look up balances and verify other personal financial information. Its clients and partners include digital money-transfer service Venmo and stock-trading app Robinhood.

Social media platform X took a step closer to offering payment features after receiving a money-transmitter license from a 13th U.S. state (Pennsylvania). It grants X the ability to facilitate money transfers and paves the way for the company to allow users to send money to one another, similar to PayPal's Venmo and China's WeChat. In order for X to offer payment services to users across the United States, X will need approval in every state, a process that could take up to another 18 months. Elon Musk envisions X remodeling itself into an "everything app".

"Recently, there have been some questions regarding changes to upcoming U.S. tax reporting requirements that could impact the information PayPal shares with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) about transactions made using PayPal and Venmo for the sale of goods and services. While a lot of questions still need to be answered, and in some instances, legislation finalized and signed into law, we've answered some of the most pressing questions below - and we'll be sure to keep this list updated as more details are finalized."