On Tuesday, the payment app Venmo announced that it will allow people to use different forms of cryptocurrency on its platform.
The app is owned by PayPal and plans to permit its users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency, according to USA Today.
Venmo’s site explained the change and invited users to get into cryptocurrency and explore using it. It told users they can start “with as little as $1” and their first purchase “doesn’t have to be huge,” adding they can use payback from a previous coffee run to buy it.
Venmo’s website states, “Crypto is volatile, so it can rise and fall in value quickly. Like all currencies, there’s potential for gains and losses – so be sure to take it at a pace you’re comfortable with.” Users will be able to choose from four different types of cryptocurrency including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash. People who use the app might not see the cryptocurrency option immediately available as the company rolls it out on the platform. Venmo will have videos on its platform for customers to learn how to use bitcoin and other forms of cryptocurrency.
“No matter where you are in your cryptocurrency journey, crypto on Venmo will help our community to learn and explore cryptocurrencies on a trusted platform and directly in the app they know and love,” Darrell Esch, senior vice president and general manager of Venmo, said in a statement.
According to Fortune reporting, Venmo said that after conducting a customer survey in October, it discovered that 30% of the app’s users were already trading crypto or stocks.
“Our goal is to provide our customers with an easy-to-use platform that simplifies the process of buying and selling cryptocurrencies and demystifies some of the common questions and misconceptions that consumers may have,” Esch said.
Users can also personalize their crypto purchases on their Venmo feed using stickers in order to share their bitcoin ventures with other users.
Fortune reported that other companies have recently included the use of digital currency on their platforms including Square, Visa, Mastercard, and others. “Feeding the frenzy is the price of Bitcoin, the leading digital currency, which jumped from around $7,000 a year ago to over $56,000 on Monday, though it fell from an all-time high of more than $64,000 just a few days earlier,” the outlet reported.
The Associated Press reported that other major companies are now accepting Bitcoin as a method of payment — including Tesla for its cars. Venmo is not letting its customers use cryptocurrency to pay other users yet.
In late January, Elon Musk added “#bitcoin” to his Twitter bio, causing the cryptocurrency to go up by more than 20%, suddenly making the type of currency potentially more valuable. The Daily Wire reported: “After the CEO of SpaceX and Tesla, Inc., added the hashtag early on Friday morning, Bitcoin prices skyrocketed by as much as 20%, climbing suddenly in the early hours of the morning. According to cryptocurrency site CoinDesk, Bitcoin prices rose $5,000 in an hour to $37,299, increasing further to $37,653 by 8.00 a.m. E.T.”
There have even been instances of social media frenzies over currencies — such as “dogecoin” — that have become popular in recent months.