Karla Barker 
PayPal opens stablecoin issuance to other firms
PayPal has expanded its stablecoin work with a new developer platform called PYUSDx. The product lets businesses issue custom stablecoins backed by PayPal USD, or PYUSD. The company built the platform with M0, a firm that specializes in fiat-pegged tokens, and MoonPay, the crypto payments company. PayPal first teased the plan in February. It is now live.
The first tokens on PYUSDx come from Saturn, Concrete, and Cap. Those projects have processed more than $100 million in volume, according to a press release. USD.AI and Fairblock are also expected to introduce stablecoins on the platform. MoonPay Digital Assets Ltd. issues the PYUSDx tokens. The setup combines M0’s universal stablecoin and digital token technology with MoonPay’s issuance and distribution infrastructure.
Competition in stablecoins is shifting
The move puts PayPal deeper into a market that has long been dominated by Tether and Circle Internet. But the field is changing. Payments companies are moving onchain, and some are looking for an edge. Stripe has taken an aggressive approach, for example. PayPal, which started offering crypto in 2020, now has to decide where it fits. Partnering with crypto specialists like M0 and MoonPay seems like a practical path. It also lets PayPal focus on distribution while others handle technical details.
PayPal already has PYUSD, and it has a reach that few crypto companies can match. Venmo alone gives it access to millions of users. Luca Prosperi, CEO of M0, said more financial institutions are getting involved, which creates fragmentation. He said many of those institutions do not know how to engage with developers. M0 aims to abstract away complexity and risk, he added, creating a middle layer that helps integrations with new projects. M0 also works with Stripe-owned Bridge and Anchorage, a regulated custody firm.
What PYUSDx means for builders
For developers and businesses, PYUSDx could lower the barrier to launching a stablecoin. Instead of building everything from scratch, they can use PayPal’s brand and PYUSD backing with M0 and MoonPay’s rails. That may appeal to fintechs, exchanges, or payment apps that want their own token but do not want to manage all the compliance and infrastructure alone. It is not clear how much demand will follow. The stablecoin market is crowded, and many users stick with the largest tokens for liquidity. Still, PayPal’s mainstream footprint and Venmo’s reach give PYUSDx a distribution channel that pure crypto firms often lack. The platform is live now, and the first batch of issuers gives it a small but real test.