David Schwartz Says He’s Back On PayPal, Wild Speculation Ensues

Ripple CTO David Schwartz is apparently back on PayPal after more than a decade away. In fact, he has taken to Twitter to announce that he now considers PayPal the best way to pay online in USD.

As you may know, I had a horrible experience with @PayPal that started more than a decade ago. A few months ago, they restored my access. I hate to say it, but the user experience has been spectacular since then and it is now my preferred way to pay dollars on the internet.

— 𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚣 (@JoelKatz) January 26, 2022

Back in 2019, he mentioned his beef with the payment platform explaining he had “a lifetime ban”.

I had to get someone else to pay my tour guide for me today and I paid them back in cash. They only take @PayPal and I have a lifetime ban. This perfectly symbolizes what has motivated me the past 8 years.

— 𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚣 (@JoelKatz) November 14, 2019

Since that tweet, his ban has been lifted, and he is not only using PayPal again but says he loves the platform. However, Schwartz emphasized that he has not forgiven the treatment he received from the US payments giant prior to his recent change of heart.

I realize that I may be getting preferred treatment because my case got a lot of public attention. And I don't forgive the earlier treatment. But it has "just worked" without pain or hassle for many consumer transactions large and small.

— 𝙳𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚍 𝚂𝚌𝚑𝚠𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚣 (@JoelKatz) January 26, 2022

The tweets have not only sparked a conversation on Twitter about PayPal and Ripple, but the conversation has turned into a lot of speculation as to a new budding relationship between $XRP and PayPal!

#Ripple and PayPal could work well together? 👀

— XRPcryptowolf (@XRPcryptowolf) January 26, 2022

The speculation continued…

powered by ripplenet?

— thomas lang (@thomasl40490523) January 26, 2022

Eventually, the Twitter conversation started bringing the conversation back to the link to the future of crypto and payment processing…

What ever Happened to PayPal Galactic. Did Space Force Steal it and take it to the moon? 🤔

— Alexander Mason (@Alexand32706686) January 26, 2022

Yes, remember PayPal Galactic? A payment processing platform to send payments TO THE MOOOON!?

Sure the speculation is all fun and games at first, but think about it… As recently as last week, cryptocurrency lawyer Jake Chervinsky reminded us all that there are two people as of late who are really giving the SEC the most trouble: Ripple and doggedly pro-crypto whale Elon Musk!

No matter your view on @Ripple, two things seem clear:

– They're giving the SEC more trouble than anyone in crypto, maybe more than anyone period, incl. Elon

– They're the leading dispute on securities law, if only b/c they'll fight to the death unlike those who caved & settled

— Jake Chervinsky (@jchervinsky) January 16, 2022

Can this be a match made in heaven?

The discussion is certainly not a new one, back in 1999, Peter Thiel, who founded PayPal with Elon Musk, was talking about a ‘galactic digital currency, something then called PayPal Galactic. Peter Thiel then in that same year, invested in Ripple.

Peter Thiel, cofounder of @PayPal (with @elonmusk ) In 1999. This was planned long ago. @paypal Galactic announced in 2013.(Nobody has heard anything about it since) Same year Thiel's Founders Fund invests in @ripple to "Build a Better Bitcoin". Internet of Value. pic.twitter.com/haoKiTPDSQ

— Digital Asset Investor (@digitalassetbuy) May 21, 2021

PayPal has since made moves into crypto, as reported in Treat Your Crypto:

PayPal embraces cryptocurrencies but not XRP

In late 2020, PayPal dipped its toes into crypto and promised to expand the exposure of millions of its customers to digital currencies later on. In November, purchases of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, etc., were enabled, but customers were not allowed to move their crypto beyond PayPal.

In March of last year, the company allowed its U.S. clients to use crypto to pay over 26 million merchants that collaborate with PayPal.

At the end of May 2021, the payments behemoth announced that its clients would soon be able to withdraw Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin into outside cryptocurrency wallets.

In the fall, PayPal’s customers in the U.K. were also allowed to start buying crypto via the platform.

The dots are starting to connect here. Elon Musk and Ripple: Two forces united in furthering crypto, faster transactions, and in opposition to the SEC.

PayPal, a company with ties to both Ripple and Elon Musk, embraces cryptocurrency and looking for ways to speed international transactions.

We at Pro Coin News mentioned the connection back in December 2021, and the connections continue to grow stronger:

Let’s recap: you have the richest man and likely smartest man on the planet with his roots in the payments industry, obsessed with the letter X, starts talking about “PayPal Galactic” but then that suddenly disappears as XRP is created, a man all about energy efficiency and saving the planet…..and then we take a hard left turn and he’s into DOG-COIN?

What better partnership to forge the future of currency than a PayPal/Ripple/Space-X partnership to literally take crypto TO THE MOOOOONNNN?

What do you think? Is David Schwartz reconciling with PayPal the beginning of a new relationship? Far stranger things have happened!

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