Bitcoin, Ether flat as PayPal USD report fails to ignite market; SHIB finds support

Major cryptos remained flat over the past 24 hours even as financial giant PayPal announced plans to issue a stablecoin in the coming days – suggesting overall market sentiment remains tepid despite fundamental developments.

Bitcoin traded just over $29,100 in European morning hours, a level it has largely remained at since the past five days. The asset’s price volatility has reached a record low, showcasing a lack of new money entering the market.

Ether (ETH), bnb (BNB) and cardano (ADA) were similarly little changed. Dogecoin (DOGE) and Avalanche blockchain’s avax (AVAX) fell 1.5% to lead losses among major tokens.

Tokens of Meme coin-turned-serious project Shiba Inu (SHIB) seemed to stabilize in early European trading hours after traders took profits on a 25% rise last week.

As CoinDesk reported last week, developers of the project said they would connect all ecosystem projects to real-world digital identities, increasing trust among general users. This buoyed sentiment for the tokens, which were among the top gainers in the 2021 bull run.

Meanwhile, some watchers remained upbeat about the longer-term growth of crypto markets despite a generally dim response to PayPal USD (PYUSD).

New York-based payments giant PayPal said on Monday that it will soon make its PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin available to users, marking the first time a major financial company is issuing its own stablecoin.

Users can transfer PYUSD between PayPal and supported external digital wallets, use the tokens to pay for goods and services or convert any of PayPal's supported cryptocurrencies to and from PYUSD.

“PayPal USD (PYUSD), a U.S. dollar stablecoin issued in collaboration with Paxos Trust Co., is a significant development in the digital finance landscape,” said Jeff Mei, COO of crypto exchange BTSE, in a Telegram message. “Signifying the growing convergence between traditional financial systems and the world of crypto, this news is definitely bullish for the crypto market.”

“If the regulators do welcome this with open arms, we might see more US fintech and payment companies proactively exploring digital currencies, and may even make a concerted shift toward new launches,” Mei said, adding successful launches may help instill confidence in the concept of stablecoins, especially following “last year’s setback Terra USD.