What is PayPal USD (PYUSD)?

PYUSD, or PayPal USD, is a stablecoin built to keep a steady value of one US dollar. PayPal announced it on August 7, 2023, as part of its wider push into crypto payments. The token is issued by Paxos Trust Company, a limited purpose trust company overseen by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

How is the PayPal stablecoin backed?

According to PayPal, PYUSD is fully backed by US dollar deposits, short-term US Treasuries and similar cash equivalents. It can be bought or sold through PayPal at $1.00 per token and redeemed 1 to 1 for dollars. Paxos committed at launch to publish a monthly report listing the assets in the reserve, along with a regular attestation from an independent accounting firm. Our guide to what a stablecoin is explains how reserve-backed coins aim to hold their value.

PayPal also notes that PYUSD is not a bank deposit and is not insured by the FDIC or SIPC. The guide is crypto insured? covers what that means in practice.

What can you do with PayPal USD?

At launch, eligible US PayPal customers could hold PYUSD, send it to other people, use it to pay at checkout, and move it between PayPal and compatible outside wallets. They could also swap other cryptocurrencies supported by PayPal into or out of PYUSD. PayPal later added PYUSD to Venmo and linked it to Xoom for funding international money transfers.

In April 2025, PayPal announced a rewards program for US users who hold PYUSD in PayPal or Venmo, with an anticipated starting rate of 3.7% a year paid in PYUSD. PayPal said it sets that rate at its discretion and can change it at any time, and the program was not offered at launch to New York residents. For how this compares with other ways crypto can earn a return, see does crypto pay interest or dividends?

Which blockchains does PYUSD run on?

PYUSD launched as an ERC-20 token on Ethereum. It expanded to Solana in May 2024, and in July 2025 PayPal's terms began listing Arbitrum alongside Ethereum and Solana. In June 2025, PayPal also announced plans to bring PYUSD to the Stellar network, subject to approval from New York's financial regulator. On every network, Paxos remains the issuer.

How is PYUSD different from other stablecoins?

PYUSD works much like other dollar stablecoins such as USDC, but it is tied closely to PayPal's consumer apps. In mid-2025 its market value was under $1 billion, much smaller than the two dominant stablecoins, USDT and USDC, which are compared in USDT vs USDC. Supported networks, features and reward terms can change, so these details reflect PYUSD as of October 2026.