PayPal’s Solana Choice Driven by Token Extensions, Says Exec

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During the recent Solana BreakPoint event, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, Senior VP of PayPal’s blockchain division, highlighted that Solana’s token extensions were pivotal in expanding PYUSD, PayPal’s flagship stablecoin, onto the Solana blockchain.

Initially launched on Ethereum, PYUSD was introduced on Solana to provide users with “a fast, easy, and inexpensive payment method,” which was expected to enhance both consumer and merchant experiences.

Da Ponte underscored at the Solana BreakPoint event that integrating Solana’s token extensions aligned well with PayPal’s infrastructure needs.

“The first chain was Ethereum. We all know that Ethereum is not the best solution for payments when we were exploring the options,” remarked da Ponte when queried about PayPal’s choice to deploy PYUSD on Solana.

“In the realm of retail payments, achieving 1,000 transactions per second at a minimum is crucial, coupled with various aspects that distinguish payments from mere transactions… There’s much more that needs to be accounted for,” he added.

Solana asserts it can facilitate up to 65,000 transactions per second with negligible fees of just $0.0025. This capability starkly contrasts with Ethereum’s typical throughput of only 15 transactions per second at fees that range from $1 to $50.

In summary, transactions on Solana can often be completed in mere seconds, whereas Ethereum transactions might take several minutes. This efficiency has driven a significant increase in Solana’s adoption for stablecoin transactions over the past year, as per a study conducted by Artemis.

“Our decision-making process regarding where to move next and identifying the right chain for payments was straightforward,” noted da Ponte. “It’s not just about speed or throughput; the significance of token extensions was a considerable factor for us.”

Introduced earlier this year, Solana’s token extensions comprise advanced features that allow developers to create tokens with unique attributes catered to specific applications. This feature enables developers to embed complex functionalities into their issued assets without sacrificing security or scalability.

This functionality is designed to foster diverse applications across various fields, including stablecoins, gaming, and financial services.

Paxos was among the first stablecoin issuers to leverage Solana’s token extensions, employing the feature to issue its USDP stablecoin.

In addition, GMO Trust, the issuer of the GYEN stablecoin linked to the Japanese Yen and the ZUSD stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, has incorporated this feature into its stablecoin offerings.