SEC ends investigation into PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin without enforcement

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped its investigation into stablecoin PayPal USD (PYUSD), the payment giant said in its latest disclosure.

In a  Form 10-Q filed on Tuesday, PayPal said that the SEC informed the company in February that the agency was closing the inquiry surrounding a 2023 subpoena related to PYUSD "without enforcement action."

In November 2023, PayPal received a subpoena from the SEC requesting information about its PYUSD stablecoin. "The subpoena requests the production of documents," the company said at the time. Such subpoenas typically serve as a way for the SEC to gather information and do not necessarily result in legal action or enforcement.

The latest disclosure comes on the heels of a partnership announcement between PayPal and Coinbase. The pair announced last week that they have partnered to eliminate trading fees for PYUSD, allowing users to buy, sell, and trade PYUSD on Coinbase without incurring platform fees, and to redeem PYUSD at a 1:1 ratio for USD directly on the exchange.

PayPal launched the PYUSD in August 2023 through a third-party issuer. However, the stablecoin's market presence continues to be dwarfed by rivals Tether's USDT and Circle's USDC. PYUSD has a market capitalization of $879.9 million, compared to USDT’s $148.4 billion and USDC’s $62 billion, according to The Block's price page .

To boost adoption, PayPal expanded PYUSD to Solana  in May 2024 and later  partnered with  crypto custodian Anchorage Digital to help develop a stablecoin reward program. It has also partnered with MoonPay to expand payment options for purchasing PYUSD.