Paypal Holdings Inc.-owned mobile payments app Venmo has added support for cryptocurrencies, following in the path of PayPal’s offering cryptocurrency support in November.

Cryptocurrency support in Venmo allows users to invest in four cryptocurrencies — bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash — with a minimum spending requirement of $1. Users can also share their cryptocurrency purchases with friends through Venmo’s social feed.

As with the PayPal integration, cryptocurrency transactions on Venmo are being provided in partnership with Paxos Trust Co. LLC.

To access the cryptocurrency functionality, users click on “crypto” in the Venmo app and are then presented with the ability to buy or sell digital assets using funds they already have in the app or through a linked bank account or debit card.

“Crypto on Venmo is a new way for the Venmo community to start exploring the world of crypto, within the Venmo environment they trust and rely on as a key component of their everyday financial lives,” Darrell Esch, senior vice president and general manager of Venmo, said in a statement. “No matter where you are in your cryptocurrency journey, crypto on Venmo will help our community to learn and explore cryptocurrencies on a trusted platform and directly in the app they know and love.”

Venmo says it has more than 70 million users. The service is particularly popular among younger Americans who use the app to make payments or split purchases with friends and family.

Venmo says that 30% of its customers have already started purchasing cryptocurrency or equities, 20% during the COVID-19 pandemic. That leaves 49 million Venmo users who have not previously invested in cryptocurrency. For cryptocurrency markets, the more people who have the ability to easily purchase digital tokens, the more opportunity there is for growth as well as the continued movement of cryptocurrency into the mainstream.

The announcement comes at the price of bitcoin has gone on yet another roller coaster ride. After having hit a record high of $64,747 April 14, bitcoin’s price dropped as low as $53,797 April 18 before recovering slightly. Bitcoin was trading at $56,106 as of 10:15 p.m. EDT.

Photo: Venmo