PayPal announced on March 17, 2026, that its self-issued USD stablecoin, PYUSD, is now live in 70 markets worldwide. This significant update expands the use of PYUSD from the original markets of the United States and the United Kingdom to an additional 68 regions, greatly enhancing user access and convenience in utilizing the stablecoin.
Previously, only users in the United States and the United Kingdom could hold PYUSD in their PayPal accounts. The addition of these 68 markets marks a substantial scaling expansion for PayPal in the stablecoin distribution space.
In the newly supported markets, users will be able to purchase, hold, send, and receive PYUSD directly through their PayPal accounts, provided they comply with local regulations. PayPal has also confirmed that eligible PYUSD holders will have the opportunity to earn corresponding rewards.
In addition to basic account functionalities, users can easily transfer PYUSD to friends and family or send it to third-party digital wallets. This feature provides users with a new channel for cross-border fund transfers, based on stablecoin technology rather than traditional payment networks, which is expected to enhance the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of cross-border payments.
PayPal executive May Zabaneh positioned this expansion as a key step in building payment infrastructure. She stated, “Introducing PYUSD to user accounts in 70 global markets will enable users to access funds more quickly.”
Currently, the total market capitalization of PYUSD is approximately $4.1 billion, with a 24-hour trading volume of about $114.5 million. Although this scale is quite substantial, PYUSD still has significant room for growth in market capitalization and liquidity compared to leading USD stablecoins USDT and USDC.
Whether the global availability of PYUSD can translate into a significant user adoption rate will depend on user demand for stablecoin cross-border payments, the varying regulatory environments across regions, and the competitiveness of PayPal's PYUSD service against existing cross-border payment solutions in each market.