Skrill is the latest payments service provider to move into the crypto to crypto world. What will they be offering and how could this affect the cryptocurrency industry in the future?
The Details of the New Crypto to Crypto Service
The UK-based financial firm moved into cryptos last year. This was when it brought in its cryptocurrency service. Skrill customers can add money to their account using 40 different types of fiat money. There are also several deposit methods such as credit card and bank transfer
This introduced the following cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), EOS (EOS), Stellar (XLM), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ox (ZRX) and Ethereum Classic (ETC).
However, users could only buy any of the supported cryptocurrencies using fiat money. So, moving from one crypto to another meant selling and moving the money into fiat before buying the second currency. Skrill now offers users the chance to sell their Bitcoin (BTC) and buy other digital currencies directly with the proceeds. This means faster and cheaper transactions for customers.
This new approach saves money on the fees involved, as it means only one transaction is needed, rather than two. With their upgraded crypto service, it is possible to sell Bitcoin and get the proceeds in one of the other digital currencies. All eight of the other tokens can be paired with BTC in this way. It is expected that other trading pairs will be added later.
The History of Skrill
This payments service was set up in 2001, under the name of Moneybookers. At the time of writing, it is believed to have more than 20 million users. Over 100,000 of their clients are merchants.
Skrill is owned by Paysafe, which is the company that is also behind the Neteller service. They are said to be planning the roll out of the crypto to crypto platform for Neteller wallet holders in the near future. Lorenzo Pellegrino is the Skrill CEO. He was recently quoted as saying that “cryptocurrency is an important part of what we do in digital wallets”.
Perhaps their closest rival in this area is Revolut. This cryptocurrency service has been focussing on ambitious expansion plans this year. The USA, Canada and Japan are among the countries that they plan to move into. The scene seems to be set for a battle between these two growing firms.
What Does This Mean?
There is no doubt that the launch of this crypto to crypto service is big news. Millions of Skrill users across the planet can now move from BTC to another cryptocurrency far more easily. This change may encourage more people to think that it is now time to invest in their first digital coins.