According to Fortune, YouTube has launched an option for U.S.-based creators to receive their earnings share in PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin. A Google spokesperson confirmed the move, which leverages YouTube’s existing use of PayPal’s payout service for large enterprises. PayPal only added the stablecoin payout capability to that service early in the third quarter of this year. The stablecoin itself, PYUSD, launched in 2023 and now has a market capitalization of nearly $4 billion according to CoinGecko. A PayPal executive, Zahra Zabaneh, framed the integration as a way for YouTube to offer crypto payouts without “touch[ing] crypto” directly, handling the complexity on their end.
The Quiet Mainstream Move
Here’s the thing: this isn’t a flashy “YouTube embraces Web3” announcement. It’s a backend payroll option. But that’s exactly what makes it significant. It’s a utility play, not a hype play. YouTube doesn’t have to become a crypto exchange; it just plugs into PayPal’s existing rails. For a creator, it’s basically choosing to get paid in a digital dollar that lives on a blockchain, which they can then hold, send, or use to pay merchants within PayPal’s ecosystem. The friction is incredibly low. This is how crypto sneaks into the mainstream—not with a bang, but with a payroll checkbox.
PayPal’s Long Game
Look, PayPal has been playing this game patiently for years. They allowed crypto buys in 2020, launched their own stablecoin in 2023, and have been slowly weaving it into Venmo and their merchant services. This YouTube deal is a massive validation and distribution channel. Suddenly, millions of creators are exposed to PYUSD as a real, usable asset. It’s a brilliant customer acquisition strategy. They’re not just competing with other crypto firms; they’re using this to lock in enterprise clients like YouTube and, as mentioned, even Google Cloud, which has accepted PYUSD from customers. They’re building a whole closed-loop economy.
Winners and the Big Tech Shift
So who wins? Obviously, PayPal. They get the fees, the volume, and the credibility. YouTube and Google win by offering a modern payout option with minimal internal effort. And creators who prefer crypto get a seamless on-ramp. The loser, in a subtle way, might be the traditional banking wire. If stablecoin settlements are faster and cheaper, why wouldn’t more platforms follow? This also signals a broader Big Tech thaw towards crypto. Google’s cloud arm is already in it, and Stripe made a huge bet by buying stablecoin startup Bridge. After years of skepticism, the infrastructure is being built right under our noses. The question is no longer “if” big tech uses crypto, but how quietly they’ll do it.
