New Crypto Exchange Taps PayPal’s Stablecoin for Settlements

A new digital asset exchange called TrueX is set to launch, backed by a team of former Coinbase executives and utilizing PayPal’s stablecoin for transactions.

TrueX, introduced on September 18, is branded as a “non-custodial, stablecoin-native exchange” and has raised $9 million in seed funding from prominent investors including Paxos, Solana Foundation, and Aptos.

The platform will use PayPal USD (PYUSD), issued by Paxos, as its primary settlement currency. PYUSD, a major stablecoin, maintains a market cap of over $730 million and is pegged one-to-one to the US dollar.

Vishal Gupta, formerly head of exchange at Coinbase and head of USD Coin (USDC) at Circle, co-founded TrueX with Patrick McCreary, a former senior staff engineer at Coinbase.

Both executives previously held senior positions at Goldman Sachs. Gupta noted that TrueX aims to enhance exchange security and trust by leveraging stablecoins for better liquidity and settlement.

Initially, TrueX will cater to US-based institutions and select international clients.

In related news, Singapore’s DBS Bank plans to offer crypto options and structured notes to institutional investors starting in Q4 2024, expanding institutional access to Bitcoin and Ethereum.