Bitcoin business CEO joins PayPal board

Rage Comment : Although we still don't know the real intention of PayPal to recruit Wences Casares to join the board of directors, as early as 2013, eBay CEO John Donahoe said that digital currency is a disruptive technology and considered accommodating Bitcoin to PayPal. In September 2014, Braintree, a mobile payment company under PayPal's parent company EBay, announced that it would include Bitcoin and allow merchants on the platform to accept Bitcoin payments. Xapo's goal is to become a bank in the digital currency industry. Its concept has been sought after by Wall Street and has received an investment of 40 million US dollars. Perhaps this is PayPal's preparation for a series of innovative actions in the future.

Translation: Prince Gong

PayPal, the global leader in online payments, today announced that Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo, has been appointed to PayPal’s Board of Directors.

Wences Casares, CEO of Xapo

Casares is the former founder of digital wallet company Lemon, which was acquired by LifeLock in 2013. Casares launched Bitcoin security startup Xapo, which has raised $40 million in two recent rounds of funding.

In its announcement, PayPal praised Casares for his past entrepreneurial efforts and called him a "thought leader in digital currency."

Dan Schulman, President and CEO of PayPal

While not specifically mentioning bitcoin in the announcement, PayPal president and CEO Dan Schulman said Casares will work as part of a team to help the company develop forward-thinking innovations.

Schulman said

“Wences has a unique vision for the future of commerce and is perfectly aligned with PayPal’s mission to transform the way people around the world pay and manage money.”

While Xapo remains the most high-profile company in the industry, it is embroiled in a lawsuit brought by online identity verification company LifeLock, which targets former employee Casares and four other members of its management team.

LifeLock alleges that the defendants spent “several months” developing Xapo while employed by LifeLock and used LifeLock resources. Xapo countersued.

As of January 4, 2016, Xapo successfully transferred the case from California to Argentina because his status as an "Argentine citizen" at work was approved by Supreme Court Peter Kirwan, which effectively terminated the case.

Casares will subsequently join PayPal's Compensation Committee.