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Jose Fernandez da Ponte said it’s crucial to engage with world leaders to understand industry’s opportunities and challenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Major U.S.-based payment processor PayPal has assembled a team of industry experts to act as advisors on crypto, blockchain and digital currencies. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a Tuesday announcement, PayPal said<\/a> the addition of six members to its Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies advisory council would help to <\/p>\n\n\n\n support its current and future products as well as its goal of creating a more inclusive digital financial ecosystem. Fortress Investment Group co-CEO <\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter Briger, Georgetown University Law Center professor Chris Brummer, Weizmann Institute of Science professor Shafi Goldwasser, former Commodity <\/p>\n\n\n\n Futures Trading Commission chair Timothy Massad, MIT Sloan School of Management finance professor Antoinette Schoar, and MIT Digital Currency <\/p>\n\n\n\n Initiative director Neha Narula will be joining the PayPal initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe believe it is crucial to engage with the world\u2019s best leaders to better understand the industry’s most compelling opportunities and complex challenges,\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n said Jose Fernandez da Ponte, PayPal\u2019s senior vice president and general manager for Blockchain, Crypto and Digital Currencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All six advisers carry years of experience from the crypto and blockchain space from a business or regulatory perspective. Briger was reportedly responsible for <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n advising<\/a> Softbank Group founder Masayoshi Son to invest millions in Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) prior to the 2017 bull run. Goldwasser was part of a group of MIT researchers <\/p>\n\n\n\n who proposed the zero-knowledge proof as an encryption scheme long before the advent of crypto.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During her time with the MIT Digital Currency Initiative, Narula was in charge of an initiative to help the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston build a digital currency<\/a> aimed <\/p>\n\n\n\n at scaling for consumer use. Brummer was reportedly a candidate for CFTC chair<\/a> before President Joe Biden officially nominated Rostin Behnam. Massad, who served <\/p>\n\n\n\n as CFTC chair from 2014 to 2017, argued after he left his position that regulators should approve an exchange-traded fund<\/a> offering exposure to BTC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Related: Visa announces new crypto consulting service for merchants and banks<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a>It\u2019s unclear if the advisory group is aimed at expanding PayPal\u2019s foray into crypto and blockchain. The payments app announced in October 2020 it would be allowing <\/p>\n\n\n\n customers based in the United States to purchase cryptocurrencies through the platform, later expanding this offering to include crypto payments<\/a> at millions of its global <\/p>\n\n\n\n merchants. The firm is reportedly planning to launch its own stablecoin<\/a> named PayPal Coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n