YouTube embraces crypto payments: US creators can now choose to receive payments in PYUSD stablecoin

The world’s largest video platform, YouTube, has officially added PayPal’s USD stablecoin PYUSD as a payment option for content creators in the United States.

This move marks a cautious yet firm step by major tech platforms to integrate stablecoins into their extensive payment ecosystems.

For creators, this means a faster and potentially lower-cost method of revenue settlement; for PayPal and its stablecoin PYUSD, this is a key step in connecting to a super-platform with over 2.7 billion monthly active users and a creator economy worth billions of dollars.

01 Core of the Event: Seamless Integration of a New Payment Option

In December 2025, YouTube rolled out a new payment feature to its US creator community. According to an exclusive report from Forbes, eligible creators can now choose to receive their earnings from YouTube—such as ad revenue and channel memberships—in their PayPal accounts denominated in PYUSD stablecoin.

What makes this partnership special is its implementation. Mae Zabané, Head of PayPal’s Cryptocurrency Business, explained: “The elegance of our solution is that YouTube doesn’t have to touch cryptocurrencies at all, so we can help eliminate that complexity.”

In reality, YouTube still pays creators via USD through PayPal’s enterprise payment services. PayPal handles all currency conversions on its backend system, converting funds to PYUSD for creators who opt for this option.

02 Collaboration Background: From Corporate Payments to Creator Economy

The partnership between YouTube and PayPal is not accidental but built on a long-standing and solid relationship. YouTube itself is a client of PayPal’s large-scale enterprise payment services, using it to pay creators and contractors worldwide.

This new capability is rooted in a feature PayPal added in early Q3 2025 to its payment infrastructure: allowing payees to receive funds in PYUSD.

Therefore, YouTube only needs to enable this option within its existing payment framework, without any major technical overhaul of its platform.

This “indirect” approach provides a replicable model for other large tech companies to integrate cryptocurrency payments. It allows platforms to offer cutting-edge crypto payment options to users while transferring technological complexity and regulatory risks to specialized payment partners.

03 Ecosystem Impact: PYUSD’s Growth and the Rise of Stablecoins

For PayPal and its stablecoin PYUSD, the collaboration with YouTube represents a significant ecosystem expansion. PYUSD was launched by PayPal in August 2023, issued by Paxos, a trust company regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services.

Each PYUSD is 100% backed by USD deposits, short-term US Treasuries, and cash equivalents.

Though relatively new, PYUSD has grown rapidly. Its circulating supply increased from about $1.2 billion in three months, a 224% growth, reaching a market cap of approximately $3.9 billion, ranking among the top ten stablecoins globally.

Key Data on PYUSD ( As of early December 2025 )

This integration directly introduces PYUSD into the enormous “creator economy” cash flow. According to data disclosed by YouTube in September this year, over the past four years, total payments to creators have exceeded $100 billion.

04 Creator Perspective: New Options Bring Efficiency and Flexibility

For content creators, the PYUSD payment option offers tangible convenience. The most immediate advantage is faster settlement. Traditional bank wire transfers for cross-border payments can take several days, while blockchain-based stablecoin transfers can theoretically be nearly instant.

Additionally, for creators with cross-border fund flows, using stablecoins could mean lower transaction fees, avoiding intermediaries and higher currency exchange costs typical in traditional remittances.

Once receiving PYUSD, creators have flexible options: they can keep the funds in PayPal or Venmo wallets, convert back to USD directly, spend at millions of merchants accepting PayPal, or transfer to external crypto wallets for other investments or payments.

05 Regulation and Future: Path to Compliance Under the GENIUS Act

The timing of this partnership aligns closely with the clarification of global, especially US, cryptocurrency regulatory environments. In July 2025, former US President Donald Trump signed the GENIUS Act into law, establishing the first federal stablecoin regulatory framework in the US.

The law requires stablecoin issuers to maintain 100% reserves, backed by highly liquid assets such as USD or short-term Treasury bonds, with monthly public audits. Clear regulation provides confidence and legal grounds for compliant operators like PayPal and major tech platforms like YouTube to explore crypto payments.

YouTube’s move is not an isolated case but reflects a broader trend: major platforms like Apple, Airbnb, and X (formerly Twitter) are actively exploring stablecoin integration into their payment systems. Payment giant Stripe’s acquisition of stablecoin startup Bridge for $1.1 billion in early 2025 also signals industry interest.

06 Market Outlook: From Niche to Mainstream Payment Tool

The deeper significance of YouTube integrating PYUSD is that it marks stablecoins’ transition from primarily a “trading asset” used by traders and investors to a “payment infrastructure” serving everyday economic and commercial activities.

With PayPal’s compliant infrastructure, the utility of cryptocurrencies can enter mainstream platforms without requiring these platforms to transform into crypto companies themselves. This paves the way for large-scale stablecoin adoption.

US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen previously predicted that by 2030, the stablecoin market could reach $3 trillion. Led by giants like YouTube, more platforms and companies may adopt stablecoins as an efficient, low-cost settlement alternative.

Currently, YouTube’s PYUSD payment feature remains limited to US creators who already receive income via PayPal. YouTube has not announced plans to expand this feature to other regions, nor disclosed initial adoption data.

This cautious first step indicates that mainstream adoption will be a gradual process. However, it has already started, providing unprecedented flexibility for the global digital content creator economy.

Future Outlook

For crypto users accustomed to trading on Gate, the growth trajectory and news of PYUSD adoption are worth watching. When YouTube creators receive PYUSD, they can choose to deposit these digital dollars into exchanges like Gate, for further crypto investments or trading.

At Gate, users can easily trade PYUSD, using its 1:1 stability with USD as a bridge or hedge. As more mainstream applications like YouTube payments emerge, compliant stablecoins like PYUSD are quietly stepping out from trading charts into the earnings from every creative video.