Affirm Plans to Add Crypto Trading to Woo Younger Investors

Affirm, which works in the buy now, pay later (BNPL) field, will be joining the bitcoin space, CNBC reported.

Affirm CEO Max Levchin has said his company is working on a feature to allow consumers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies from their savings accounts, according to the report, although he did not specify a time frame.

“It’s time for Affirm to support cryptocurrencies in a way that feels organic to us,” Levchin said, per the report. “We will soon leverage our savings accounts to seamlessly enable crypto ownership.”

Affirm will be competing in a crowded space as everyone from online lenders to mobile investing apps and crypto exchanges have been trying to draw in new, younger customers, the report stated.

Several emerging FinTechs started off with more niche offerings. But now they’re attempting to bring more banking and financial services to people who have been trying to avoid going to physical branches, instead expecting products to have easy, simple user interfaces, according to the report.

Coinbase has debuted a function this week to let users get paid in bitcoin or other cryptos, with direct deposit of paychecks to Coinbase accounts. Other services offering that kind of feature include PayPal, SoFi, Chime and Robinhood, the report stated. And Upgrade, which provides affordable credit, debuted a feature earlier this year to let users earn 1.5% bitcoin rewards on every purchase with their Upgrade credit card.

Earlier this month, Affirm rolled out a partnership with TicketNetwork, which will let customers pay for their tickets on TicketNetwork’s resale market in installments.

Read more: TicketNetwork Adds BNPL Alternative Through Affirm Partnership

The agreement came as demand for tickets to in-person events rose as pandemic restrictions lifted. TicketNetwork CEO Don Vaccaro said the ability to pay in a BNPL fashion would have a positive effect overall.

“The return of in-person events has generated significant excitement and demand among consumers, which we expect to continue,” Affirm Chief Commercial Officer Silvija Martincevic said at the time.