PayPal facilitates the fundamental economic function of moving money — AGI agents will still need to make payments, and PayPal's regulatory expertise and network effects provide solid protection against disruption.
PayPal is one of the world's largest digital payments platforms, enabling online and mobile payments for consumers and merchants globally. The company operates a two-sided payment network connecting approximately 430 million active accounts (consumers and merchants) across more than 200 markets. PayPal's ecosystem includes the core PayPal wallet, Venmo peer-to-peer payments, Braintree payment processing for large merchants, and various checkout and merchant services. The company was spun off from eBay in 2015 and has since diversified well beyond its eBay origins.
Online merchants of all sizes (from SMBs using PayPal Checkout to large enterprises using Braintree), consumers who use PayPal for online shopping and P2P transfers, and Venmo users (skewing younger demographic). Large merchant partners include major e-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and omnichannel retailers.
PayPal facilitates digital payments between buyers and sellers. Money movement is a fundamental economic function that persists regardless of AGI. AGI agents conducting transactions would still need payment rails. However, AGI could make payment processing more commoditized, and AGI agents might prefer direct bank-to-bank transfers or new payment protocols that bypass traditional payment processors. Customers are merchants and consumers across all industries. E-commerce merchants span physical goods, digital goods, and services. Consumer users make payments for real-world needs. The customer base is massively diversified across the entire economy.