YouTube will let eligible U.S. creators receive payouts in PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, a step toward crypto-linked earnings for a major platform. The change, reported Dec. 12 and confirmed by PayPal’s head of crypto May Zabaneh, is already available to qualifying users.
The payout option runs through PayPal’s existing payout system rather than YouTube handling crypto directly. Creators who already use PayPal for payments can open YouTube Studio, choose PYUSD in payout settings, and have ad revenue, memberships and Super Chat income settled in the stablecoin. Transfers clear inside PayPal’s network, giving creators near-instant access to funds they can hold, spend or convert back to dollars.
PYUSD launched in August 2023 from Paxos and is backed one-to-one by dollar reserves. Its market capitalization is around $3.9 billion, making it one of the larger stablecoins. PayPal has been attaching multiple features to the token, including cross-border transfers, merchant payouts and a yield offer inside PayPal and Venmo. A permissionless variant, PYUSD0, also went live in September across several chains to enable bridge-free movement.
For creators, PYUSD payouts offer practical advantages: faster settlement than traditional bank transfers, lower exposure to crypto price swings compared with volatile tokens, and the ability to use stablecoins within decentralized finance if they choose. The option is particularly relevant for creators working with agencies or partners across borders who want more flexible settlement methods.
The rollout aligns with broader U.S. developments: on Dec. 10, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency cleared major banks to support regulated crypto activities, including liquidity for tokens like PYUSD. Earlier in the year, PayPal introduced stablecoin payouts for merchants, preparing infrastructure for integrations without forcing companies to build their own crypto systems.
YouTube has not announced when PYUSD payouts will expand beyond the U.S. Still, the move signals how mainstream platforms are experimenting with stablecoins as a neutral payment layer for creator economies.
