YouTube will allow eligible U.S. creators to receive payouts in PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin, a change reported Dec. 12 and confirmed by PayPal’s head of crypto, May Zabaneh. The option is already available to qualifying users.
Payouts are handled through PayPal’s existing payout system rather than by YouTube directly. Creators who already use PayPal for payments can open YouTube Studio, select PYUSD in payout settings, and have ad revenue, memberships and Super Chat earnings 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. With a market capitalization around $3.9 billion, it’s among the larger stablecoins. PayPal has been building features around the token, including cross-border transfers, merchant payouts, and a yield offer inside PayPal and Venmo. A permissionless variant, PYUSD0, went live in September across several chains to enable bridge-free movement.
For creators, PYUSD payouts promise practical benefits: faster settlement than traditional bank transfers, reduced exposure to volatile cryptocurrencies compared with non-stable tokens, and the option to use stablecoins in decentralized finance if desired. The feature can be especially useful for creators working with agencies or partners across borders who need more flexible settlement methods.
The rollout follows broader U.S. regulatory and banking 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 this year PayPal introduced stablecoin payouts for merchants, indicating the company has been preparing infrastructure for integrations that don’t require platforms to build their own crypto systems.
YouTube has not said when PYUSD payouts will expand beyond the U.S., but the move highlights how mainstream platforms are testing stablecoins as a neutral payment layer for the creator economy.