PayPal has released its annual report for 2022. The balance sheet includes $604 million in cryptocurrency in escrow on behalf of customers.

Assets held in escrow on behalf of clients generally do not appear on the balance sheet. However, in late March 2022, the SEC published a staff accounting bulletin saying that crypto assets carry additional risks and therefore assets in custody must be disclosed on the balance sheet. Invariably, the same number will appear as assets and liabilities.

PayPal’s balance comprises $291 million in Bitcoin and $250 million in Ethereum, with the balance made up of other cryptocurrencies. The $604 million total represents less than one percent of PayPal’s balance sheet and is down from $690 million at the end of September 2022.

To put PayPal’s figure in context, at the end of September, the equivalent amount on Robinhood’s balance sheet was $9.3 billion and Coinbase had $95 billion.

PayPal also included cryptocurrencies in its risk factor disclosures. This includes the following statement: “if the SEC asserts that any of the cryptocurrencies we support are securities, the SEC may assert that our activities related to that cryptocurrency require registration as securities dealers or other obligations under federal securities laws.” “.

In 2020, PayPal allowed its customers to access cryptocurrencies through an agreement with Paxos. And starting in March 2021, US merchants were able to accept PayPal cryptocurrency for payment.

A survey of 2,000 retailers conducted by Deloitte and PayPal last year found that 85% anticipate cryptocurrency to be ubiquitous within five years.