PayPal co-founder Luke Nosek during his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos said that the project team initially planned to create a digital currency that would have technological advantages similar to cryptocurrencies, namely independence from banks and the government.
Answering a question about whether PayPal and WeChat Pay solved a problem related to online transactions, or perhaps cryptocurrency can deal with it, Nosek said:
"Many people don't know this, but the initial mission of PayPal was to create a global currency that was independent of interference by these, you know, corrupt cartels of banks and governments that were debasing their currencies. "