PayPal’s Blockchain Chief José Fernández da Ponte Makes Power Move to Stellar – Here’s Why It Matters

Stellar just scored a heavyweight recruit—PayPal's former blockchain lead José Fernández da Ponte is jumping ship to the cross-border payments disruptor. The timing couldn't be sharper.

Why this stings for PayPal

Losing da Ponte—a key architect of PayPal's crypto integration—to a rival blockchain project signals Stellar's growing muscle in institutional payments. PayPal's 'cautious innovator' approach suddenly looks riskier against Stellar's aggressive cross-border plays.

The institutional chessboard shifts

Da Ponte's defection underscores Stellar's positioning as the anti-SWIFT—offering banks and fintechs a faster, cheaper rails alternative. His PayPal credentials lend instant credibility to Stellar's enterprise push.

Bonus jab: Meanwhile, traditional finance still thinks 'stablecoin' is a type of office furniture.