Walmart-owned bank app OnePay to add Bitcoin, Ether trading this year: Report

Walmart-backed banking app OnePay reportedly plans to add Bitcoin and Ether trading and custody later this year as part of its push to become a WeChat-style US superapp.

OnePay, a banking app majority-owned by Walmart, will soon roll out crypto support, according to CNBC.

According to a Friday CNBC report citing anonymous sources, OnePay will soon offer cryptocurrency trading and custody to its users. The app is expected to support Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) later this year.

OnePay has positioned itself as a US version of a “superapp,” modeled after Chinas WeChat. The platform already offers banking services including high-yield savings accounts, credit and debit cards, loans and wireless plans.

WeChat is Chinas all-in-one “superapp,” combining messaging, social media, payments, shopping, and countless mini apps into a single platform. This app, which many Western companies are trying to emulate, allows users to chat, pay bills, order food, book travel and more.

OnePay had not answered Cointelegraphs request for comment by publication.

Related: Crypto super app brings account abstraction to the Solana blockchain

The quest for a Western superapp

While multiple companies have expressed interest in building a superapp like WeChat, so far, no one has successfully created one. The timing may favor OnePay.

Earlier this month, US Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins expressed support for platforms offering multiple financial services under one regulatory framework.

The regulators updated strategy includes allowing platforms to operate as “super-apps” that can facilitate trading, lending and staking of digital assets under one regulatory umbrella.

“I believe regulators should provide the minimum effective dose of regulation needed to protect investors, and no more,” Atkins said at the time.

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The race for the superapp heats up

Atkins comments have not fallen on deaf ears. In late September, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong outlined plans to build a crypto superapp, offering credit cards, payments and Bitcoin rewards to rival traditional banks.

Earlier in September, South Korean fintech unicorn Toss announced plans to launch a finance superapp in Australia this year and issue a Korean won stablecoin once regulatory approval is granted. Returning to the US, Elon Musks social media behemoth X has long been working on an artificial intelligence-enhanced superapp.