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Affirm will let users buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies

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Source: Twenty/20

Affirm, an online lender that helped popularize the “buy now, pay later” business model before moving deeper into banking, just became the latest fintech company to hop on the bitcoin bandwagon.

Max Levchin, CEO of Affirm said Tuesday that his company was working to create a feature that allows consumers to “buy and sold cryptocurrencies directly from savings accounts.”

Levchin stated that it was time for Affirm support cryptocurrency in a manner that felt natural to them during his two-hour presentation. That’s correct. Our savings accounts will be leveraged to enable seamless crypto ownership.

Affirm has not provided a date for its release. One slide in the deck stated that “New and coming soon”, followed by “Crypto.” A slide featured an image of Affirm, which included “New and coming soon” followed by “Crypto.”

Affirm is competing in a crowded market, as online lenders, mobile investing apps and crypto exchanges try to lure younger consumers. Although the fintech firms are still developing niche products, all of them want to offer more financial and banking services. They also expect simple interfaces and don’t mind going to branch locations.

Just this week, Coinbase rolled out a new function that allows users to get paid in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies by enabling direct deposit of paychecks into Coinbase accounts. PayPal, SoFi, Chime, and Robinhood each offer crypto-related services to go along with their core products.

Earlier this summer, Upgrade, a provider of affordable credit to mainstream consumers, introduced a feature that lets users earn unlimited 1.5% bitcoin rewards on every purchase using their Upgrade credit card.  

Affirm shares gained less than 1 percent to $115.50 Wednesday. The company has more than doubled in value since its IPO in January.

WATCH: Jim Cramer explains why technician Bob Lang sees plenty of upside left for Affirm shares

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