PayPal has expanded its mobile commerce arsenal through the acquisition of Modest, a startup dedicated to bringing frictionless shopping experiences to smartphones and tablets. The company will integr
PayPal has expanded its mobile commerce arsenal through the acquisition of Modest, a startup dedicated to bringing frictionless shopping experiences to smartphones and tablets. The company will integrate into the PayPal-owned Braintree division. Modest's customer base will now have the ability to accept Bitcoin payments via Coinbase connections, adding cryptocurrency support to their offerings.
The company was founded through the collaboration of Harper Reed and Dylan Richard, who previously worked as CTO and lead engineer, respectively, during Obama's 2012 reelection effort. This transaction builds upon PayPal's landmark 2013 acquisition of Braintree for $800 million, which established a comprehensive payment platform capable of processing multiple transaction types while simultaneously managing security and risk mitigation.
The Modest acquisition represents PayPal's broader effort to bring mobile-first capabilities to Braintree's established infrastructure. Rather than necessarily adopting Modest's technical foundation, PayPal appears primarily interested in absorbing the team's considerable mobile commerce expertise. One potential avenue for this talent involves scaling Instagram's "buyable pins" concept—a feature enabling consumers to purchase items directly from visual product collections on their devices.
PayPal's executive commentary elaborated on the vision, stating: "This new category of shopping is called 'contextual commerce'. A great example of this is Pinterest's Buyable Pins which – in conjunction with PayPal's Braintree platform – make it possible for tens of millions of Pinners to securely buy products pinned from merchants such as Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Gardener's Supply Company, and Michaels in just a few taps on an iPhone or iPad. At PayPal we are always striving to innovate commerce experiences and make them better for both merchants and shoppers. [. . .] Modest allows merchants to offer an end-to-end experience that makes selling on any platform easier and simpler. They have built exceptional mobile technology and bring deep talent in contextual commerce to PayPal."
On the Bitcoin integration question, Modest sellers should be positioned to accept cryptocurrency payments once the company's suite becomes part of Braintree's software development kit, which already features Coinbase compatibility for handling digital currency transactions.
This development emerges during a turbulent period for Bitcoin enthusiasts, marked by fundamental disagreements surrounding optimal block sizes that have dampened community morale. Although this acquisition won't address the underlying protocol and ideological tensions fracturing the Bitcoin ecosystem, it does represent material progress in expanding cryptocurrency payment infrastructure—a significant win for those promoting digital currency adoption in everyday commerce.
