PayPal fires team responsible for quantum computing and cryptography

PayPal has fired its team responsible for quantum computing, cryptography, and distributed ledger technology, according to a report from Business Insider.

The team of employees oversaw the research and development of cryptography, quantum computing, and distributed ledger technology.

Financial headwinds are the reason for the restructuring, according to the report.

A source familiar with the matter told Business Insider that they believe it won’t be the only unit to be affected as the payments giant looks to cut spend.

“There’s a lot of restructuring, a lot of refocusing for the company. As you know, the last quarters haven’t been really great from a financial perspective, they said.

“I think there’s a lot of tightening going on in the company,” said the source, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution.

The source added that employees in other advanced security topics, such as threat intelligence, were also let go.”

A spokesperson for the payment giant explained that the division was not “a near-term business”.

One of the initiatives which the team worked on was a partnership with IBM and focussed around using quantum computing and machine learning to parse through large data sets to detect fraud.

“As you have a new CISO, there’s always a lot of reorganisation at big companies,” the source told Business Insider.

“Obviously there’s more going on because of the overall market, the overall economic conditions.”

PayPal’s stock valuation has fallen to approximately $110 per share, down from a record high of $308 in July last year.

It recorded 122 million new active accounts over the previous 24 months, with the number of transactions per active account also increasing.

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