PayPal to Let Users Checkout With Crypto but Concerns Remain About Lack of Access to Private Keys
PayPal will now allow users to checkout with Bitcoin – by converting BTC into fiat at the checkout. This comes after the previous announcement that PayPal would offer the functionality to purchase cryptocurrencies. This new crypto-checkout feature has the potential to send the price of Bitcoin sky high but Paypal users should be aware that they can’t use their crypto outside PayPal’s walled garden.
PayPal has just announced that its US users will now be able to use cryptocurrency when paying for items online. The new feature, which PayPal is calling ‘Checkout with Crypto’, will be available to the millions of online merchants around the world who use PayPal.
This is a feature that won’t be limited to just Bitcoin, with customers being able to use their Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin balances to pay for their online purchases. Holdings in the relevant crypto-wallets will be converted into fiat currency in order to make the transaction possible.
“As the use of digital payments and digital currencies accelerates, the introduction of Checkout with Crypto continues our focus on driving mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies,” said Dan Schulman, president, and CEO of PayPal. “Enabling cryptocurrencies to make purchases at businesses around the world is the next chapter in driving the ubiquity and mass acceptance of digital currencies.”
How does it work?
PayPal’s ‘Checkout with Crypto’ option will be presented to users during the checkout process, like any other payment method. If the user has a sufficient cryptocurrency balance, they will then be able use it to make the purchase, with the main limit being that only one type of cryptocurrency can be used per purchase. All transactions are settled in USD and converted to the applicable currency.
PayPal will not charge a transaction fee to users when using crypto to pay for their purchases, but will instead make their profit off the conversion rates between USD and crypto.
Bitcoin: moving closer to mainstream adoption
Paypal’s latest move is likely to have positive implications for the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency, but unlikely to have a great impact on more experienced crypto investors, who remain suspicious of companies like PayPal getting involved in this market, due to the lack of control they allow users to exert over the crypto holdings themselves. More experienced users of crypto tend to prefer to use a company that allows them to transfer their crypto into a wallet that they themselves control.
Going mainstream is a major talking point when it comes to cryptocurrency these days, as more and more corporations get involved in cryptocurrencies – usually Bitcoin. For instance, Tesla recently announced that they were to begin accepting Bitcoin for payment of its vehicles, and reports that Visa has carried out its first settlement transaction in the crypto stablecoin, USD Coin.
Good news for Bitcoin investors
The price of Bitcoin was already bullish after PayPal’s announcement a few months ago that it was going to offer users the ability to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency, and this announcement is likely to further increase demand. BTC was up to around $59k following news reports on PayPal’s new innovation. Many people are now keeping an eye on its potential to break through the $60k mark once again.
There’s no word on when these features will be rolled out to the wider international PayPal user base, but that follow-up announcement will be eagerly anticipated.
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