PayPal will allow its U.S. customers to use their cryptocurrency holdings to make payments at millions of vendors around the world. The move will bring millions of new customers and vendors into the cryptocurrency space and could spark a significant rise in the use of cryptocurrencies.
PayPal's announcement comes on the back of an already significant start to 2021 for the crypto-space, with big businesses, financial institutions, and major tech leaders all declaring their support for Bitcoin and decentralized digital currencies in general.
PayPal Allows U.S. Customers to Pay With Bitcoin
As of November 2020, PayPal's U.S. customers could already buy and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin direct from their accounts.
The latest announcement means that US-based PayPal users can use Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash to complete their purchases. Moreover, the new "Checkout with Crypto" option will not cost any more than using regular fiat currency—a big, big bit of news for anyone wishing to use cryptocurrency without encountering additional costs.
According to Reuters, PayPal believes that the time is right to continue its expansion into the world of cryptocurrencies. Speaking to Reuters, PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman said:
We think it is a transitional point where cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset class that you buy, hold and or sell to now becoming a legitimate funding source to make transactions in the real world at millions of merchants
Checkout with Crypto will allow you to use one type of cryptocurrency to make a payment to a vendor. PayPal will automatically convert the cryptocurrency to U.S. dollars, without charge to the user, then send them to the vendor.
Cryptocurrency Payments Becoming Mainstream
It's another big financial service announcing more support for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency payments. PayPal already caused a stir in November 2020 with the announcement that it would allow users to buy and hold Bitcoin on the platform.
Now, PayPal is taking further steps to make cryptocurrency payments easier for the masses, one of the key issues affecting global uptake.
The move comes on the back of Tesla announcing it would accept Bitcoin as payment for its electric vehicles and the recent announcement that Visa would begin settling payments on its network using the U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC) stablecoin.
With more eyes watching the world of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and cryptocurrencies, it is clear that a significant global uptake is currently underway.