PayPal Officially Allowing Shops To Accept Bitcoin

Last updated on July 21st, 2020 at 11:44 am

PayPal is officially entering the world of all-digital money. The payment processing company will start accepting payments from customers that are using Bitcoin.

According to CNN, Bitcoin is “an independent, government-less currency,” whereas PayPal is owned by eBay and works with merchants. As of today, PayPal completed a deal with the payment-processing companies inclusive with Bitcoin of BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin.

When discussing Bitcoin, CNN explains it as, “an Internet-based system of money specifically designed to cut out middlemen, like banks and governments.” The Bitcoin system doesn’t have to communicate and coordinate with central authority systems, such as banks, as the issuing of Bitcoins occurs through its network.

It doesn’t seem as though this exchange between PayPal and Bitcoin will be the last between the companies. During the past year, eBay’s two top executives — CEO John Donahoe and former president David Marcus — have both expressed interest in Bitcoin and its technology.

PayPal’s senior director of corporate strategy, Scott Ellison, spoke with CNNMoney and said that, “We think Bitcoin has tremendous opportunities going forward,” and continued, “If you really want to understand how a technology works, you need to actually be in that technological space yourself.”

Ellison noted that the move integrating Bitcoin into PayPal is a continuation of the company’s view of itself as “the original payment disruptors.”

With the development of Apple Pay, it’s more than likely that PayPal will be experiencing an increase in competition in the online payment space. When Ellison spoke with Coin Desk, he offered, “[We’re looking] to gain insight into the types of consumers using bitcoin and will work with businesses to understand what types of content they are selling more of.” Revealing to Coin Desk the potential plans, PayPal will start analyzing bitcoin buyer behavior, predominately based on PayPal Payments Hub.

Now, those merchants who use the platform will now be able to implement the existing Bitcoin and altcoin processing services provided by BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin, companies that Ellison called “the three leading bitcoin payment processors,” according to Coin Desk.

PayPal will continue working with its merchants, in hopes of furthering the integration of Bitcoin.

Photo via Wikimedia Commons