PayPal has confirmed the launch of Checkout with Crypto, which enables US customers to pay with cryptocurrency and aims to ‘significantly increase’ utility.
Customers will be able to select their cryptocurrency of choice – Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, or Litecoin – with only one type of cryptocurrency able to be used for each purchase. Once the customer confirms the purchase, the cryptocurrency is then converted to fiat currency by PayPal on the customer’s behalf to complete the transaction.
The service will be available at all of PayPal’s 29 million merchants in the coming months.
The move comes five months after the company opened up to the above four cryptocurrencies with more limited functionality, with customers able to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency direct from their PayPal account.
“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 while continuing to offer PayPal customers choice and flexibility in the ways they can pay using the PayPal wallet,” 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,” Schulman added.
PayPal will not charge a transaction fee to checkout with crypto. Instead, a cryptocurrency conversion spread will be built into the conversion from crypto to US dollars.
The price of Bitcoin has risen as a result of both this and the news yesterday of Visa’s USD Coin pilot. From just dipping under £40,000 on late March 20, one Bitcoin is now worth £42,835 at time of press, around £1,000 up from the start of the day UK time.
You can read the full announcement here.
Interested in hearing more in person? Find out more at the Blockchain Expo World Series, Global, Europe and North America.
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