PayPal Launches “Checkout with Crypto”
Payments giant PayPal is not looking back on its cryptocurrency services plan for its millions of users. The company has launched a “Checkout With Crypto” service that will enable users to make payments using cryptocurrencies at about 29 million merchants.
In last year, PayPal joined the crypto frenzy after enabling the buying, holding, and selling of cryptocurrency on its payment platform.
The Checkout will enable users to easily convert the top cryptocurrencies to U.S. dollars or other fiat currencies when making payments.
It will work as the debit or credit card would work when using PayPal in a PayPal wallet, which means the recipients of the cryptocurrency’s will not be the merchants.
The news has elated the crypto community, with the price of some of the top cryptocurrencies consolidating shortly after the announcement on Tuesday. Bitcoin (BTC), in particular, rose by $1,000 less than 24 hours after the announcement was made.
PayPal’s Chief Executive Officer Dan Schulman commented on the development, saying it’s “a new way for businesses to get paid.” He added that the company’s goal is to drive more mainstream adoption of crypto assets, and Checkout was rolled out to accomplish that purpose.
The next chapter in driving massive adoption of digital assets is to enable crypto assets to make purchases around the world, PayPal revealed in a blog post.
PayPal said the new feature will be made available immediately to U.S. PayPal customers but will be available on a wider scale in the U.S. in the coming weeks. The payment giant said it has been working on the service since last year.
Some observers have commended the development, saying it will lead to more mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies as payment methods. However, they argued that the volatility of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have limited their wide use for buying goods and services.