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March 30, 2021 - After announcing in October 2020, that it was enabling its users to buy, sell and hold Cryptocurrencies, the eagerly awaited next step by PayPal has been announced today. with PayPal's launch of** Checkout with Crypto**. The new feature within PayPal's payment system significantly expands the utility of cryptocurrency. Currently only available to US customers, today's press release states that the new payment feature is, "Available at millions of global online businesses and continuing to expand over the coming months". The new feature is being rolled out to US PayPal customers from today.
Customers of PayPal can convert cryptocurrency holdings to fiat currency at checkout, with certainty of value and no additional transaction fees. Checkout with Crypto will automatically appear in the PayPal wallet at checkout for customers with sufficient cryptocurrency balance to cover an eligible purchase. Customers are not yet able to send / receive Cryptos themselves as payment, but the USD equivalent of whichever of the 4 cryptocurrencies PayPal allows customers to store in their wallet.
"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, 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."
All Transactions Are Settled in USD Based on PayPal Conversion Rates
Checkout with Crypto offers a business'customers a way to checkout with cryptocurrency, without any additional integrations or fees required by the business. All transactions are settled in USD and converted to the applicable currency for the business at the standard PayPal conversion rates. Checkout with Crypto offers customers the ability to sell cryptocurrency through PayPal to then pay a business for select online purchases in one seamless checkout flow.
Checkout with Crypto will appear for a customer to select as a payment method if they have sufficient cryptocurrency of a single type held in their PayPal wallet to cover the purchase price. Appearing alongside other payment methods in the PayPal wallet like a bank account, balance or credit card/debit card, the Checkout with Crypto payment flow remains similar and familiar to other ways of checking out with PayPal:
At checkout, if a customer has sufficient balance of cryptocurrency to cover an eligible purchase, crypto will automatically display as a payment method for that purchase. Customers will be able select their cryptocurrency of choice – Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum or Bitcoin Cash, depending on what they are holding with PayPal and the balances available in each cryptocurrency. Only one type of cryptocurrency can be used for each purchase.
Once the customer confirms the purchase, the cryptocurrency is converted to fiat currency by PayPal on the customer's behalf and the transaction is completed. The customer will receive a record of both the crypto sale, as well as the purchased item. PayPal charges no transaction fee to checkout with crypto – a cryptocurrency conversion spread will be built into the conversion from crypto to USD.
