We already knew that PayPal was planning to support cryptocurrencies as a form of payment. And now, the online payment app announced US customers can do just that with its “Checkout with Crypto” feature, rolling out today.
After rolling out the ability for US users to directly buy and sell cryptocurrency directly from their accounts last November, PayPal’s new “Checkout with Crypto” allows users to instantly convert their Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash to US dollars (with no additional transaction fees) that PayPal then uses to complete the transaction. If a merchant doesn’t take US dollars, PayPal also converts those dollars into local currency at standard conversion rates set by PayPal.
The feature will automatically appear in the PayPal wallet if a user has a “sufficient cryptocurrency balance to cover an eligible purchase,” and you’ll be able to see your crypto balances for each kind of coin in the app. However, you can only use one type of cryptocurrency for each purchase you make.
PayPal is not the first payment app to offer support for cryptocurrency. In 2018, its competitor, Square, launched support for Bitcoin on the Cash App. But the launch of cryptocurrency as a form of payment makes PayPal both a major digital wallet and a cryptocurrency exchange, which could streamline the use of cryptocurrency as a more common payment method. During its Investor Day last week, the company reported that it had 377 million active accounts.