In case you needed a sign cryptocurrency has gone mainstream, here it is. Starting today, PayPal users in the US can link their accounts to Coinbase to make it easier to buy digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. Previously, funding those purchases often meant using a debit card or a more time-consuming method like a wire transfer. With today’s update, Coinbase says you can fund your purchases “instantly.” It also means there’s one less platform with your debit and bank account information.
To link your PayPal account to Coinbase, look for the “Add a payment method” option when you’re buying a cryptocurrency within the app. Provided you signed up with the same email for both Coinbase and PayPal, you’ll be more or less good to go. Otherwise, you’ll need to make your way through PayPal’s two-factor authentication interface. Once you link the two accounts, you can spend up to $25,000 per day, so plan to set aside time across multiple days to buy a single Bitcoin. One other thing to keep in mind is that you must fund purchases with your debit card or money directly from your bank account.
For PayPal, this is just the latest example of its recent embrace of cryptocurrency. Last fall, the company started allowing people to buy and sell Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash. More recently, it’s gone on to enable people to check out with digital currencies as well. By the end of this year, that’s something Venmo users will be able to do as well. When PayPal first announced the move, CEO Dan Schulman said the company hoped it would encourage global uptake of the technology.
All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission.