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By Correspondent

Cryptocurrencies have slowly been making their way into the mainstream financial markets over the last few years. Once seen as a niche or even a doomed experiment, that is no longer the case, as more and more people seem to be interested in cryptocurrencies, as well as the underlying technology, blockchain. The rapid rise in prices of some cryptocurrencies, which have heavily outperformed traditional asset classes during this time period, has also helped make crypto assets into a topic of discussion for many who track and invest in the financial markets. However, it is still somewhat difficult for people to be able to invest in cryptocurrencies. Many countries have banned crypto trading outright, while others have strict restrictions, as they believe that cryptocurrencies are a speculative bubble, and they want to protect investors from a potential price crash. However, the recent news that PayPal, the virtual payments giant, will now allow users to be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using their PayPal accounts, is sure to bring a huge number of people into the market.

PayPal has said that users can use their PayPal wallets to buy cryptocurrencies, and those virtual coins can then be used at any of the 26 million and more sellers who accept PayPal. This feature will begin to be rolled out over the next few weeks in the USA, with a global launch to follow early next year. The impact that this news will have on cryptocurrencies can be seen from the fact that the price of Bitcoin rose to beyond the $12,000 mark after this news was published. Along with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash will be the first cryptocurrencies to be supported on PayPal, with the ability to store them in the PayPal digital wallet, as users do for other currencies.

Even though cryptocurrencies have been a largely niche payment method, they have been gaining traction and acceptance among many online stores and websites. One of the sectors which has been very receptive to cryptocurrencies as a payment option has been online gambling. Many online casinos offer the option to use cryptocurrencies to make payments and withdraw earnings, with special offers and bonuses as well, with the bitcoin online casino Winz being one of them. This has led to a significant rise in the number of people signing up for these websites as well and utilising these options, showing that they are quite popular.

PayPal will convert cryptocurrencies into the relevant currency when a user makes a payment at a site using crypto, so the merchant will not receive the cryptocurrency but the actual fiat currency. However, this feature is not set to be launched until early 2021 at least. PayPal has been granted permission for this from the New York State Department of Financial Services, in the form of a ‘Bitlicense’, the first of its kind. It will also be working with an existing cryptocurrency provider in the US, the Paxos Trust Company, while providing these services to American customers.

This move has drawn a lot of attention, with many analysts saying that they did not see the value that this would add for normal customers, and that only those who have existing crypto investments would be benefited. They also cautioned people against making crypto investments without doing enough research, since cryptocurrency markets are not as open and liquid as other markets, and prices are often controlled by large entities, which could put ordinary customers’ money at risk. However, there are others who believe that this will further help bring cryptocurrencies into mainstream conversations and transactions, given PayPal’s user base and merchant network.

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