Bitcoin Gets Big Boost As PayPal Announces Cryptocurrency Checkout Service

Payments giant PayPal has launched the ability to use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment methods.

PayPal has revealed that it has launched a new service that allows its customers in the United States to use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as payment to merchants.

According to Reuters, the new PayPal feature allows users who hold bitcoin in digital wallets on the platform to directly use it as payment for goods and services with the company’s 29 million merchants.

PayPal’s CEO and President Dan Schulman told Reuters that this is the first time customers “can seamlessly use cryptocurrencies in the same way as a credit card or a debit card inside your PayPal wallet.” Schulman also noted that this new feature represents a “transitional point where cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset class that you buy, hold and or sell to now becoming a legitimate funding source to make transactions in the real world at millions of merchants.”

Schulman has recorded a video tutorial showing how customers can make their purchases using cryptocurrencies on PayPal.

The move is indicative of how Bitcoin has gradually cemented itself as the asset of choice for institutions looking to spread their global reach. Recently, Tesla’s adoption of bitcoin as a payment method for its vehicles contributed to a growing interest in bitcoin as a transactional currency rather than a store of value.