It looks like many businesses are less hesitant when it comes to using cryptocurrencies as forms of payment. This as Tesla now accepts it and joining them is PayPal, with the online payments facilitator now accepting Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin as part of its new Checkout With Crypto feature.
The system now allows you to buy for products purchased online with your hard-mined crypto, provided it is one of the four listed above, and the current caveat of it only be available to customers residing in the United States. It remains to be seen how a VPN could be used to bypass this, but for now purchases look to be geo-restricted.
“Available at millions of global online businesses and continuing to expand over the coming months, PayPal customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the U.S. will be able to choose to check out with crypto seamlessly within PayPal at checkout,” explains the company in its announcement.
“Checkout with Crypto will automatically appear in the PayPal wallet at checkout for customers with sufficient cryptocurrency balance to cover an eligible purchase,” it adds.
The system essentially converts the aforementioned crypto into US dollars and should a merchant not accepting US dollars, it will then be converted into the local currency required. PayPal adds that no additional transaction fees are associated with the purchases.
“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,” notes the company’s president and CEO, Dan Schulman.
At this stage there is no word on whether more coins will be accepted in future, nor indeed what other regions outside of the US will rollout the newly launched feature.
“Enabling cryptocurrencies to make purchases at businesses around the world is the next chapter in driving the ubiquity and mass acceptance of digital currencies,” concludes Schulman.
