PayPal, the world’s largest payment processor, stated on Twitter that eligible users in the United Kingdom can now purchase, sell, and store cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin cash through their PayPal accounts.
PayPal said in August that users in the United Kingdom will be able to view live cryptocurrency pricing as well as instructional content about cryptocurrencies. Additionally, PayPal’s Vice President and General Manager of Blockchain, Crypto, and Digital Currencies, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, stated that the business would work closely with regulators to ensure complete compliance.
“With our global reach, expertise in digital payments, and understanding of consumers and businesses, combined with stringent security and compliance standards, we have the unique potential and obligation to assist people in the United Kingdom in exploring cryptocurrencies. We are committed to continuing to work closely with regulators in the United Kingdom and throughout the world to offer our support—and to meaningfully contribute to shaping the role digital currencies will play in the future of global finance and commerce,” Jose Fernandez da Ponte stated in the Press Release.
PayPal is launching encrypted products outside the United States for the first time. In October of last year, the payment processing behemoth launched its cryptocurrency trading services for US users. Coinbase bitcoin exchange announced earlier this month that it would be adding PayPal as a payment option for US consumers. This enabled millions of US-based consumers to link their debit and credit cards to their Coinbase accounts, enabling smooth crypto purchases on the exchange.
How to Use Cryptocurrency with PayPal
PayPal’s bitcoin integration comes with a condition. PayPal’s users can only “Buy, sell, and hold crypto.” This implies that consumers do not have access to their private crypto keys and are unable to withdraw their cryptocurrency holdings from PayPal or use them to pay for goods and services directly.
PayPal explains this choice in its Crypto FAQs, stating: When you purchase cryptocurrency using PayPal, we transfer ownership of the cryptocurrency to you but do not provide you with a private key. This enables us to safeguard your assets from hacking and other hostile assaults.
Rather than that, holders will need to sell their bitcoin and convert it to fiat currency. PayPal’s ‘Checkout with Crypto‘ payment option (available in the United States) automates this process.
When PayPal’s crypto service launched in the United States, senior crypto holders reacted angrily, repeating the mantra ‘Not your keys, not your crypto’.
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