While Bitcoin has made a lot of progress as a new form of electronic money, PayPal is still the standard when it comes to online money transfers. Due to PayPal’s popularity online, many people think it would be the perfect match for trading in the Bitcoin ecosystem; however, there are key differences between these two payment options that make them mostly incompatible. In this article, we discuss the advantages and challenges users face when they want to buy Bitcoin with PayPal and our favorite methods to do so.
PayPal Pros & Cons
Pros
1. PayPal is a user-friendly option for most people to make online payments
2. PayPal is trusted as a secure platform for online payments
3. Many people already have a PayPal account
Cons
1. Buying cryptocurrency with PayPal has higher fees
2. There are strict limits on how much cryptocurrency users can buy via PayPal
3. Most exchanges don’t even offer PayPal as an option
History of PayPal and Cryptocurrency
PayPal was launched back in 1998, and its original goals were somewhat aligned with Bitcoin’s goals. PayPal wanted to create a new form of internet money that would be frictionless and make sending payments as easy as sending an email.
However, due to the centralized nature of PayPal, the company was never able to be as innovative and boundary-pushing as they hoped. That said, PayPal eventually became the de facto standard for online payments.
However, PayPal has not worked well with Bitcoin up to this point. This is because, unlike cryptocurrency payments, PayPal transactions are not settled right after they are made. Due to this difference in how payments are processed on these separate platforms, they are mostly incompatible for trust-less trades between each other.
The same goes for using PayPal to buy popular alt-coins like Ethereum, Tether, and Litecoin. PayPal and cryptocurrency exchanges simply do not work well together. You will likely have to find an intermediary to buy or sell Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency using PayPal.
The Advantages of PayPal for Cryptocurrency
Despite the difficulties associated with purchasing cryptocurrency via PayPal, a large number of people still decide to take this route due to their level of comfort with the platform. PayPal is an option for anyone who needs some cryptocurrency in a hurry because payments can be made instantly. Despite the fees and low limits, depending on where you are in the world, PayPal may be the fastest way to acquire some cryptocurrency.
The Disadvantages of PayPal for Cryptocurrency
There are several disadvantages to using PayPal to buy cryptocurrency, and this option should probably be avoided if you are not in a rush. Buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with PayPal will come with higher fees than even using a credit card and much higher than if you used your bank account for a bank transfer. Additionally, there are extremely low limits on the few platforms where PayPal is even accepted as a payment option.
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of using PayPal for Cryptocurrency is that it is simply very difficult to do. Most major crypto exchanges do not accept PayPal payments at this time.
How to Buy Bitcoin with PayPal
While using PayPal to buy Bitcoin would not be our top recommendation as a method to buy Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency, there are ways to do it. We will outline what we think are the two best ways to buy crypto with PayPal:
eToro
eToro is a trading platform where users can buy and sell a variety of financial products including stocks, commodities, and cryptocurrency. eToro was created in 2007 and has customers in more than 170 countries. It is a fully regulated marketplace meaning your funds are somewhat protected.
It is very easy to buy Bitcoin with PayPal on eToro, as once you sign up you are immediately able to fund your account with PayPal to buy any of the available products. It should be noted that eToro is a trading platform, meaning when buying Bitcoins with PayPal you are not receiving the asset in your Bitcoin wallet. Instead, you are speculating on whether the price is going up or down, and you can make money by being correct on that speculation.
We would not recommend using eToro for beginners who do not understand longs, shorts, and other asset trading concepts. That being said the fees when you buy Bitcoin with PayPal are very low, the caveat being that you do not own the Bitcoin. Experienced traders may find eToro an easy entry into trading Bitcoin without having to learn about storing crypto in a wallet.