There’s no doubt that cryptocurrency is becoming increasingly mainstream and this not just thanks to Tesla CEO Elon Musk advocating it. Financial services companies are embracing digital assets and making it easier for people to pump in money towards crypto coins.
Now, crypto enthusiasts using Coinbase in the US can buy digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin among others by using PayPal. This means that debit cards and bank accounts linked to PayPal accounts will now support any crypto transaction. However, PayPal-linked credit cards and e-checks cannot be used, Coinbase said.
The addition of PayPal in payment methods was implemented in a bid to ensure users “can instantly fund crypto purchases…in just a few taps,” the firm said in a statement.
Up until now, users were required to link a debit card, ACH or go through the herculean process of a wire transfer to fund those purchases.
To link one’s PayPal account to Coinbase, all one has to do is go to the “Add a payment method” option when buying cryptocurrency on the app. Upon linking the two accounts, one can spend up to $25,000 per day.
While the option is currently only available for US users, Coinbase said it would support more countries “in the coming months.”
This is hardly the first time PayPal is easing the purchase of cryptocurrency for its users. The company recently started allowing people to buy and sell Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash. It also enabled people to checkout with digital currencies.
Coinbase – which has an over $100bn valuation – is the largest in the US and has over 20 million users. Its CEO Brian Armstrong is poised to leverage Bitcoin’s rising price.
Highlighting the invention of Bitcoin in his letter that was included in the public filing in February, he said, “When I first read the Bitcoin whitepaper back in 2010, I realized this computer science breakthrough might be the key to unlock this vision of the future.
“Cryptocurrency could provide the core tenets of economic freedom to anyone: property rights, sound money, free trade, and the ability to work how and where they want.”
