⚡ Get All Content for 20% Off ⚡

PayPal Embraces Bitcoin Payments, Partners With BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin PayPal is officially warming up to the cryptocurrency, though it is proceeding gradually and with caution.

By Kim Lachance Shandrow

entrepreneur daily

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

PayPal is warming up to Bitcoin in a big way. Finally.

The 152 million registered user ecommerce powerhouse announced in a blog post this afternoon that it is joining forces with today's leading Bitcoin processors -- BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin -- to at last enable its digital goods merchants to accept the cryptocurrency. This means PayPal sellers will be able to get paid in Bitcoin for digital wares like games, music and ringtones.

Related: Finally: Bitcoin Is Coming to Merchants Who Use PayPal's Braintree

"PayPal is excited about all the innovations taking place in payments these days," Scott Ellison, PayPal's senior director of corporate strategy said in the announcement. "More choices in how people create value, share it, buy, sell and trade it – that's exactly what PayPal is all about. And we believe Bitcoin offers unique opportunities as more people and businesses experiment with it."

To start, Bitcoin payments integration will be available via PayPal's Payments Hub to PayPal online merchants in North America, that is, with the exception of pre-sellers -- merchants who ask for payment in advance for a product or service it will later provide.

Related: How Bitcoin Is Fueling a New Payments Battlefield

The San Jose, Calif.-based company, founded by tech moguls Peter Thiel, Reid Hoffman and Elon Musk, along with other members of the original "PayPal Mafia," did not say how soon Bitcoin payments integration would be complete. However, it did carefully point out that "today's news does not mean that PayPal has added Bitcoin as a currency in our digital wallet or that Bitcoin payments will be processed on our secure payments platform." PayPal, owned by eBay, also noted that it will proceed gradually and cautiously in embracing bitcoin, "until we see how things develop."

Earlier this month, PayPal announced that businesses working with Braintree, the mobile payment processing unit it acquired for $800 million in cash last September, will soon be able to integrate "One Touch" Bitcoin payments via Braintree's "v.zero" software development kit (SDK) and its alliance partnership with Coinbase. The day the news broke, Wired called PayPal's growing support of the cryptocash "the best thing that could happen to Bitcoin," with the potential to seriously polish its Silk Road-tarnished image in the public eye.

Related: BitPay Raises Record $30 Million in Series A Funding, Biggest in Bitcoin Industry Yet

"When the internet's most mainstream brand for moving money embraces a technology," Wired reporter Marcus Wohlsen wrote, "it's hard to see that system as a fringe operation."

Meanwhile, today at 1:56 p.m. ET, the price of Bitcoin inched up on the news to $405.81, according to the CoinDesk USD Bitcoin Price Index. The world's first digital currency has been in the midst of an erratic price decline since July.

Kim Lachance Shandrow

Former West Coast Editor

Kim Lachance Shandrow is the former West Coast editor at Entrepreneur.com. Previously, she was a commerce columnist at Los Angeles CityBeat, a news producer at MSNBC and KNBC in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times. She has also written for Government Technology magazine, LA Yoga magazine, the Lowell Sun newspaper, HealthCentral.com, PsychCentral.com and the former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Coop. Follow her on Twitter at @Lashandrow. You can also follow her on Facebook here

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Remote Side Hustle a 43-Year-Old Musician Works on for 1 Hour a Day Earns Nearly $3,000 a Month: 'All From the Comfort of Home'

Sam Ziegler wanted to supplement his income as a professional drummer — then his tech skills and desire to help people came together.

Business News

Costco CFO Reveals Uncertain Fate of $1.50 Hot Dog and Soda Combo

CFO Richard Galanti reveals that the price will stay the same — but only "for a while."

Business News

The Most Unexpectedly Popular Side Hustle of the Decade Has Low Startup Costs and High Markups

A new report shows that vending machines are a popular investment — and the industry is set to grow up to $3 billion by 2031.

Marketing

Ever Wonder Why Certain Websites Rank Higher Than Yours? This SEO Expert Reveals The Secret to Dominating Search Results

It's often the smart use of SEO, now supercharged with AI, particularly in keyword optimization.

Business News

AI Is Impacting Jobs. Here Are the Gigs Affected the Most, According to an Analysis of 5 Million Upwork Postings

The researcher said in the report that freelance jobs were analyzed first because that market will likely see AI's immediate impact.

Leadership

Former Interrogator Shares 5 Behaviors Liars Exhibit and How to Handle Them

Five deceptive behaviors to look for and how to respond to those behaviors when you encounter them.