Payments giant, PayPal will soon allow U.S. consumers to use cryptocurrency holdings to pay at millions of its online merchants globally. This move will significantly boost the use of digital currencies in everyday commerce.
The service will allow users to hold Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin in PayPal digital wallets and they’ll be able to convert their holdings into fiat currencies at checkouts to make purchases.
PayPal had been working to incorporate this service since last year and according to the company, the service will be available to all of its 29 million online merchants.
The offering will make PayPal one of the largest mainstream financial companies to open its network to cryptocurrencies and fueling a rally in virtual coin prices.
PayPal’s launch comes just after Tesla Inc started accepting bitcoin payments for its cars. However, Tesla clearly states that they’ll hold the Bitcoin after the payment, unlike PayPal where transactions could convert between fiat and cryptocurrencies due to the underlying fact about merchants receiving fiat currency.
PayPal believes that settling the transaction in fiat currency will reduce the volatility risk of the merchants.
The company also stated to charge no transaction fee on checkout and only one type of coin will be used for each purchase.