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We shouldn’t have been too surprised when PayPal announced it would start accepting Bitcoin payments since the company takes pride in being at the forefront of the transaction world.
With more than 320 million crypto users worldwide, PayPal realized it had to evolve to satisfy customers.
If you’ve never purchased Bitcoin using PayPal, you might be unsure of how to proceed and whether doing so is a wise move. Everything you need to know about it is detailed below.
How do you buy Bitcoin with PayPal?
It is incredibly simple to purchase Bitcoin using PayPal. Simply log in to PayPal using the app or website on your smartphone. Having completed this, you ought to be able to find “Crypto” in the navigation bar.
The available cryptocurrencies will be listed for your consideration. Decide on Bitcoin. Next, you must successfully complete an identity check, which inevitably involves disclosing some personal information.
PayPal has created a bank of articles where you can learn more about cryptocurrencies, as you can see from the image above. Before you invest your hard-earned money in cryptocurrency if you’re new to the market, it’s a good idea to spend some time reading these posts.
Simply type the amount you wish to invest, or select a preset amount from the options in the list, once the check is finished and you are ready to begin. That’s really how simple it is!
The pros and cons of buying Bitcoin with PayPal
PayPal might be a practical choice for your regular fiat currency transactions, but what about purchasing Bitcoin? Is this the ideal answer, or are there more advantageous alternatives?
Like everything else in life, purchasing Bitcoin with PayPal has advantages and disadvantages. It’s critical to comprehend these so you can decide for yourself whether or not this is the best course of action.
Pros of buying Bitcoin with PayPal
Some of the reasons why investors prefer to use PayPal to buy Bitcoin include:
- Most people already have PayPal accounts – It’s easy to get started with PayPal because most people already have accounts. Even if you don’t, you can set one up within a matter of minutes.
- PayPal is available around the world – PayPal is available in over 200 countries/regions.
- It’s considered a highly secure platform – PayPal is considered one of the world’s most secure payment platforms. You don’t hear about a lot of PayPal breaches, do you? The company uses a range of security methods, from two-factor authentication to end-to-end encryption.
- PayPal is user-friendly – If you’ve used PayPal before, we’re sure you’ll agree that it’s very user-friendly. Beginners should have no trouble getting to grips with this. As our explanation proves above, buying Bitcoin via PayPal only requires a few basic steps.
Cons of buying Bitcoin with PayPal
There are a few drawbacks that you need to be mindful of, including:
- There are higher fees – PayPal is not the cheapest place to purchase Bitcoin. The transaction fees and PayPal fees can differ depending on your location and the amount of Bitcoin you buy. Nevertheless, there’s no denying that this is one of the more costly ways to buy Bitcoin.
- The majority of exchanges don’t offer PayPal as an option – This can be a major issue for a lot of people, depending on how you intend to use your Bitcoin. If you simply want to purchase Bitcoin on PayPal so you can pay via cryptocurrency when checking out, great. However, if you want to trade with Bitcoin and connect your PayPal account to an exchange, you may have some trouble here, as the vast majority of exchanges don’t offer PayPal.
- Purchasing limits are in place – Another restriction you need to consider is that there are stringent limits on how much Bitcoin you’re allowed to purchase. Again, this may or may not be relevant to you, depending on how much you want to purchase.
Buying Bitcoin through PayPal indirectly
Earlier, we explained how you can purchase Bitcoin through PayPal directly. However, there are some other platforms available that enable you to purchase Bitcoin using PayPal. Let’s take a look at them:
LocalBitcoins
If you are unfamiliar with LocalBitcoins, it is an online marketplace where buyers and sellers can communicate directly. You are therefore interacting with actual people, and it is up to you to judge their credibility and decide whether you want to do business with them.
This does imply that you will have access to a wide range of international sellers. However, dealing with people directly carries a lot more risk, and the exchange rates are generally not good.
Coinbase
One of the most well-known and reliable cryptocurrency trading platforms available today is Coinbase. You also have a lot of flexibility in this area because it offers high limits of $25,000 per day.
Coinbase made the decision to accept PayPal as a form of payment in 2022. There is, however, a small limitation worth mentioning in this case. You can only buy Bitcoin as of this writing with a bank account or debit card that is linked to your PayPal account; you cannot buy it with your actual PayPal balance. Although we are confident that this will eventually change, it is still important to be aware of it for the time being.
PayPal debit card purchases cost less than bank deposits. Bank deposits are subject to a 2.5% fee, and debit card purchases are subject to a 4% fee.
Additionally, this is only accessible to US-based customers.
eToro
Through eToro, buying Bitcoin with PayPal is among the simplest options. We must emphasize that there are only a few use cases for which you can do this. While this platform allows for the purchase of Bitcoins using PayPal, the withdrawal process is time-consuming and involves numerous steps.
This indicates that eToro makes more sense in terms of price speculation for Bitcoin than it does in terms of buying the actual coin for use.
Therefore, if all you want to do is profit from price fluctuations without actually needing Bitcoins, this is probably the cheapest and simplest course of action. Choose one of the other options if you want to send Bitcoins to other people or use them to make purchases.
CEX.io
The next exchange is CEX.io, which has a stellar reputation in the market and is trustworthy and well-regulated. By selecting the “buy” button in the wallet app or the “Instant Buy” option on the exchange, you can buy Bitcoin with PayPal.
What are some drawbacks, then? Well, CEX.io isn’t accessible everywhere. The upper limit is $1,000 per day, which is a fairly low amount.
Bitstamp
Finally, Bitstamp is a well-known and highly reliable platform. It was founded in 2011, making it one of the most reputable and established cryptocurrency exchanges in existence today.
Keep in mind that there are lower limits when compared to other platforms and that it is currently not possible to withdraw money back to PayPal as well.
Purchasing Bitcoin via PayPal is a breeze
One of the main benefits of taking this path is how simple it is to buy Bitcoin on PayPal, as you can see. There are some disadvantages, though, that you should also take into account.
It all comes down to knowing your own trading strategy and objectives and choosing what works best for you.
FAQ about buying Bitcoin with PayPal
- Does PayPal have a crypto wallet? – For some time now, buying and selling cryptocurrencies in PayPal has been possible. However, in June 2022, PayPal revealed that users are not able to transfer the Bitcoin they’ve bought on PayPal to a different digital wallet, including wallets that are not on PayPal.
- How much Bitcoin can I purchase from PayPal per week? – You are now able to purchase as much as $100,000 of Bitcoin per week. This has been increased from the previous limit of $20,000.
- How do I send my bitcoin to someone else on PayPal? – It’s easy to send your Bitcoin to another contact on PayPal. Click on the Finances tab, and then tap on your cryptocurrency balance. Click on the transfer arrows, and then hit send. Select the contact you want to send your cryptocurrency to.
