Coinbase and PayPal have joined up to make digital currencies more widely available and embraced by consumers. Coinbase announced this as a simple and speedy way to buy crypto on Coinbase using your debit cards and bank accounts linked to PayPal.
I think the idea o making crypto simple and easy to buy is a big push towards adoption. Traditional methods of moving money is slow and convoluted. ACH and wire transfers can take time and effort, and customers are expecting faster and more seamless ways to make crypto purchases. Now, with this option you can instantly fund crypto purchases with PayPal with minimal effort.
The crypto space has always been plagued with on/off ramps. This is a minor step to help move fiat to and from the crypto ecosystem with the minor draw back that it still goes through Coinbase with their high fees.
To use the feature is pretty east as all you need is an existing PayPal account. Once you are ready to a make a transaction elect the crypto you want to buy, tap on the payment method then “Add a payment method” to select PayPal. You’ll be taken to a PayPal login screen — make sure your PayPal email address is the same as the Coinbase email address, otherwise you’ll have to go through a two-factor authentication flow. After you log in, you can select or add a debit card or bank account linked to your PayPal account.Once you’re done, you can make a purchase up to $25,000 a day with your PayPal account. source
This new is big because it follows the announcement earlier this month that Venmo is now offering its estimated 77 million users their own direct ramp into the cryptocurrency arena.
We keep getting more evidence of cryptos’ bid to go mainstream daily. I can see these moved as a way to embedded parts of everyday financial activity and interactions into a form that people are used to. Why send fiat when you could split a dinner and pay a friend in LTC? I thin my first P2P transaction was via Coinbase in 2017 where I paid a coworker like 50 xlm for picking up lunch. That was a good transaction for him as that's now worth around $26. Just think if we all start sending our favorite cryptos to friends instead of fait? Prices would sky rocket!
I'd be interested to see what everyone thinks about the fin-tech race to become the first major player in the space. Paypal (Venmo) seems to winning from my perspective with other traditional institutions playing catch up.