Split From Paypal Will Enable eBay to Begin Accepting Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies

Internet giant eBay made headlines this week over its decision to drop Paypal as a payment processor on its site. While this was news in itself as Paypal’s stock price took a dive, perhaps more interesting are the potential options that come with eBay’s new processor, a Dutch company called Adyen.

Adyen, which processed roughly $25 billion worth of payments in 2014 and $50 billion the follower year, is unique because it has partnered with BitPay since the end of 2015. Bitpay is a popular payment platform that allows consumers and businesses to conduct transactions with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Announcing the partnership at the time, Bitpay noted their union would allow “some of the biggest companies in the world the ability to begin accepting bitcoin payments.”

Boasting that Adyen works with “over 180 currencies and over 250 payment methods to process their payments,” Bitpay added that “Adyen’s merchants can now easily accept bitcoin as a payment method from their e-commerce stores.”

Now that Adyen is partnering with eBay, it’s possible the e-commerce giant will be able to accept bitcoin for payments. As Fortune pointed out, “buyers will have a wider choice of options on the new, more open eBay payments platform (bitcoin, anyone?).”

If that’s the case, there will likely be a variety of crypto payment options considering BitPay started working with other coins at the end of last year.

Still, Fortune notes that eBay “is still somewhat restricted in what it can offer in the financial realm under its original agreement with PayPal but that deal expires in June, 2020.” Regardless, the developing relationship between Adyen and eBay will be one to watch in the coming years.

In a 2015 “buying guide,” eBay published a list of merchants that accept crypto, either directly or through third parties like Gyft. A mounting number of retailers are moving to expand their abilities to accept cryptocurrencies, which continue to grow in popularity. Even Craigslist.org now has a crypto option now.

The potential for eBay to grow the pervasiveness of cryptocurrency use is huge considering that in 2015, the site was hosting two billion transactions per day.

Anti-Media has emailed both eBay and Adyen regarding if and when the retailer will integrate bitcoin and other cryptocurrency options. This article will be updated with their statements should they respond.

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