The platform has users located in almost all countries worldwide, especially in the United States and Europe. Nearly all online businesses in the world accept payments from PayPal, which means that the platform has a wide reach across the globe. There are tens of millions of online businesses that accept payments through PayPal, making it one of the most trusted platforms globally. PayPal's decision to accept cryptocurrency is likely to impact the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency positively. PayPal will allow users from the United States to buy goods and services online and pay using cryptocurrency, particularly ethereum, bitcoin cash, bitcoin, and litecoin. The users will also be allowed to hold the coins in their accounts.
Current Hurdles to Adoption
Since the inception of the cryptocurrency, mainstream adoption of this currency has been quite slow because many people think that it is too volatile and risky. In the recent past, several international corporations have embraced cryptocurrency as a payment method, but they have not had a huge impact on the adoption of this currency.
While the popularity of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has grown over the past few years, many people are hesitant to own these coins. The hesitance is mainly because the coins are very volatile, with their prices rising and falling within short durations of time, which makes most people afraid to invest in them. Additionally, many people are not familiar with how bitcoin and other similar coins work, hence contributing to the slow rate of adoption of cryptocurrency.
Furthermore, many cryptocurrency owners are not willing to use the coins for payment; rather, they see them as investments that can be bought and sold for a profit. This decision is due to the volatility of the cryptocurrency, which makes it possible for a user to get huge profits when the prices of bitcoin and other similar coins rise significantly. There are also some issues with how cryptocurrencies are created, especially the issue of environmental conservation. It is argued that lots of fuel, particularly coal and other energy sources that are not environmentally friendly, are used in mining cryptocurrencies, which has led to many people being unwilling to own these coins.
Benefits of Digital Currencies
Despite the hurdles in adopting cryptocurrency, many experts believe that cryptocurrency has numerous benefits to offer to both sellers and buyers. Cryptocurrency enthusiasts say that digital currencies offer several benefits, including
• Easy accessibility and inclusion.
• Faster speeds of payment.
• Protection from inflation.
• Transactions carried out through the coins are anonymous.
• Cryptocurrencies are also beneficial in that they can be used to make large amounts of payments at low prices.
• Cryptocurrencies will also allow governments to disburse funds to their citizens quickly.
Although the adoption rate of Cryptocurrencies is still low, most experts believe that widespread adoption of the same will be inevitable. Soon, digital currencies will become widely used across the globe.
PayPal and the Future of Cryptocurrency
PayPal's decision to adopt cryptocurrency is expected to boost the adoption of cryptocurrency as a means of payment. After PayPal announced that they accept cryptocurrency, the prices of digital currencies climbed up to nearly three times their previous price. The rise came after the price of digital currencies fell sharply over the past few months, owing to some large companies withdrawing from accepting digital currencies as a payment method.
PayPal will positively impact the adoption of cryptocurrency, considering that the platform is highly reputable globally and has hundreds of millions of registered users. Owing to the trustworthiness of PayPal and the fact that it is one of the largest companies to start accepting cryptocurrency, many users are likely to consider using bitcoin and other digital currencies to undertake online transactions since they associate PayPal with credibility.
PayPal also aims to educate users on how to use digital currencies, which will help raise awareness about the same and potentially encourage mainstream adoption. By adopting cryptocurrency, PayPal could encourage online retailers to consider accepting digital currencies since they will be interested in offering their customers a wide range of payment methods. Additionally, PayPal's move could result in other payment platforms accepting digital currencies to keep up with the competition from PayPal. Other large companies are also likely to embrace the adoption of cryptocurrency owing to the decision by PayPal to include digital currencies as a way of paying for goods and services.
