Topic: Bitcoin May Be Coming To PayPal Soon, But Critics Say It's Not Worth The Trouble (Read 814 times)

Interesting turn of events considering that PayPal is so against it, or rather was. Donahoe seemed for it when he was introducing a new section for BTC at eBay. Kinda expected this with PayPal's CEO having such a big piece in Bitcoin.

It is actually quite exciting I will be able to buy and sell to more countries around the world and at the same time spread the wealth
And to finish in regards to the actual article, volatility will be of no relevance to them

The issue I am guessing more than anything is the legal frame work, which is a headache I am sure
So my guess for the future of PayPal is no change it will be is a wallet that like in my case has $ £and € with the balance is expressed in my local currency, but with the addition of a bitcoin/crypto currency balance in the future.

But the huge thing I am guessing with PayPal would be that they can finally open their service for people without a bank account or credit card and the same goes with ebay to some extent. That would be huge for them and superb for us.

I am happy with their fees albeit expensive, but you can transfer money by email and accept payments on your website. They are also restricted like the rest of us in that you cannot transfer at the weekends and it takes at least 24 hrs to reach your bank account.

If you want my opinion PayPal already operates like bitcoin, it has the perfect wallet. I have used PayPal for a number of years and my success could not have happened without them.

My emotions are very much mixed regarding this news. There is still no clarity on how much fees will be charged by Paypal. Anyway... one thing is sure... if Paypal is going to integrate Bitcoin, then the Ebay can't be too far behind.

This Mark Williams guy is Professor Bitcorn, a known moron:

http://www.professorbitcorn.com/

"When we think about transporation right now," Williams told super old newspaper, "the backbone of transportation are horses, which are tried, true, and stable. And live in stables too! When we compare that to one of those new fandangled Benz Motorwagons, it isn't stable.  It's bumpy, stops running often, and constantly needs more fuel!"

-B-

If it's secure, I'll use it. But then... there's no such thing as secure is there?

I don't quite get why anyone would be against the implementation of BTC on sites like Paypal. The more payment options, the better... Period. Why would you want to have less options at your disposal. When there are more options, it becomes a pricing competition, and you can always select whichever option best suits your needs for that particular transaction.

What stuck out to me was this paragraph:
In April, eBay added a virtual currency section on its site, where shoppers can purchase digital currency, mining equipment or mining contracts. While each sale is different, some currency vendors charge fees upward of 10 percent to purchase bitcoins, which may prevent some shoppers from getting into the currency. Additionally, with the price fluctuation, shoppers should consider the average price per bitcoin before buying currency on eBay as the price might reflect higher or lower values.

My understanding was that ebay is currently allowing the sales of mining contracts and mining equipment, but not actual currency as of now. That is why all the currency ads at set as classified ads and one musts contact the seller and buy outside of ebay.
Is my understanding incorrect? Does anybody have any first hand knowledge...how does this process work currently in regards to the sales of virtual currency on ebay?
(I had sold some btc and ltc on ebay before these changes and was scammed like many others.)

This guy is confused about what bitcoin is and Gox was - bitcoin is not Gox. Is ach unsafe because a bank was robbed or someone's identify stolen?

He also mixes up the meaning of "unstable" and comparing price with the protocol. If he is talking dollar value stagily he's sadly very mistaken there too.

There are many more issues with this 'expert' and in short Boston Univ should be embarrassed to have their expert so uninformed.

With eBay adding a digital currency section last month and its CEO recently saying that bitcoin has a future in PayPal wallets, the digital currency seems to have vaulted a few steps closer to legitimacy as a payment option for consumers.

The online marketplace giant is “actively considering” integrating bitcoin into PayPal, its payment processing company, eBay CEO John Donahoe said in a Q&A session with shareholders on Tuesday. The comment echoed his statement in February that there was nothing preventing eBay from including digital currencies in PayPal wallets. "In fact, PayPal is pursuing digital payments and is the leading digital payments alternative in many different environments," Donahoe said. 

But critics warn against the use of bitcoin in such transactions. Mark Williams, a finance and economics professor and financial expert at Boston University, believes the cryptocurrency offers nothing better than PayPal’s current, and nearly ubiquitous, payment processing system, called ACH (Automated Clearing House). Started in the 1970s, ACH is a network for financial transactions that processes the majority of credit and debit transactions.

“When we think about where eBay is right now,” Williams told International Business Times, “the backbone of PayPal is the ACH system, which is tried, true and stable. When we compare that to bitcoin, it [bitcoin] isn’t stable.”

Indeed, bitcoin is known for being highly volatile; its price price has sometimes swung several hundred dollars in the span of a month. This presents unique challenges for programmers when considering how to correctly implement the currency into payment systems. Year to date, the price of bitcoin in USD has risen from $770 to a high of $950 before sliding down to the current price of $445, in a series of climbs and falls.

“Bitcoin is an experiment,” Williams says, reciting the mantra of many bitcoin proponents. “But we have four decades of testing, of real market testing” on ACH.

He also cites the collapse in April of the large Japan-based bitcoin exchange MtGox as proof of how unsafe bitcoin is.

But MtGox’s loss of nearly 7 percent of all available bitcoin may not deter eBay’s Donahoe.

In April, eBay added a virtual currency section on its site, where shoppers can purchase digital currency, mining equipment or mining contracts. While each sale is different, some currency vendors charge fees upward of 10 percent to purchase bitcoins, which may prevent some shoppers from getting into the currency. Additionally, with the price fluctuation, shoppers should consider the average price per bitcoin before buying currency on eBay as the price might reflect higher or lower values.

For PayPal, the integration of bitcoin could provide an alternative way for consumers to pay for products. While some have suggested that the virtual currency could reduce fees, PayPal has not commented on how its fee system will work if they incorporate bitcoin. Currently, PayPal charges about 3 percent to merchants selling their wares through the digital wallet.

For now, PayPal and eBay are not accepting bitcoin, and with no active timeline from Donahoe or the site, it's unclear as to when eBay might start using the digital currency, if at all.

source: http://www.ibtimes.com/bitcoin-may-be-coming-paypal-soon-critics-say-its-not-worth-trouble-1585068