Topic: PayPal/Bitcoin implementation and effects. (Read 1124 times)

Bitcoin/Coinbase is being built in to the Braintree infrastructure. This is the same infrastructure that paypal uses. Bitcoin is now in PayPal, but consumers can not use it yet. Paypal is not going to be competing with coinbase. Paypal is using coinbase to convert bitcoin to usd. Coinbase is without a doubt making a cut. Coinbase is also likely going to be bought by paypal if this goes well. There is no reason for paypal, as big as they are, to develop the infrastructure that coinbase already has.

Read the Forbes article. PayPal is not accepting Bitcoin. Braintree, which is owned by PayPal, sells a shopping cart checkout system which accepts various forms of payment. They're adding Bitcoin for merchants that want it. PayPal is not itself accepting Bitcoin, nor is eBay.

A number of shopping cart systems already offer Bitcoin as a payment method. Most of them convert their Bitcoins to dollars using Coinbase. Braintree is going to compete with Coinbase for that business.

Coinbase is the big loser here. They're about to be run over by a much bigger company.

In the future, I think paypal will have its own bitcoin wallet so that we can pay in and withdraw and maybe convert into (from) fiat. That is effectively coinbase or exchange.

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-08/ebay-s-paypal-unit-to-start-accepting-bitcoin-payments.html 

You guys are deep... 

THIS. I have been preaching for so long how Bitcoin needs to be more accessible. And this very well may be the beginning.

In my opinion it ultimately is definitely a positive news. Even if the selling pressure should go up in the near term , it will help Bitcoin get more traction and a bigger exposure tithe public. And that is the most important thing. Also we will potentially get thousands of merchants that can now accept Bitcoin without having to register with an additional service!

Not important.

What is important: Less tech-savvy people will hear the word bitcoin. They will use bitcoin. They will find other ways to use bitcoin.

Paypal is the gateway to BTC, most people will move away from PP after being in contact with BTC trough PP.

This increase the chance of BTC going mainstream.

I was less than happy about the ambiguity of the announcement yesterday. I think we all understand why major players accepting bitcoin has not had an immediate positive effect on the market rate. Depending on how braintree/paypal implement, this may have the same effect on the price. Here are the implementations I can see, and likely they are phases.

1) Accepts bitcoin, immediately converted to USD.
2) Accepts bitcoin, allows storage as either USD in paypal wallet, or BTC in coinbase wallet.
3) Accepts bitcoin, stored as 2, but allowed to fund coinbase BTC purchases with PayPal Balance USD (really no different than withdrawing cash at an ATM, which they already allow)
4) Accepts bitcoin, stored as 2, funded as 3, but allows paypal purchases to be funded by coinbase BTC.

Any implementation past #4 (paypal wallets denominated in BTC) would likely require a paypal buyout of coinbase, which I find extremely likely.

#1 will obviously apply downward pressure on the markets. #2, while there would be a reduction in the downward pressure, I don't believe it will be positive price wise. Because paypal will make it's cut, there is not the incentive to use BTC over other methods, so non-btc users will not seek out btc solely to make their purchases. #3 will have mild upward pressure on the price, as people who are borderline will have an easier time making btc purchases. #4 will have major upward pressure on the price, and will likely induce the next major price movement.

Anyone have a different opinion?