I use paypal a lot, not just for ebay but on other merchant sites as well. I'm a business-class merchant paypal customer, not just the normal user, so keep that in mind when I say this.
I've done large transactions, I've done small transactions. They've called me moments after placing a large transaction to verify I was actually meaning to do that (anti-fraud service, which is nice). On the contrary, I've had them freeze small transactions, not call me, and I was unable to reach them for days by phone.
I've had my account frozen, I've had transactions held for no apparent reason. Not often, but a few times. I don't keep large amounts of money in my paypal balance just for this reason.
In answering the OP question, and since we already know what cryptocurrency is, I think we need to examine: What IS paypal exactly? Here are some short notes on that at a macro level:Financially:- It is a transaction service (fiat to fiat, fiat to balance sheet, etc)
- It is a credit service
- It is a bank/financial company
Functionally:- It is a merchant/retailer exchange/interface/website with many features, which tie the financial services to mobile/internet functionality
- A certified address book / shipment center
- A proof of identity/validity provider
Logistically:- It is usable in many countries, with certain restrictions
- It is centralized, with processing power controlled by itself
- It caters toward the highest bidder--companies and stock holders
- It is involved in politics (politics + financial transactions = bad)
Summary: You can see that at a macro level, it's not much different than cryptocurrency and a crypto exchange (minus the politics), but the detractors would use FUD to say otherwise. Read on.PayPal pros:
- Lots of merchants take it, and it makes it easy so you don't have to register an account on some website to buy a product or service
- It ties in your verified shipping addresses, makes checkout quick
- Lets you choose a funding source, easy to add new ones once verified
- Fairly secure
- Easy to integrate into your website or to receive money into your bank account (faster than bitcoin)
- Take card payments manually or by swiping
- Chargebacks (yes, this is a pro for the consumer being ripped off)
- Can pull fiat out of any ATM
- Can put withdrawl and transfer limits in place, based on daily, weekly and monthly allottment (safety measure)
Summary: A lot of this could be handled on an exchange site (for instance, coinbase), on a functionality level.Paypal cons (ones I haven't seen mentioned yet):
- They will limit your funding source options at times
- They may limit how much you can pay in one transaction, even if it's below the $10k mark--sometimes it's random
- If your transaction (or the goods/services for it) are challenged, it's tough to work the situation out
- No escrow - they allow chargebacks if someone can prove they've been swindled, but they don't provide an escrow ability to circumvent swindling
- Hard for non-US citizens, or US residents who are legally allowed to be here, to obtain verified accounts (or accounts at all)
- Relating to having a "Balance" in PayPal (money on hand in the paypal account), you can only have one of these balances, you can't easily distribute it between users of the account
- Fees can hurt on large transactions!!!
- If they don't like items, they won't let you use their service for it (example, gun related items are barred from their list of allowable reasons to use their service)
Summary: these cons are overcome by cryptocurrencies, except escrow of courseCryptocurrency solves many of the cons, while not taking away many of the pros (
bold ones are those which really excite me the most):
- You are wholly responsible and in full control of all of your assets. Period.
- No overspending, overdraws, fees relating to this, etc
- It doesn't matter what your citizenship status is, nor your age, etc--it's the MOST HUMANITARIAN financial transaction system in the world. It's like having secured cash which can be sent anywhere in the universe within a second.
- Fees are moot
- You can turn any physical object into a wallet, as long as you can put the wallet and key info on it--this is neat. You could laser-engrave a wallet ID in a crystal and give it to someone, and it will HAVE value (anyone wishing to take this idea.. i claim royalty lol)
- It is, by far, the easiest payment/transaction system I have ever used for purchase - at times, no need for me to log in to anything, just enter an address and click a button
- You can view your balance/transactions securely from anywhere, using anything, without the concern for encryption -- just look up your wallet in the blockchain. This is much nicer than worrying about logging into your bank account, especially on questionable networks or in public. This is amazing to me.
- It is decentralized, with processing power spread throughout the globe
- For the time being, those providing the transaction guarantee and security, are being well compensated for their efforts. Even once this isn't the case, the network will be well established and mostly self sustaining. Cryptocurrency-esque stuff is the wave of the future.
- It provides a level of identity security for those who care, but it's not beyond tracability, for those who are afraid of such issues
- There's no question of fund availability
- Transactions are guaranteed and instantaneous
- You control your own balance sheet, and can split it up however you want (multiple wallets, etc)
- No special equipment or software needed to verify funds
- There's no wizard of Oz, man behind the curtain, controlling your money or transactions or anything else
- Merchant interaction is limited only to what can be developed.. just like PayPal was 10 years ago. In its infancy, PayPal was no different than bitcoin now. Too many people (I think, anti-bitcoin people) use FUD to say it's not easy to work with.. it's easier than anything else on the internet!!!
Hopefully this is useful. If I can think of anything else I'll contribute.
Will you be doing interviews or anything similar down the road? I'm sure some of us can share our story.
(edited to add gun-related bullet point)
