To see I am the only person on Bitcointalk buying a piece via PayPal shows me that BTC adaption for the mainstream is far far far away.
I think you'd have much better results outside Bitcointalk tbh. A lot of people are hesitant to buy only because they would rather hold their own coins, something that probably isn't as prevalent for the mainstream. I would be very surprised if Paypal doesn't make bank from this. The fact that prices surged could indicate that lots of people think this is a good move.
-snip-
Basically because of the utter absurdity of its current design. Their decision to allow users to buy and sell Bitcoin and a few altcoins may be worth appreciating but other than that everything is just pure garbage. Which makes people think if there is even real Bitcoins involved.
So this is probably just the first step. I guess they're very much aware how they are now being heavily criticized by Bitcoin supporters. While the price seemed to react positively to their decision they must have heard loud and clear the legitimate negative opinions aired by members of the Bitcoin community.
I really hope so, though I remain skeptical. The community only thinks the design is absurd because we've been taught that "not your keys, not your coins", but Paypal is such a reputable brand that common folk, and maybe even some actual enthusiasts, won't mind. I absolutely agree that the design is horrible, but at the same time I could see it working especially once the fiat-settled payments are integrated. We have to keep in mind that there are a lot of people who are only invested for price movements, and I could see this being huge for them -- I mean, they'd be able to hold Bitcoin for speculation and at the same time, be able to spend on a whim where Paypal is accepted. If you don't care about holding your own coins, that's an incredibly sweet deal.
