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How to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with PayPal
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have seen a substantial rise in popularity in recent years. While trading these assets used to be a convoluted and insecure process that involved sending money to strangers online, buying and selling crypto has become much more official and streamlined. There are plenty of renowned exchanges and legit financial services that offer trading Bitcoin and a variety of other cryptocurrencies. PayPal is one of them, and today we’ll show you how to buy Bitcoin with Paypal.
Are there restrictions on buying Bitcoin with PayPal?
Let’s start by telling you one of the most critical factors. Buying Bitcoin with PayPal isn’t a widely available feature you can use in any country. In fact, it’s only available in one country — the USA — but that doesn’t include Hawaii. Additionally, you’ll need a personal account, so PayPal users with a business account still can’t buy crypto through PayPal.
Are there fees for buying and selling crypto with PayPal?
No crypto exchange is truly free, and neither is PayPal. The company will take its cut whether you’re buying or selling one of its available cryptocurrencies. How much PayPal charges depends on the amount of crypto you’re trading.
- $1—$24.99: $0.50
- $25—$100: 2.30%
- $100.01—$200.00: 2.00%
- $200.01—$1000.00: 1.80%
- $1000.01 or more: 1.50%
The problem with using PayPal for crypto
Before using PayPal to buy or sell crypto, you should know a critical factor. PayPal doesn’t operate as a true cryptocurrency exchange or wallet. Instead, PayPal will keep custody of the Bitcoin you buy through its platform. You can’t transfer your Bitcoin to other wallets or exchanges. You can only buy, sell, or hold through PayPal, so only go with it if you’re sure you don’t want to move that crypto around.
This will likely be a problem for the security-conscious who like to keep their coins in a cold or hardware wallet. Additionally, some people like moving their coins around for generating interest through staking, taking loans with crypto as collateral, and more.
Alternatives: The best crypto wallets available
Of course, there’s the argument that you could always sell the crypto on PayPal, take the money, and buy it elsewhere. Remember, this constitutes a taxable event, though. Simply moving your crypto from wallet to wallet doesn’t.
Which cryptocurrencies does PayPal support?
As mentioned above, PayPal isn’t a crypto exchange, so the number of available assets you can buy and sell is limited. Currently, the service offers four cryptocurrencies.
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
How to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with PayPal
Now that you know the essential parts of the small print, it’s time to finally show you how, exactly, you can buy Bitcoin with PayPal, as well as other cryptos.
- Open the PayPal app
- You should see the Dashboard. If not, go to it
- Select Finances, then Crypto
- Pick the crypto you want to buy, then tap Buy
- Alternatively, you can hit Buy under Finances and pick the crypto you want to buy
- You might be asked to verify your identity. Follow the instructions to do so.
Where else can you buy crypto with PayPal?
Buying Bitcoin or any other crypto through PayPal is quick and easy. You likely already have a PayPal account, so it’s convenient that you likely won’t have to open a whole new account to buy Bitcoin. All that said, it’s a very limited platform for crypto management. More advanced crypto traders, holders, and investors will want to go with another exchange.
Thankfully, you can still use PayPal to purchase crypto through other exchanges. Here’s a list of crypto exchanges that accept PayPal as a payment method (in the USA).
You can also buy Bitcoin using PayPal if you have either the PayPal Cash Card or the PayPal Business Debit Mastercard. Of course, this is assuming that the exchange accepts debit card purchases.
Now that you know how to buy Bitcoin with PayPal, it’s time you start getting more versed in the world of cryptocurrencies. You should start with our cryptocurrency glossary, which will give you a deeper look into important crypto terms. We also have guides on investing and blockchain technology.