PayPal has begun cautiously allowing customers in North America to pay for non-physical goods like music using the cryptocurrency, but has stopped short of integrating the payment method directly.
The online payments giant has instead chosen three smaller payment processor companies, BitPay, GoCoin and Coinbase to handle the Bitcoin payments on their behalf, saying that “all three companies have taken steps to ensure…customers are offered certain protections.” It’s believed that this is aimed to ensure that Bitcoin values do not fluctuate between time of purchase and processing.
The decision to trial a Bitcoin option hints that the currency is fast becoming a serious player in online payments – but PayPals’s safeguards also demonstrate that major brands remain wary of potential volatility.
To pay using Bitcoin, customers in the North America region can select the currency in their PayPal payments hub.