PayPal Finally Lets Users Transfer Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Out to External Wallets

PayPal will not charge transaction fees for transfers to other users of the app.

By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 8 June 2022 14:32 IST

PayPal Finally Lets Users Transfer Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies Out to External Wallets

Photo Credit: Unsplash/ Marques Thomas

PayPal’s crypto wallet now has similar features to most other crypto wallet offerings

Highlights

Users can now use PayPal to send crypto to other users of the app
The feature is currently available to select users in the US
PayPal first launched its crypto offering in late 2020

PayPal will finally allow users to transfer cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin to external wallets, nearly 2 years after the fintech giant opened up its platform to digital currencies. The feature will be available to select US users starting 7 June and will be rolled out to all eligible US customers in the coming months. PayPal started allowing customers to buy, sell, and hold Bitcoin, Ether, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin in October 2020. But users were not allowed to move crypto holdings off its platform until now.

The company said it won't charge fees for crypto transfers to other PayPal users. For transfers outside of PayPal, users will have to pay network fees, which are payments to the operators of blockchain networks like Ethereum or Bitcoin for processing transactions.

PayPal customers will be able to transfer supported coins into PayPal, move crypto from PayPal to external crypto addresses, including exchanges and hardware wallets, and send crypto to family & friends on PayPal in seconds.
— PayPal (@PayPal) June 7, 2022

The system also promises to be easy to use, but it does require an ID verification check, which is usually initiated once per user. The ID check involves scanning a photo ID and the user's face, and was likely created to help crack down on money laundering and other illicit schemes.

PayPal charges fees for crypto trading, and earns a cut off exchange rates for transactions between cryptocurrencies and dollars.

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PayPal is pushing into crypto in other ways, too. Users of its app can now convert crypto holdings to cash when making a purchase at online stores. Users of the company's Venmo credit card can also buy crypto with cash back earned from card purchases.

"We are leaning forward on all the things that could happen as you move into a digital dollar and into a DLT [distributed ledger technology] world," CEO Dan Schulman said on the company's first-quarter earnings call in April, referring to blockchains like Bitcoin and Ether.

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The new services should make PayPal far more competitive with other crypto wallets that offer full functionality, including wallets from Metamask and Coinbase.

Will crypto tax hurt the industry in India? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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