PayPal, eBay’s payment processing service, is likely to integrate cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a payment option in the near future.
During the company’s annual shareholder meeting, John Donahoe, CEO of eBay, shared the idea of adding Bitcoin to PayPal, considering it as “a new, exciting and emerging technology.”
“We think bitcoin will play a very important role in the future. Exactly how that plays out, and how we can best take advantage of it and enable it with PayPal, that’s something we’re actively considering. It’s on our radar screen,” Donahoe said.
Currently, PayPal charges about 2-3 percent fee towards processing payments, while Bitcoin payments will cost less for users as the transfer doesn’t go through banks or clearing houses.
In an interview earlier this year in February with Bloomberg, Donahoe said that PayPal might be integrated with multiple digital currencies and are not a threat to the company’s business.
“There is nothing holding PayPal back from pursuing digital payments today, as part of eBay. In fact PayPal is pursuing digital payments and is the leading digital payments alternative in many different environments,” Donahoe said during his interview in February.
“You can use digital currencies in the PayPal digital wallet, that’s in fact what PayPal is doing – is building a digital wallet that can take multiple types of currency.”
Last month, eBay launched a virtual currency section for its US website where users are allowed to buy and sell digital currencies along with mine contracts and equipment, listed in the classified ad formats indicating that deals are handled outside eBay, and that bitcoins or other digital currencies for payments are still not accepted by the online retailer.
