While that might not be as exciting as having the cryptocurreny available for transactions on Paypal and on eBay, it’s a first step that could ultimately lead to that happening. At this point there has been no final agreement that Bitcoin will be accepted by these services, but confirmation the talks are taking place raises hopes they ultimately will bear fruit. Currently, it’s been reported that eBay and Bitcoin facilitators like Coinbase are “quietly working” to figure out a way to integrate the virtual currency into the Braintree unit.
Even being able to get Bitcoin into a Paypal subsidiary would be a huge boost to the virtual currency, and could eventually lead to it being integrated into other units if proven to be successful. This would be positive news considering the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently warned consumers that Bitcoin was like the Wild West and came with a number of concerns including:
- Risk from hackers
- A lack of consumer protection
- Expensive fees
- Scams and fraud
One of the biggest issues with Bitcoin today is that it’s still difficult for the average consumer to use. By making transactions with the virtual currency acceptable as normal everyday transactions such as with Airbnb and Uber, it brings it more into the mainstream where the average person may be more willing to adopt the technology.
(Photo courtesy of BTC Keychain)