Something to look forward to: Today PayPal announced that it would let customers in the United Kingdom buy and sell cryptocurrencies this week. The service will support four kinds of cryptocurrencies and allow users to track crypto prices in real-time. PayPal also seems to be taking great pains to caution customers about the risks of crypto.
According to PayPal’s main UK cryptocurrency page, UK customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin, Etherium, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash, with purchase amounts starting at £1. There will be transaction fees starting at £0.5 for crypto amounts up to £25. For higher amounts, PayPal will take transaction fees ranging between 1.5 percent and 2.3 percent. Much of the rest of the press release and main crypto page seem devoted to educating users about crypto and warning about its risks.
After logging in, PayPal UK users will have access to articles the company publishes about crypto. The main page of PayPal’s crypto service includes a warning about the volatility of crypto, which links to a lengthier article on the subject. The report touches on topics like how cyber attacks can affect crypto, the effects software changes could have, and the fact that crypto is unregulated. PayPal doesn’t seem to say much about the potential environmental effects of crypto, however.
PayPal started letting US customers buy and sell the same cryptocurrencies late last year. The UK is the first country outside the United States where PayPal is supporting cryptocurrency buying and selling. PayPal’s announcement likely played a part in boosting BitCoin to $50,000 this morning, its highest point since May.