PayPal will allow cryptocurrency for buying, selling, shopping in 2021

The world is going through some major changes right now because of COVID-19, but PayPal allowing cryptocurrencies across their merchants in 2021 is some major news.

Reuters reports that PayPal Holdings Inc will allow its customers to use cryptocurrencies in order to buy, sell, and hold bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies using your PayPal wallet. PayPal President and Chief Executive Dan Schulman said in an interview: "We are working with central banks and thinking of all forms of digital currencies and how PayPal can play a role".

Schulman said that PayPal hopes to see its new cryptocurrency service to kick start the use of cryptocurrencies around the world, and prepare its network for new digital currencies that may be developed by central banks and corporations.

It's a big deal because there are 346 million active PayPal accounts that process $222 billion in payments in Q2 2020 alone, so you can see how it makes sense for PayPal to be interested in cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency payments on PayPal will be settled using fiat currencies, so it won't be a crypto-to-crypto payment from customer to merchant.

Instead it will be crypto from your wallet, into USD for example, and then to the merchant. So if you're holding a particular coin at the time, you can pay the fiat dollar amount for it -- and have it taken from your crypto wallet.

PayPal will start with bitcoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash, and litecoin in 2021.