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PayPal - Send, Shop, Manage

Latest release: 8.28.1 ( 28th October 2022 ) 🔍 Last analysed 22nd August 2021 . Can't send or receive bitcoins
4.3 ★★★★★
2452159 ratings
100 million
19th February 2016

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Please help us spread the word discussing the risks of centralized custodians with PayPal - Send, Shop, Manage  via their Twitter!

Do your own research!

Try out searching for "lost bitcoins", "stole my money" or "scammers" together with the wallet's name, even if you think the wallet is generally trustworthy. For all the bigger wallets you will find accusations. Make sure you understand why they were made and if you are comfortable with the provider's reaction.

If you find something we should include, you can create an issue or edit this analysis yourself and create a merge request for your changes.

The Analysis 

PayPal was one of the more hostile companies towards Bitcoin, so it was some surprise in the community when they finally started taking a more positive stance.

On the store description there is no mention of Bitcoin or crypto but on their website here they state:

Crypto for the people
Now you can discover crypto in the PayPal app

and

Buy, hold, and sell crypto with PayPal
You can choose from Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash1
…
1 When you buy or sell cryptocurrency, including when you check out with crypto, we will disclose an exchange rate and any fees you will be charged for that transaction. The exchange rate includes a spread that PayPal earns on each purchase and sale.

“Buy, hold, and sell” is not sufficient to even call it a Bitcoin wallet. Can it send and receive BTC? There is actually one third thing you can do with “crypto”:

Let’s put the “currency” back into cryptocurrency
We’re making it possible to check out with crypto on eligible purchases at millions of online stores that already accept PayPal. Enjoy the same fast and easy checkout — now with crypto.
Here’s how to check out with crypto
Step 1
Shop online and select PayPal at checkout. (Make sure you’ve filled in your W-9 in advance so that we can use your crypto for the purchase.)
Step 2
On eligible purchases, PayPal will automatically make crypto available to you as a funding option, as long as you have enough crypto to pay in full at that time.
Step 3
If you choose to check out with crypto, PayPal will automatically convert it into USD or other currency at no additional fee.1 No worries – we do it all for you.

So in summary, you can have part of your PayPal balance denominated in BTC but you won’t be able to pay a Bitcoin accepting merchant with your PayPal wallet.

(em, lw)

Verdict Explained

The product can't send or receive BTC.

As part of our Methodology, we ask:

No send/receive!

Can it send and receive bitcoins?

If the answer is "no", we mark it as "Can't send or receive bitcoins".

If it is for holding BTC but you can’t actually send or receive them with this product then it doesn’t function like a wallet for BTC but you might still be using it to hold your bitcoins with the intention to convert back to fiat when you “cash out”.

All products in this category are custodial and thus funds are at the mercy of the provider.

The product cannot be independently verified. If the provider puts your funds at risk on purpose or by accident, you will probably not know about the issue before people start losing money. If the provider is more criminally inclined he might have collected all the backups of all the wallets, ready to be emptied at the press of a button. The product might have a formidable track record but out of distress or change in management turns out to be evil from some point on, with nobody outside ever knowing before it is too late.