How To Buy BTC With PayPal

As the interest in bitcoins increases amidst the ongoing financial crisis, investors are looking for new ways to diversify their portfolios and crypto currencies are the newest form of assets that investors can diversify into. Not just seasoned investors but individuals looking to trade in bitcoins are now curious because lately bitcoin has been on a rally that few expected.

The bitcoin crash in 2018 made a lot of people lose interest in bitcoins but seasoned investors held on to their investments and their opinion that bitcoin would regain its value soon and they could not have been more right. It turns out that what we call as the 2018 crash of bitcoins was simply a market correction to account for the overvalued bitcoin in 2017.

At present bitcoins are trading between $9000 and $10,000 limit and if the markets show a little bit of stability then bitcoins can even shoot above $10,000 mark. Interest in bitcoins is rising because when the markets crashed in March 2020 due to the global financial crash, bitcoins crashed too but their recovery since then has been similar to that of gold. In March bitcoin dropped to $4000 – $5000 but since then it has recovered its lost value. This has made the investors realize that bitcoins are coming of age and stabilizing and therefore they can be used for long and short term investments.

This interest has resulted in more and more people searching for ways to buy bitcoins because apparently over a decade has passed and still the masses are generally not aware of ways through which they can purchase bitcoins.

In this article therefore we will look at how people can buy bitcoins through PayPal. So without further discussion, let`s jump into the steps that are required to buy bitcoins through PayPal.

Make An Account With PayPal

In order to buy Bitcoins with PayPal you will first need to have an account with PayPal. For this first you will need to make sure that you live in a country that works with PayPal. At the time of writing this services of PayPal are not present in many countries of Africa and Asia such as Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Ivory Coast and Guinea etc. PayPal services can only be used in countries where their services are present and working.

Next you will need to make your account. This should be a straight forward process. You will have to present your personal information and bank details in order to connect your bank with PayPal. Once you have done this and your account has been approved by PayPal, you can now move on to the next step of buying Bitcoins.

Before you can actually buy Bitcoins you will need to make a decision. Do you want to buy through a bitcoin exchange or from a peer to peer platform? Both have their merits.

So let`s have a look.

Find A Bitcoin Exchange That Accepts PayPal As Payment

A bitcoin exchange is a place where you can exchange your local currency for bitcoins. An exchange is a regulated platform and this mean that your privacy will be compromised if you use an exchange, however exchanges provide hassle free and easy purchase of bitcoins. So the loss of privacy is balanced out by convenience and ease of use.

Bitcoin exchanges have another issue when it comes to purchase through PayPal. Very few exchanges allow users to purchase bitcoins through PayPal because of the charge back issue. There are, however, a select few exchanges that will accept PayPal as a funding or purchase method like Etoro, Wirex, and XCOINS. Smart Bitcoin Investments has a full guide on the entire subject if you want to indulge yourself on the subject of PayPal to Bitcoin, and vice-versa.

What Is The Charge Back Issue On PayPal?

PayPal is an online payments gateway and it has a policy that insures the safety of buyers from commercial fraud. Therefore in order to protect the buyer as sometimes the sellers sell faulty or wrong goods, PayPal allows customers/buyers to return goods within 120 days.

The problem with bitcoins is that the transactions with bitcoin are irreversible, once the transaction has been executed it cannot be reversed and therefore if a buyer claims that they haven`t received the bitcoins then the seller will have no way to prove that they have sent the bitcoins. Using this problem some buyers have been able to commit fraud and due to this both bitcoin exchanges and PayPal have been reluctant to work together.

However recently, PayPal and some bitcoin exchanges have started working together after accounting for some of the risks attached with the chargeback issue but this is the reason why generally you will find why a lot of crypto exchanges do not support PayPal as a payment option.

eToro is one exchange that supports PayPal as a payment option but with eToro you cannot actually possess bitcoins, you can purchase the value of bitcoins, get exposed to the price movements of bitcoin and then trade them. CoinBase only supports PayPal if you are selling bitcoins, in this case you will be able to use PayPal to receive your payment.

In order to purchase bitcoins you will simply have to attach your PayPal account as a payment option with the website and once your account has been attached you can simply carry out the purchase in a normal manner.

Trading Bitcoin Via Peer-To-Peer Marketplaces

The second option is to use peer to peer platforms. These platforms are more secure and private as compared to bitcoin exchanges but when it comes to purchasing bitcoins through PayPal, they have got the same issue. A limited number of platforms accept PayPal.

LocalBitcoins is one of the most well known P2P platforms that also allows the usage of PayPal as a payment option. What you will have to do is follow the above procedure but in addition to it you will also need to make sure that the buyer you choose accepts PayPal. If the chosen buyer agrees then the rest of the transaction can be carried out in a similar manner.

Alternatively you can also purchase bitcoins from a friend or family member or someone in your social contacts, personally because there really is no restriction on using bitcoin exchanges and P2P platforms only. If you know someone who is selling bitcoins, you can contact them personally and through PayPal you can simply transfer the money in exchange for bitcoins. This transaction should happen on the spot and both parties will know that they have received the amount and the bitcoins. This method is the cheapest method as there is no cost of intermediary and no risk of default on any party.