PayPal will allow US users to pay with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin starting today

We already knew that PayPal was planning to support cryptocurrencies as a payment method. And now, the online payment app has announced that US customers can do just that with its “Checkout with Crypto” feature, rolled out today.

After rolling out the ability for US users to buy and sell cryptocurrency directly from their accounts last November, PayPal’s new “Checkout with Crypto” allows users to instantly convert their Bitcoin, Ethereum , Litecoin or Bitcoin Cash in US dollars (no transaction fees) which PayPal then uses to complete the transaction. If a merchant does not take US dollars, PayPal also converts those dollars to local currency at the standard conversion rates set by PayPal.

The feature will automatically appear in the PayPal wallet if a user has a “sufficient cryptocurrency balance to cover a qualifying purchase,” and you will be able to view your crypto balances for each type of coin in the app. However, you can only use one type of cryptocurrency for each purchase you make.

PayPal isn’t the first payment app to offer cryptocurrency support. In 2018, its competitor Square launched support for Bitcoin on the Cash app. But the launch of cryptocurrency as a payment method makes PayPal both a major digital wallet and a cryptocurrency exchange, which could streamline the use of cryptocurrency as a more common payment method. . On its Investor Day last week, the company announced that it has 377 million active accounts.