10 Years From Now: Bitcoin Overtaking PayPal?

[gabbie2010]

Paypal has been providing good services so I don't think it would be taken over by Bitcoin but there is also traffic sometimes. I guess it will be better if they will adopt Bitcoin as a currency aside from fiat. Instead of having a strong competition, it will be better if Paypal and Bitcoin will merge in the future.

My own consign is that most users of bitcoin now is that they rely with its usage as a store rather than peer to peer transaction of course paypal had been a leading online currency without the feature of store of value thus for bitcoin to take over paypal is when we change our orientation as a hodler to using it as a currency for buying and selling of good and services.

[bittamak]

Paypal is a payment processor so if bitcoin has to overtake it i feel it needs to still overcome the below -

- Transaction fee
- Scalability

[michellee]

It's hard to tell, but in my opinion, PayPal will implement Bitcoin before we even notice. At least, that would be the best option for them I think.

Even if Paypal implements bitcoin, it will need longer than we can imagine because, until now, Paypal still dominates the market for the payment method besides credit card. But it will help bitcoin to grow fast if Paypal can integrate their system with bitcoin and people who know Paypal will learn about bitcoin and how to convert their balance inside their Paypal account. But for now, I don't think that bitcoin will overtake Paypal since we need to see bitcoin to be approved in many countries.

[Eugenar]

One thing I don't really like about paypal as my online financial platform is their ability to contact our locals. Since when I need the money, I need to wait for monday in order for it to be delivered. Unlike in bitcoin or cryptocurrency, what you need is 5 mins, everything will be fine. So in terms of global competency of these financial platforms, bitcoin will surely prevail, they just need to lessen their transaction fees and more adoption will takes place.

[darkangel11]

Sure it's possible. What if in 10 years there's no PayPal and Bitcoin is still there. What if Bitcoin doesn't scale and remains as it is now a niche product used by 1% of the world? Technically Bitcoin will win and overtake it because paypal will be bankrupt
I don't like to go so far with speculation but paypal is not a good business. They are ripping people off with fees and their chargeback service is of questionable ethics. It won't be hard for something better to take it out of business.

[DaveWave]

As long as bitcoin continues to scale then we are in the right direction. But in 10 years maybe some another private company has already beaten Paypal or it could be Paypal already minimizing its fees and will use blockchain technology. The decentralized nature of bitcoin is what keeps it to continue moving forward. More people will realize soon that utilizing bitcoin freedom and privacy.   

[malevolent]

bitcoins limitation is not popularity, its not lack of access to get coins. its actually the limitation of number of transactions a day

Looking at transaction fees, limited transaction throughput is rarely a problem. Access to bitcoins due to restrictions on fiat on-ramps is a very real problem 24/7/365 regardless of market conditions or hype.

[kooboat]

Is not always the case that humans are driven by greed. Some people prefer comfort and convenience than thinking of being selfish. Bitcoin's advantages far outweighs that of PayPal since PayPal has a lot of restrictions when it comes to transactions. The convenience of bitcoin as a medium of payment for goods and services always entices people.

[electronicash]

It's hard to tell, but in my opinion, PayPal will implement Bitcoin before we even notice. At least, that would be the best option for them I think.

Even if Paypal implements bitcoin, it will need longer than we can imagine because, until now, Paypal still dominates the market for the payment method besides credit card. But it will help bitcoin to grow fast if Paypal can integrate their system with bitcoin and people who know Paypal will learn about bitcoin and how to convert their balance inside their Paypal account. But for now, I don't think that bitcoin will overtake Paypal since we need to see bitcoin to be approved in many countries.

the scams related to paypal dispute is just not making them acceptable anymore. even if they integrate btc as long as they allow dispute paypal will to continue lose users because of it. both could however benefit from integrating because we can make business out of it. if say i can exchange my btc to usd within the paypal system, i could probably buy btc from an individuals who needs paypal funds and can also sell BTC.

[jarhed]

It's hard to tell, but in my opinion, PayPal will implement Bitcoin before we even notice. At least, that would be the best option for them I think.

Even if Paypal implements bitcoin, it will need longer than we can imagine because, until now, Paypal still dominates the market for the payment method besides credit card. But it will help bitcoin to grow fast if Paypal can integrate their system with bitcoin and people who know Paypal will learn about bitcoin and how to convert their balance inside their Paypal account. But for now, I don't think that bitcoin will overtake Paypal since we need to see bitcoin to be approved in many countries.

the scams related to paypal dispute is just not making them acceptable anymore. even if they integrate btc as long as they allow dispute paypal will to continue lose users because of it. both could however benefit from integrating because we can make business out of it. if say i can exchange my btc to usd within the paypal system, i could probably buy btc from an individuals who needs paypal funds and can also sell BTC.

How difficult it is to make such transactions, it is very not convenient. I have never done so, and I think it's better to go to a bank or cryptocurrency exchange and exchange Bitcoin for cash.

[boltz]

Bitcoin has no ideal to compete with PayPal , they are 2 different payment methods if we can say like this. PayPal is already in a downtrend when it comes to customers so why would Bitcoin want to compete with this ? . Bitcoin is already over PayPal if you want my personal answer as you can send Bitcoin all over the world without being obligate to complete papers and also you can cashout Bitcoin in most of the countries , you just need to find your local exchange. The only thing that is keeping bitcoin down are transaction fees...and I doubt PayPal will list Bitcoin as there is no need in this.

[danherbias07]

However, this road will not be a walk-in-the-park because for now, is the lack of interest of people who have bitcoin to use their cryptocurrency to pay someone or to pay for products/services. Of course, we know why this is so. The answer is speculation. And speculation is always appealing to our natural greed...that idea that soon bitcoin can go as high as $20,000 so I will do everything possible to hold on to my bitcoin no matter what.

The main problem ever since the 20k mark was hit.
There might be buyers from that price that cannot go out (withdrawal). They want ROI but now is not the time obviously.
What else can you do about it to avoid losses. Simply wait. Why? Will it really happen? Yes. It can go ways too impossible for everyone.
Not all of us have predicted the 20k mark or maybe none really. Just speculation which is not sure.

We became investors in a sudden and forgot to pursue the merchants to open up a store which accepts bitcoin.

[jets567]

Paypal and Bitcoin are two separate entities which are VERY distinct on their nature.

While Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency which has a value on the market, a limited supply, and an alternative means of paying, Paypal is a platform that deals with a website as an exchange. They are very distinct which cannot be compared to each other due to their difference in nature. Although the ends may be the same, the means are very different.

Assuming THAT bitcoin and paypal were to be categorized at equal footing (for the sake of the argument), bitcoin cannot replace paypal in the near future due to the latter being centralized and controlled by a company which renders it secured and trusted among users. On the other hand, bitcoin is a relatively new concept in which some countries prohibit the utilization of such.

Very nice explanation and I don't see any good things to happen on Bitcoin side if ever they overtake Paypal and as far as I know Paypal is accepting Bitcoin as one of it's payment method so there is no point for Bitcoin to overtake this allies   Instead we need more big companies like Paypal that will accept Bitcoin too in order to increase the availability of Bitcoin in different countries.

[SaShiRaJaVu]

It's hard to tell, but in my opinion, PayPal will implement Bitcoin before we even notice. At least, that would be the best option for them I think.

It is hard to tell that whether paypal will implement bitcoin because if people start using bitcoin then they will loose their business in the long terms as people will start using bitcoin rather than using paypal for transaction as you have the complete control over your transactions rather than trusting a third person and the fees are lower than paypal and for all these facts i do not see them implemeting bitcoin payment.

[BitHodler]

I don't like to go so far with speculation but paypal is not a good business. 

They are. For years straight their volume in number of transactions and us dollar terms, has seen a net growth. If it wasn't a good company it wouldn't be doing this well for years straight.

I know that people here don't like PayPal and want to see it go bankrupt, but that's a very toxic point of view IMHO. I rather see them do well and further stimulate competition between legacy financial institutions.

At the end of the day, Bitcoin won't be any different if PayPal is doing good or bad---we are building towards a store of value asset rather than a transactional medium of exchange.

[Slow death]

everyone has already talked about the difference between paypal and bitcoin, I think it will be very difficult for people to forget hold to use their bitcoins to buy things. Just think that someone new buys 1 btc for the price of $ 8000 and then listen to people like John McAfee saying that Bitcoin will reach $1 million, that person will think of Hold hoping to get rich in a few years. bitcoin is more for investment than currency

...paypal is not a good business. They are ripping people off with fees and their chargeback service is of questionable ethics. It won't be hard for something better to take it out of business.

well, I have nothing to complain about him

[lobat999]

If we could look at above chart on Paypal's payment transaction volume , then we could deduced that if that current rate of Paypal's volume continues its upward trajectory, then Bitcoin might have a hard time overtaking Paypal, not unless its volume will show a declining pattern  over a period of several years which I doubt wouldn't happen. But, I think its still a possibility and that many things could happen within a period of ten years.

Everyone’s Hodling Bitcoin: Only 1.3% of Transactions are Payments in 2019

Journalist:Wes Messamore @thehuli
June 1, 2019

By CCN: Research by Chainalysis finds that only 1.3% of bitcoin transactions so far in 2019 came from merchants. The remaining 98.7% of volume is all on the exchanges.

That means almost no one is using bitcoin to buy things. The bitcoin economy is still mostly about speculation, not a global payments system. The figures are based on data from New York-based blockchain researcher Chainalysis Inc. and are based on the first four months of 2019.

In an email to Bloomberg, Kim Grauer, senior economist at Chainalysis, says:

    “Bitcoin economic activity continues to be dominated by exchange trading. This suggests Bitcoin’s top use case remains speculative, and the mainstream use of Bitcoin for everyday purchases is not yet a reality.”

Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/277841/paypals-total-payment-volume/
           https://www.ccn.com/everyones-hodling-only-1-bitcoin-volume-merchants/

[darkangel11]

everyone has already talked about the difference between paypal and bitcoin, I think it will be very difficult for people to forget hold to use their bitcoins to buy things. Just think that someone new buys 1 btc for the price of $ 8000 and then listen to people like John McAfee saying that Bitcoin will reach $1 million, that person will think of Hold hoping to get rich in a few years. bitcoin is more for investment than currency

...paypal is not a good business. They are ripping people off with fees and their chargeback service is of questionable ethics. It won't be hard for something better to take it out of business.

well, I have nothing to complain about him

Then I guess you haven't paid in a foreign currency. The conversion rates are really bad. If you add paypal fees to it you're really getting much less than you should. If someone from the US sends you 1000 dollars and you have an EUR account you're gonna lose at least $50 on this. If you sent directly to your bank that would be more like $20 and if you used bitcoin it would be $2 + the exchange fees depending on the exchange of your choice.

[Youghoor]

A lot of things can happen in the next ten years. It is very possible that Bitcoin might overtake paypal in the next ten years but before this can happen, adoption of bitcoin needs to take place first. The adoption of bitcoin by people is the only way that can guarantee the possibilities of bitcoin replacing paypal. Adoption will make bitcoin's ecosystem grow bigger  and also help people to understand how it works and the benefits available when they use bitcoin for their transactions.  

[malevolent]

Then I guess you haven't paid in a foreign currency. The conversion rates are really bad. If you add paypal fees to it you're really getting much less than you should. If someone from the US sends you 1000 dollars and you have an EUR account you're gonna lose at least $50 on this. If you sent directly to your bank that would be more like $20 and if you used bitcoin it would be $2 + the exchange fees depending on the exchange of your choice.

For amounts under ~$3000 Transferwise is going to be cheaper thank directly bank-to-bank. Bitcoin is cheap assuming you won't lose out anything on volatility, and both sides need to have verified accounts on exchange sites. That's a significant barrier of entry, and the exchange can always come up with a BS reason to keep the funds hostage.