10 Years From Now: Bitcoin Overtaking PayPal?

[CryptoBry]

There is no question that bitcoin is evolving and whether it is in the direction that it should be or not that can be subject to some discussions and debates. Soon we may witness bitcoin to be the viable platform leading the way in the global payments industry and possibly diminish the strong leadership of PayPal.

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.

We are all generally greedy and speculative...something that no technology has no cure at all. However, I am still hoping that one day bitcoin will have less volatility and by then can fully play its role as a real currency and hopefully can overtake PayPal...but for now let's just enjoy the roller-coaster ride anyway there is no deadline so why worry or complain.

[judeafante]

It will not even take years maybe 4 to 5 years, so many people are now shifting to Bitcoin I am one of them but there are still a lot of company trust Paypal like Fiverr, yes then can overtake Paypal but I doubt if they can make Paypal close, Paypal whether we like it or not is here to stay just like fiat and Cryptocurrency, they can co exist without harming each other

[teosanru]

Well Bitcoin and Paypal cannot be compared. You can only compare two similar things while both of them are not at all similar. Bitcoin is a currency in itself while Paypal is nothing but merely a means of transferring fiat over the Globe. Bitcoin has it's own valuation while Paypal doesn't has it's own denomination. Moreover, even if you say that Bitcoin has increased in number of transactions and value of transactions that still doesn't makes sense because Paypal is providing a platform for transaction while BTC are getting transferred themselves. This is why it's pretty difficult to say that we could ever overtake paypal.

[dothebeats]

During its early days, bitcoin was primed to be the one that overtakes traditional payment processors into the world of e-commerce. Fast forward to where we are right now, I doubt that knowing that the focus of the majority of the people in the bitcoin ecosystem is on bitcoin's speculative wonders and not its function as a currency. We never have progressed from the days wherein we just compare the amount of transactions that bitcoin and Paypal can handle in a day, and sure SegWit deployment might have helped us move but we only moved an inch from where we were before it. 10 years is an awful long time, but isn't enough to place us on the ranks of competitive payment processors with the likes of Paypal.

[ChrisPop]

I think PayPal is mostly used in USA though. However online fiat payment processors like PayPal will soon be outdated and therefore a thing of the past. Cryptocurrencies are the next step for sure. Maybe I sound too confident but when I have made my due diligence and this is my personal belief. A lot can happen in 10 years though. At the current growth rate and adoption of Bitcoin I see it becoming a world recognised mainstream currency and countries will start or have already started preparing national reserves denominated in BTC.

This is a very optimist look Bitcoin obviously, but for some reason I'm kind of confident in it.

[Distraction]

PayPal is a very strong payment system and it is used all around the world. But we are talking about the possibility in 10 years from now. Bitcoin is developing very fast. It has come to this level just in 10 years. I think Bitcoin can come to the same level to PayPal and even can overtake it.

[Artemis3]

There is no question that bitcoin is evolving and whether it is in the direction that it should be or not that can be subject to some discussions and debates. Soon we may witness bitcoin to be the viable platform leading the way in the global payments industry and possibly diminish the strong leadership of PayPal.

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.

We are all generally greedy and speculative...something that no technology has no cure at all. However, I am still hoping that one day bitcoin will have less volatility and by then can fully play its role as a real currency and hopefully can overtake PayPal...but for now let's just enjoy the roller-coaster ride anyway there is no deadline so why worry or complain.

Paypal would be smart if it became its own bitcoin payment processor, ie. another Bitpay. In an ideal world, were merchants take bitcoin directly, the likes of Paypal are redundant. Of course, credit/debit card for online purchases become redundant as well, bitcoin can already fill that role perfectly and cheaply.

You shouldn't expect bitcoin price to rise up significantly anymore, the more time passes, the less it will go up. Waiting for such huge jumps might be a thing of the past.

You know what was big? Going from 400 to 2000 (5x) May 2016 to May 2017. 10k to 20k? That's like going from 400 to 800 (2x). See what i mean? Yes, bitcoin price will keep climbing, but not as dramatic as before, so stop getting in expecting to become rich overnight. Get in, knowing that you will preserve value overtime, as opposed to lose it overtime if you keep it in fiat.

So today is 8k if it "doubles", that would be 16k. It is "nice", but not as outstanding as 2016/17, or the years before.

[Astvile]

Now, this is some realistic goal I think. It will not take a long time for bitcoin to reach this goal for sure I think bitcoin is really close on passing paypal right now if just more adoption and support will happen surely bitcoin will gain more trust and users compared to PayPal.

[avikz]

There is no question that bitcoin is evolving and whether it is in the direction that it should be or not that can be subject to some discussions and debates. Soon we may witness bitcoin to be the viable platform leading the way in the global payments industry and possibly diminish the strong leadership of PayPal.

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.

We are all generally greedy and speculative...something that no technology has no cure at all. However, I am still hoping that one day bitcoin will have less volatility and by then can fully play its role as a real currency and hopefully can overtake PayPal...but for now let's just enjoy the roller-coaster ride anyway there is no deadline so why worry or complain.

Speculation can only end with stable price. If the volatility remains same, there will be no end to this speculation game and bitcoin will eventually remain as an investment only!

The second bottleneck is the adoption. Today in majority of the countries, we can't really use bitcoin to buy anything! So there's no way for a bitcoin holder to use his bitcoin rather than investment.

The way human nature is involved in this entire speculation game, similar way the lack of adoption is also contributing to this same cause! Overtaking paypal is a matter of few days if bitcoin gets fully legal status in all countries. Paypal is not even a worthy competitor if the level playing ground is provided!

[malevolent]

We are all generally greedy and speculative...something that no technology has no cure at all. However, I am still hoping that one day bitcoin will have less volatility and by then can fully play its role as a real currency and hopefully can overtake PayPal...but for now let's just enjoy the roller-coaster ride anyway there is no deadline so why worry or complain.

It's not even about volatility or ease of use, the main barriers of entry are on/off ramps for fiat, mining is off-limits to average people because of how competitive the space has become, so the only way for them to acquire bitcoins is by bank transfers or debit/credit card payments. Since banks and other legacy financial companies for various both legal and political reasons aren't fans of cryptocurrencies, they make it difficult to buy and sell bitcoins for fiat money. The alternative is transacting in-person by most people don't want to do that - and the biggest player (LBC) has made it more difficult recently.

[Carlton Banks]

Paypal would be smart if it became its own bitcoin payment processor, ie. another Bitpay.

sounds logical, but you've forgotten that the banking industry is a pretty thuggish closed shop behind the scenes. Bitpay are probably only continuing to exist because they're helping to attack the Bitcoin ecosystem, and there is an absence of almost any competition as a result of the licensing authorities' supplication to the will of the industry (banking is one of those industries where the regulators have been in the industry's pocket for the longest)

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.

this is not true!

think about it: if you spend say 65% of your salary on living, and save another 35% in BTC, there's nothing stopping you buying more BTC then spending it immediately on your regular living expenses.

Sure, BTC may drop, you lose a little on exchange fees. But, BTC may gain, and you won't be able to pay all your living expenses in BTC anyway. And your BTC savings are also gaining to offset on any small monthly losses.

And if BTC circulates more, everyone likes it, as everyone gets more opportunity to profit from BTC when it goes up

[supto005]

Paying in bitcoin is easier than PayPal. PayPal has a strong foundation. Those PayPal fans will need a long time to come to Bitcoin from PayPal. When everyone learns about the benefits of Bitcoin, everyone will move to Bitcoin.

[CLS63]

I think that it is hard for Bitcoin to overtake and replace PayPal 10 years from now. I know that Bitcoin has made a good job until now in 10 years. But Bitcoin has a long way to go to succeed on that I think.

[sunsilk]

PayPal might be aware of it that there are too many services offering PayPal payments for buying bitcoin. And this can be a good market for them to take over since they're already known. They could have added an integrated service that allows their users to buy bitcoin directly to them.

Paypal would be smart if it became its own bitcoin payment processor, ie. another Bitpay.

Exactly as this.

[MicroGuy]

PayPal is a payment system while Bitcoin is a currency. You might ask could Bitpay overtake PayPal.

[Carlton Banks]

You might ask could Bitpay overtake PayPal.

the answer's "no"

BTCPay could though, as that payment system can tap enough transaction capacity.

[bitbunnny]

Nope, this is not going to happen.
First of all PayPal is payment service and Bitcoin is a currency. So these are not the same thing. It's like you said that Euro or US dollar will replace internet banking.
But Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies could be introduced as a payment method within PayPal or other payment services and platforms.

[bobdk]

PayPal is a payment system while Bitcoin is a currency. You might ask could Bitpay overtake PayPal.

Perhaps that's the slightly more incisive question, although I believe the two have actually had a partnership for years. Bitpay overtaking PayPal would really be dependent on crypto overtaking fiat, so that returns us to the crypto/fiat debate.

[Kyraishi]

Don't think Bitcoin as a crypto-currency would be able to take over PayPal's system, it'll need something like bitpay to work with the coin and then they'd have a shot.

Give the people a big payment processor that is basically a PayPal that accepts BTC and things get very interesting, if PayPal was smart enough they should be working on something of their own - I can't see them just not worrying about crypto-currencies dominating the market.

[Jating]

I don't know what are we achieving though? I guess bitcoin shouldn't be compare to any fiat payment systems out there. It is one of a kind that's why I don't understand when people saying that bitcoin is this or bitcoin will overtake that, etc. etc.

Let's say bitcoin maintained it's position as the dominant coin and see how it goes for being used as payment system in the next ten years. And for the sake of argument, it did overtake Paypal then good, then what?