PayPals Bitcoin is a scam

[mardaed]

We shouldn't be surprise some users might spread baseless speculation about it, it's inevitable. I don't think a big company like Paypal would do something like that to destroy their built reputation.

[bitbollo]

it's just another way for the masses to acquire bitcoin. and it's one of the best, something that was on discussion since many years.
for sure it can't be defined a scam, and as private company they can choose which type of service provide to their customers.

[rdbase]

Paypal's rules and regulations protect any of their users from being part of or being scammed.

What they are doing is bending the rules in their favor when it comes to the traditional ways of handling bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
They know how handle money and fiat and are just putting these same influences towards this new endeavour of theirs.

Nothing more.

[Fesatmas]

wait, you said research? Have your research procedures met all the indicators for conducting research? what kind of research did you do? quantitative? or qualitative? or what? You must explain in detail, so as not to lead to biased conclusions. and how long did you do your research? Don't be silly, mate. I will not deny you if your research is presented factually, and applies globally, not just in your own environment.
speculate, but accompanied by credible and credible evidence.
how can we trust your research.
assumptions are more correct for you, not research.

[Rodeo02]

We shouldn't be surprise some users might spread baseless speculation about it, it's inevitable. I don't think a big company like Paypal would do something like that to destroy their built reputation.

I think users need to read the TOS first before buying any crypto currency in PayPal

" You currently are NOT able to send Crypto Assets to family or friends, use Crypto Assets to pay for goods or services, or withdraw Crypto Assets from your Cryptocurrencies Hub to an external cryptocurrency wallet. If you want to withdraw the value from your Cryptocurrencies Hub you will need to sell your Crypto Assets and withdraw the cash proceeds from their sale."

Means you can only buy and sell crypto asset as investment ,but you can't transfer or send it to other wallet . You need to convert again to USD if you want to widraw .

[cabron]

I have not tried, I logon to my paypal account to actually see what is in there but see nothing in the interface linking to BTC.

Since you guys mentioned that we can't withdraw the BTC, it only means it's just going to be on their platform. It wouldn't affect the supply of BTC but will have a real price of BTC. It would really be good if they just turn PayPal into an exchange but allowing us to send USD to another account.

[mk4]

I have not tried, I logon to my paypal account to actually see what is in there but see nothing in the interface linking to BTC.

It isn't available for everyone yet. As far as I know, it's only available in the United States and a few other countries.

Since you guys mentioned that we can't withdraw the BTC, it only means it's just going to be on their platform. It wouldn't affect the supply of BTC but will have a real price of BTC.

If you mean "affect the supply" by taking some bitcoin out of circulation after buying, then it still has an effect since you're pretty much buying real bitcoin through Paxos.

[Twentyonepaylots]

I'm really not sure about what you are telling I think you should cite some from the paypal's official terms and condition or any information beside from that youtube video you have linked, but I agree on the fact that you are not able to have your own private key which is mostly like the blockchain wallet.

ya.ya.yo!

This is why reading the terms and condition is a must with these companies  you cannot do any much if you bought in paypal and suddenly don't want it anymore, once you agreed to the said terms and agreement you'll be caught in disappointment and regret. I thought paypal is doing a good job in integrating cryptocurrencies *facepalm* turns out they are defeating the very essence of it 

[error08]

After researching it , I think the while "buy Bitcoin on PayPal" is a scam at best , and could be something more sinister at worst. Basically , you cannot withdraw the crypto , which for me means that it isn't crypto at all. But after doing research , I found that you cannot EVEN PAY another person with it - you're simply buying a token that is linked to the Bitcoin price - what is the value of this ?

Have you read the terms of service as a whole and understand it comprehensively before expressing your opinion?
it clearly mentions how PayPal approaches bitcoin today and in 2021. Well, this is not perfect or good enough at the moment, the most important thing for the current adoption of PayPal is the large number of users and merchants who can accept Bitcoin payments even though indirectly which the value converted to fiat through paxos. Paypal will improve its service toward crypto as time goes on, hopefully will enable the user to withdraw bitcoin.

[seoincorporation]

First of all thanks for the video, it explains very well the issue with Paypal, i would not call them scammers for this but they limitations really sucks.

You can only buy, hold and sell bitcoins... The fact that you can't spend the bitcoins or dump your privatekey shows us how a centralized project deals with a descentralized one.

[NotFuzzyWarm]

PayPal's BTC  a scam?
No!
Folks seem to forget that PayPal is a payment provider geared to servicing merchants as an alternative to merchants having to work deals with the credit card companies. It is not a bank or exchange.

When PP first started consumers had to load their PP account with fiat, then they could use that reserve to pay for items on eBay and other places accepting PayPal. AFAIK, at least in the beginning consumers could not 'cash out' their PP account after loading it with fiat but of course merchants can - after all, it is a payment processing service.

PayPals foray into using crypto is exactly the same thing. You CAN will be able to spend your crypto stored there starting early 2021 and the only limitation is that it has to be spent at merchants who are in the PayPal network. All they have done is now make it easy for merchants to accept crypto as well as fiat.

edit: correct statement that currently you are not able to spend at merchants.

[Casdinyard]

Provide substance with your claim for it to be more acceptable. PayPal has reputation for being a large network, why will it ruin that reputation earned through years of existence, in an instant. For sure it is earning more profit in other transactions than its adoption of this technology. And that I think is enough to tell it won't make a risky move. It's adoptation is viewed as something positive for this industry due to its influence which may trigger mass adoptation in a positive point of view. But we are not required to use it. It will be an option for those who are not that familiar with crypto exchanges to invest in cryptos.

[o_e_l_e_o]

PayPals foray into using crypto is exactly the same thing. You CAN spend your crypto stored there and the only limitation is that it has to be spent at merchants who are in the PayPal network. All they have done is now make it easy for merchants to accept crypto as well as fiat.

That's not what they've done at all. Have a read of their Terms and Conditions, particularly the following quote:

You currently are NOT able to send Crypto Assets to family or friends, use Crypto Assets to pay for goods or services, or withdraw Crypto Assets from your Cryptocurrencies Hub to an external cryptocurrency wallet. If you want to withdraw the value from your Cryptocurrencies Hub you will need to sell your Crypto Assets and withdraw the cash proceeds from their sale.

You cannot spend your crypto held by PayPal at any merchant, whether they are in the PayPal network or not. The only way to "spend" your crypto held by PayPal is to first sell it back to PayPal, and then spend the fiat you receive for it at a merchant as you usually would. They are not making it easy or even possible for merchants to accept crypto. Merchants who accept PayPal will continue to only accept fiat through PayPal, and there is no way to use PayPal to pay a merchant with any crypto, whether it is held by PayPal or held in your own wallet.

You are not buying bitcoin when you buy from PayPal. You are only buying exposure to bitcoin's price.

[20kevin20]

People tend to use scam so much even if it is just a bad service.
I haven't use or read the TOS of Paypal regarding to crypto or Bitcoin but I know that one thing OP tells is true if we use them as Bitcoin wallet we wouldn't own or hold our own private key.

You don't hold anything. As long as you only have the ability to purchase and/or sell it, it's exactly like me selling you a paper with "Bitcoin" written on it for $16k, telling you that's your coin. It doesn't work that way. I highly suspect their Bitcoin is not the Bitcoin we know.

And I think it is only the beginning they would improve their service in the future (Hoping for those who would use their service as a crypto wallet).

I have one question I think is quite important: why be in such a hurry and push this so-called "Bitcoin adoption" without the most essential features such as withdrawing or sending when you have had an issue as a corporation with Bitcoin for many years straight? Why not just delay it for one more month or two and make all these other features available as well?

I can answer this very easily: because when there's no demand for it, you don't need to make it available so it's in your advantage. So why put everything out there for your users straight from the start when you could start from the bottom and only make available the most-requested features instead?

[NotFuzzyWarm]

Quote from: https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/cryptocurrencies-tnc
You currently are NOT able to send Crypto Assets to family or friends, use Crypto Assets to pay for goods or services, or withdraw Crypto Assets from your Cryptocurrencies Hub to an external cryptocurrency wallet. If you want to withdraw the value from your Cryptocurrencies Hub you will need to sell your Crypto Assets and withdraw the cash proceeds from their sale.

Keyword is CURRENTLY. I corrected that in my post
As I recall their announcement stated that it WILL become available for payments within the PP network of merchants in early 2021.

So yes, until then folks loading their PP account are exposed to a chance of their deposited coin being worth less once they are able to spend it. OR, if BTC value continues to rise it will be worth more...

[passwordnow]

It is not a scam. PayPal is an established company and its adoption of crypto is one big thing for the community. Give it time until they have furnished all the rules and service that they've just launched. There will be future changes for them because they are just starting out.
Once they have settled those limitations that they have, we may see them improve a little by little.

[HabBear]

- what is the value of this ?

It's an attempt by PayPal to get you or any user to keep more money "on account" there, tied in with something novel like Bitcoin. The more money you have on account the more likely you are to use it to pay for things using their service (for which they can charge fees)...even more so if that money on account has gone up because it was tagged to some Bitcoin-pegged investment.

I haven't seen any of PayPal's marketing or PR on this...is it a bait and switch? Did they promise to be able to buy bitcoin specifically?

Here's an article summarizing their offer: https://decrypt.co/43158/how-to-buy-bitcoin-with-paypal-2020-update

The fees might not be worth the effort, on top of the illiquidity of the PayPal wallet. But this kind of press is good press, because it reinforces with a broader audience that bitcoin isn't fringe, bitcoin isn't a fad, bitcoin is real and accepted...and that alone will drive some people to (finally) get involved in bitcoin.

[lebregone]

Scam acussation is kinda deep and it will be good if you can provide a solid evidence agaist your claim aside from what you have stated as PayPal has been operating for a long period of time already and has a very good reputation so I am not so sure if they will just throw away their reputation by adopting bitcoin in their platform and scam their users.

There must be misunderstanding in your side, it will be good if you will read first their terms before posting something like this as I am sure that all of your concerns can be answered there.

[AmoreJaz]

- what is the value of this ?

It's an attempt by PayPal to get you or any user to keep more money "on account" there, tied in with something novel like Bitcoin. The more money you have on account the more likely you are to use it to pay for things using their service (for which they can charge fees)...even more so if that money on account has gone up because it was tagged to some Bitcoin-pegged investment.

I haven't seen any of PayPal's marketing or PR on this...is it a bait and switch? Did they promise to be able to buy bitcoin specifically?

Here's an article summarizing their offer: https://decrypt.co/43158/how-to-buy-bitcoin-with-paypal-2020-update

The fees might not be worth the effort, on top of the illiquidity of the PayPal wallet. But this kind of press is good press, because it reinforces with a broader audience that bitcoin isn't fringe, bitcoin isn't a fad, bitcoin is real and accepted...and that alone will drive some people to (finally) get involved in bitcoin.

for long time crypto users, definitely they will not do the buy and sell of btc on their platform. but for those newbies or previously noncrypto users, this will be a good introduction to them. but once they learn more about crypto or btc, i definitely can say, they will not use paypal for other crypto related transactions.
 so for me, this move from paypal is a win-win situation to all. people will come to know about crypto and eventually, they will go to a better platform that will cater best their needs. so what we  can get from this paypal adopting crypto in their system, will be more crypto users which is good for crypto community
this will also remove some hesitations of noncrypto users that btc is a fraud or scam. but saying paypal's btc is a scam, is another story. the OP should understand more what he's saying here because he's misleading the idea of paypal using btc in their platform

[Swordsoffreedom]

You could say that the service they offer is not a very good service or crypto users are not satisfied with such a service. But somehow the word scam does not go with PayPal, it is completely incompatible. Paypal just wants to offer a service to crypto users and it is still in the testing phase, Hopefully in the future they will improve it further and reduce restrictions. It is really a great initiative and will have a positive impact on the crypto market.