Central banks around the world have not been shy in their opinion towards bitcoin. Although intrigued. They recognize the threat that it presents the current fiat system.
They would like nothing more than to see it shut down, unfortunately for them, not only is this incredibly difficult, but it appears unlikely, as the free market moves more and more towards adoption.
Major banks, likely due to the uncertainty in future regulation towards bitcoin, have remained predominately on the sidelines, with the exception of a few banks, which have actively targeted and shut down some of their customers' accounts. Accounts which were used in bitcoin transaction.
An alternative form of banking and one of the largest, if not the largest player in the online transaction world is PayPal. Owned and operated by the owners of eBay, the largest eCommerce platform, have long pondered over the future of bitcoin.
Until now, they have simply discussed its future with mild interest, content to sit on the sidelines and see how things unfolded. Until now.
Paypal has annouced a huge partnership with the three main players in the bitcoin payment processing space; Bitpay, Coinbase and GoCoin. CoinDesk reports:
PayPal has announced partnerships with three major payment processors in the bitcoin space – BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin.
Though the online e-commerce pioneer stopped short of integrating bitcoin into its digital wallet or payment processing services directly, the move marks PayPal’s first formal offering to the bitcoin community.
In a blog post penned by senior director of corporate strategy Scott Ellison, PayPal revealed that online merchants will now be able to accept bitcoin via all three companies through its PayPal Payments Hub, its product that enables customers to accept credit cards, mobile carrier payments and other payment methods through a single integration.
Ellison lauded BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin for their commitment to ensuring consumer protections on their platforms, while suggesting that the offering will appeal to a number of its key customer groups, writing:
“We believe digital goods merchants will be excited to work with these industry-leading companies to sell ringtones, games and music and get paid with bitcoin.”
Notably, the announcement follows the decision of PayPal subsidiary Braintree to partner with Coinbase earlier this month.
PayPal is available in 193 markets and 26 currencies. With 143 million active registered accounts and $6.6bn in revenue at the end of 2013, the e-commerce giant brings the potential for new users and new business to the bitcoin economy.
The next step for Paypal now, is a full blown integration into their existing system. A step that could blow the value of bitcoin through the roof.
Like gold, bitcoin has been scorned and despised by central bankers due to the direct threat to their fiat currency system. A threat in which I for one, welcome with open arms. Bring on the competition and let the free market decide.
