CYBERSPACE—In an interesting development, PayPal announced today that has entered into agreements with "leading Bitcoin payment processors BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin. Starting today, these agreements let PayPal digital goods merchants accept Bitcoin with a simple integration through the PayPal Payments Hub. This will be available to merchants in North America first."
The announcement, delivered by Scott Ellison, Senior Director Corporate Strategy, via the PayPal blog, adds that the popular e-commerce solution will intagrate Bitcoin into its network slowly. "To be clear," wrote Ellison, "today’s news does not mean that PayPal has added Bitcoin as a currency in our digital wallet or that Bitcoin payments will be processed on our secure payments platform. PayPal has always embraced innovation, but always in ways that make payments safer and more reliable for our customers. Our approach to Bitcoin is no different. That’s why we’re proceeding gradually, supporting Bitcoin in some ways today and holding off on other ways until we see how things develop."
Ellison added that the three processors "have taken steps to ensure that they know their customers and that those customers are offered certain protections. 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."
One area in which PayPal will not use Bitcoin is for pre-sold goods or services. Ellison explained, "Pre-selling is when a business asks for money up-front for a product or service it will deliver in the future. Customers may not get their money back if the business goes out of business before the product is shipped but after a buyer protection period expires. Again, our decision not to support pre-sales is shaped by our desire to protect our customers.
"PayPal also needs to follow the laws and regulations in every market we operate," he added. "For this reason, virtual currency exchangers and administrators interested in working with PayPal in the future must secure the appropriate licenses and put anti-money laundering procedures in place."
What this development means for adult businesses remains to be seen, but considering the fact that PayPal has been inching itself back into porn for some time, assuming its experience with BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin is a fruitful one, who knows what wonders the future may bring?
