PayPal plans to support Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin at first. You'll be able to connect to your PayPal account to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Behind the scenes, Paxos takes care of trading and custody.

In early 2021, PayPal wants to let you use your crypto assets as a funding source for your PayPal purchases. This could be a good way to use cryptocurrencies for everyday purchases without having to convert cryptocurrencies on an exchange first.

There are 26 million merchants that offer PayPal around the world. For those merchants, customers paying in crypto will not have any impact. Everything will be converted to fiat currency when a transaction is settled. As part of today's move, PayPal has been granted a conditional BitLicense by the New York State Department of Financial Service. It should be able to launch its crypto service in partnership with Paxos in New York.

Nigel Green, chief executive of deVere Group and high-profile crypto advocate, said that the decision by one of the biggest payment companies in the world to allow customers to buy, sell and hold Bitcoin is yet another example that exposes Bitcoin deniers and cryptocurrency cynics as being on the wrong side of history.

“Let’s be clear: This is a major step forward towards the mass adoption of digital currencies. The blistering speed of the digitalisation of economies and every aspect of our lives, including financial lives, shows that there will be a growing demand for digital, global, borderless money – characteristics that are inherent to the likes of Bitcoin.”

He added: “Surely, the time is up for those relics who still believe cryptocurrencies are not the way forward?”