PayPal, an online payment service provider, announced that it will support cryptocurrencies (virtual currencies).
Cryptocurrency (virtual currency) can now be purchased, sold, and held on PayPal.
PayPal's cryptocurrency support allows users to buy, sell, and hold cryptocurrency directly through their PayPal account.
In other words, the service is practically equivalent to an exchange.
Supported cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC).
Now available at 26 million merchants worldwide!
In early 2021, PayPal's 26 million merchants worldwide will be able to use the cryptocurrency they hold.
There will be no additional fees for PayPal merchants, and when consumers wish to pay in cryptocurrency, they will settle in legal tender at the PayPal rate, so PayPal merchants will not need to take any special action.
These are expected to be similar to making a USD payment in JPY.
How will this affect the e-sports & gaming industry?
Speaking of virtual currency and gaming/e-sports, SBI e-Sports, Inc. of the SBI Group made headlines when it announced that it would pay players in Ripple (XRP).
Although cryptocurrencies have a prominent speculative aspect, they have the strong advantage of being able to easily make payments around the world in a short time.
The advantages are obvious if we compare them to the international money transfers made by ordinary banks.
Although there is a risk of exchange rate fluctuation, the same can be said for the legal tender of each country, so the degree of risk can be interpreted as being the same.
PayPal supports many gaming platforms
It is worth noting that many game sales platforms support PayPal payments this time around.
The PS Store, My Nintendo Store, Microsoft Store, Steam, and Epic Games Store are all major platforms that accept PayPal payments.
On the mobile side, Google Play also supports PayPal.
Since downloadable versions can only be purchased online, credit cards, PayPal, and prepaid cards are the most common payment methods, but if PayPal becomes compatible with cryptocurrencies, the range of payment methods will expand.
In terms of speculation, as mentioned earlier, it will be possible to hold cryptocurrency in PayPal and buy games with the profits from the increased price.
In the future, if cryptocurrencies are actively used around the world to make donations and throw money, we may see the development of e-sports entertainment beyond national borders.