According to a Coinbase blog article written by Allen Osgood, the crypto trading platform’s product manager, Coinbase has expanded its PayPal support to its Canadian customers. The article goes on to say that “Coinbase customers in Canada can now instantly transfer sale proceeds directly into their PayPal accounts.” Allen expounds on Coinbase’s commitment to mold itself into the most trusted cryptocurrency exchange in the world and the most accessible still. By integrating PayPal into the payment system, they offer their clientele a safe and reliable way to access funds.
Coinbase has also integrated PayPal withdrawals to its customers in the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the EU. This is a massive relief for European crypto traders who could only access their funds through U.K. Faster Payments or Single Euro Payments Area facilities.
Consequently, the Coinbase to PayPal extension will avail crypto to fiat withdrawals to crypto traders in over 32 countries in Europe. Part of this group is 28 EU member countries and Norway, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and Iceland, which are nations of the EFTA.
The Low-Key PayPal Integration Announcements
Most pundits in the crypto verse were however surprised that Coinbase did not make a hullabaloo of this notable achievement, as it is wont to do over other such feats. In contrast, the exchange instead kept it low profile, only updating it on their company FAQ page.
However, the PayPal withdrawal option for Canadian Coinbase customers was met with a high level of criticism on Reddit. One crypto, for instance, wrote that “That doesn’t mean PayPal won’t decide to close your account and hold your money hostage.”
Another warned, “Be very careful with PayPal, they are notorious for stealing your money and making it almost impossible to recover.” There were mentions of how PayPal made it extremely difficult to access funds transferred, with some transactions taking 13 days.
PayPal’s High Transaction Fees
What seemed to get to most crypto users was PayPal’s rampant closure or freezing of their user’s accounts. Their vice-like grip on the funds of their clientele goes against everything crypto users stand for and is perhaps going to affect the withdrawal feature’s rate of adoption.
Its high costs of transactions are another huge problem because they could cost most crypto users a five percent charge for each transaction. Furthermore, PayPal’s base fees have been on the increase and are now much higher than what high street bank clients have to part with. PayPal had ceased its Coinbase support for US customers in March 2018 citing what the payment platform referred to as ‘technical issues.’
Coinbase has in the past released a PayPal alternative to assist merchants in accepting crypto payments. With the Coinbase Commerce platform, traders could pay for goods and services using their Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash or Litecoin. All that a merchant was required to do was to integrate Coinbase Commerce into their shop’s checkout flow. Shopify was one of Coinbase Commerce’s early adopters.
The usual problems of crypto volatility, for instance, have however hindered mass adoption of the platform. Therefore, hoped that as the crypto market matures, affordable transaction withdrawal platforms will step in as alternatives for PayPal withdrawals.
