PayPal To Start Accepting Bitcoin?

John Donahoe, the CEO of eBay and its subsidiary company PayPal, is once again hinting that he sees bitcoin integration as essential to the future of both companies, the International Business Times reports.

In an interview with CNBC, Donahoe addressed digital currency and how PayPal and eBay will integrate it into their already existing systems:

“I think there’s no doubt digital currency is going to play an important role going forward, and at PayPal, we’re going to have to integrate digital currencies into our wallet.”

Although no particular timeline was given for bitcoin’s adoption by eBay and PayPal, Donahoe did say that it would be gradual:

“I think you’ll see bitcoin used in different use cases, whether it’s a peer-to-peer use case, a cross-border transaction – someone’s sending currency to someone else, and over time, you’ll start to see it with some merchants accepting bitcoin.”

Donohoe’s remarks echoed earlier ones he made in a May question and answer session with shareholders, in which he revealed that PayPal was “actively considering” bitcoin integration. In April of last year, Donohoe told the Wall Street Journal that bitcoins were a “disruptive” form of technology that eBay and PayPal were looking at “closely. He added, “There may be ways to enable it inside PayPal.”

CryptoCoinsNews described Donohoe’s interview as a “big step,” pointing out the scope of PayPal’s reach in payment processes. Acceptance of bitcoin by eBay and PayPal, they argue, would pave the way for the digital currency to be legitimized. PayPal acceptance in particular would make it easier for the currency to be implemented across multiple platforms. The Crypto Crimson reports that bitcoin is nearing PayPal in terms of daily transaction dollar amounts recently. While PayPal processes $315.3 Million in daily transactions, the dollar amount of daily bitcoin transactions now exceeds $300 Million.

PayPal and eBay aren’t the only companies considering the possibilities that bitcoins may hold for their business models. DISH Network recently announced that it would begin accepting payments in bitcoins. Other companies, such as Overstock and TigerDirect, have been quick to accept bitcoin into their payment systems, despite the lack of PayPal integration.

As The Inquisitr has previously reported, eBay very quietly added digital currency support in April, dropping another hint to observers at the time that PayPal integration was being considered. eBay also found itself in trouble last month, admitting that hackers were able to access sensitive customer information. PayPal data, which is stored on a discrete set of servers, was not affected in that data breach.

With PayPal integration, bitcoin’s reach seems poised to grow. What do you think of the possibility that PayPal could trade in digital currencies?

[Image via Crypto Crimson]