The PayPal logo on a smartphone and coins depicting virtual currency.

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STRF / STAR MAX / IPx / AP / SIPA

Paypal's initiative is particularly symbolic on the path to adopting bitcoin, ether and other litecoin transactions.

The American online payment giant announced Tuesday that it will accept cryptocurrency payments in the United States.

A new feature in the PayPal wallet will give consumers the ability to "pay in crypto," alongside other payment methods, the group said.

The service will be "available to millions of online businesses around the world and gradually over the coming months, customers with cryptocurrency holdings in the United States will be able to choose to pay in crypto, seamlessly," PayPal says.

"As the use of payments and digital currencies accelerates, the introduction of 'Pay in Crypto' supports our efforts to support the widespread adoption of cryptocurrency," said Dan Schulman, CEO of PayPal.

"Enabling cryptocurrency purchases from businesses around the world is the next step that will drive the ubiquity and massive acceptance of digital currencies," added the leader.

Visa on the same line

Specifically, transactions will be settled in dollars and converted into the currency applicable at standard PayPal conversion rates.

The "Pay in Crypto" feature will allow consumers to sell cryptocurrency through PayPal and then pay a business for their online purchases in a single, seamless checkout flow, the company says.

PayPal is not the first online payments service to support the use of cryptocurrencies.

Square had launched in 2018 an application allowing purchases in bitcoin.

But the juggernaut of online payments, with 377 million accounts, should weigh in the popularization of cryptocurrencies.

And he won't be the only one making an impact.

On Monday, the credit card issuer Visa further announced that it will accept USD Coin, a currency-backed cryptocurrency, to settle transactions for some of its cards.

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  • Bitcoin

  • Virtual currency

  • Video

  • United States

  • Paypal

  • Economy