Breaking: Pay Pal Shutting Down Bitcoin-Related Accounts

Bitcoin If you have a Pay Pal account and you’re selling anything Bitcoin-related be prepared to get a warning email from the online payment juggernaut. Starting in mid-January Pay Pal began what looks to be a widespread crack-down on any Bitcoin-related activity on their platform. A member of popular BitcoinTalk.org shared his own experience:

“I got called from paypal because i sold a few casascius coins (no issues with the transaction itself, buyers all happy).  But the lady said because i sold bitcoin my account is now under review for a perm ban. I stated i have been selling since early 2013 with no issues, and it’s perfectly legal within ebay they even created a new category called virtual currency for it.
But she could careless just reading off a script, but I managed to get it out of her it’s some new policy they are now implementing against bitcoin. She doesnt really even understand what it is, as long as the auction has the word bitcoin in it, over certain $ amount, and buyer paid with paypal, you are at risk getting the hammer.  If you check online many similar stories in the last month or so.” (Source – BitcoinTalk.org)

Here’s the worst part, along with shutting down your account Pay Pal also freezes funds in your account which could be a major bummer if you store a meaningful amount of money in your Pay Pal account.

Now for the silver lining, there’s no better sign of how popular Bitcoin is getting if huge, well-established companies like Pay Pal are starting to get scared. What does this mean for you? If you have a Pay Pal account and are doing anything Bitcoin-related don’t be surprised if you get a warning. You’ll get one and only one and then, poof, bye bye Pay Pal account.

While this might be a short-term fix for Pay Pal it is clear that they have a bigger problem looming ahead and canceling their customer’s account isn’t a great long-term solution.

Photo Credit: btckeychain via Compfight cc

Morgan Linton

Morgan Linton