PayPal now allows UK residents to buy, hold, and sell cryptocurrency.

PayPal now lets UK customers buy and sell Bitcoin for the very first time. It has just been announced that the company is launching a new service that will allow customers in the United Kingdom to choose between four different types of cryptocurrencies — including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash — that can be purchased using a bank account or debit card that is linked to the service.

When Coinbase initially introduced bitcoin support in the United States last autumn, it did so in collaboration with Paxos Trust Company. By the middle of November, the PayPal cryptocurrency service launch had been made available to all consumers in the United States. Venmo, which is owned by PayPal, also introduced support for bitcoin last spring.

Purchases of cryptocurrencies may now be made via the PayPal website or mobile app in the United Kingdom, where consumers can choose from pre-determined purchase quantities or input an amount of their own choice. PayPal said customers will be able to begin purchasing cryptocurrencies for as low as £1 in the near future if they so desire. However, according to the firm, there are transaction costs as well as currency translation fees associated with purchasing and selling cryptocurrencies. These differ depending on the quantity of bitcoin that is purchased or traded.

Despite the fact that it is a new service, it is remarkably similar to PayPal’s existing one in the United States. PayPal has informed us that it is customising transaction limits for its clients in the United Kingdom. At the time of introduction, the maximum amount that may be spent on a single cryptocurrency purchase is £15,000. Within a 12-month period, the maximum amount that may be spent on purchases is £35,000. In the United States, the business originally offered the service with a weekly purchasing limit of $20,000 dollars. However, in July, the company increased the purchase cap to $100,000 and removed the yearly purchase restriction.

It also told TechCrunch that the United Kingdom makes sense as the first foreign expansion for its cryptocurrency business since it is a fintech hotspot and Paypal expansion for UK Residents, where it has a significant number of consumer users.

In addition, cryptocurrency will be a major element of PayPal’s next “super app,” which is expected to be released in the coming months.

The company declined to comment on whether or when it plans to expand its other cryptocurrency services to the United Kingdom, including its more recently launched “Checkout with Crypto,” which allows customers to checkout using their cryptocurrency at millions of online businesses by first converting the cryptocurrency needed for the transaction into fiat currency before completing the transaction. Instead, PayPal said that it wants to first study and watch how its clients in the United Kingdom use the new cryptocurrency-buying, holding, and selling service before rolling out more features and capabilities.

PayPal’s vice president and general manager of blockchain, cryptocurrency, and digital currencies, Jose Fernandez da Ponte, said in a statement that the pandemic has accelerated digital change and innovation across all aspects of our lives — including digitization of money and greater consumer adoption of digital financial services and hence PayPal Expands Crypto Trading To UK Users.

“With our worldwide reach, digital payments experience, and understanding of consumers and companies, coupled with strict security and compliance controls, we have the unique potential, as well as the duty, to assist individuals in the United Kingdom in their bitcoin exploration. PayPal currently supports cryptocurrency transactions in the United States, excluding Hawaii, and U.S. territories, in addition to the United Kingdom, but the company says it is exploring the potential of digital currencies through partnerships with licenced and regulated cryptocurrency platforms, as well as with central banks in other parts of the world, at this time.