PayPal doesn't charge me anything to purchase things. I only pay fees when people send me money, not when I purchase things or withdraw. I just checked all of my recent purchases no fees charged that I can see anywhere.
In order to get Bitcoin, I need to purchase it. To purchase it, as far as I know, I need to use an exchange. If I "buy" $5 of Bitcoin, I actually need to spend like $6.50 or something quite often.
I am not an expert in this, just a few trades which ended up costing me a lot more than I wanted to spend, but here is someone confirming this type of thing:
https://www.investopedia.com/tech/how-much-does-it-cost-buy-cryptocurrency-exchanges/
Here’s an example. Coinbase charges a flat fee of $1.99 for purchases of cryptocurrencies between $25 and $50. It also charges 3.99% of the transaction amount for purchases made through credit card. Thus, if the user makes a credit card purchase for $25 worth of cryptocurrencies, the variable fee is $0.99 and the flat fee is $1.99. Because the flat fee is greater, Coinbase will charge $1.99 for the transaction. Such transactions can become expensive for users interested in transacting amounts greater than $300.
So if you don't already have Bitcoin, it is definitely much more expensive and time consuming to purchase it and use it. PayPal just links directly to my credit cards, debit cards, and bank accounts. I can access all of my funds instantly and don't have to exchange it for an unbacked "currency" that could be worth 20% less if I fall asleep for a few hours.
