georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
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Was paypal a good or bad option to buy bitcoin in the early days of exchanges?
Bad?
- Thread starter georgelupino
- Start date
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
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But how else could one buy bitcoin if paypal was the only option? i.e. new liberty standard among others...
purecode
BANNED
- Aug 11, 2011
- 124
- 54
with paypal usa you can buy crypto direct
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
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Yeah but in the early days of exchanges many people were complaining about it regarding buying bitcoin via its platform...! Why then?
purecode
BANNED
- Aug 11, 2011
- 124
- 54
https://www.paypal.com/us/digital-wallet/manage-money/crypto
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
- 159
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How is this relevant to yesterdays problems?
purecode
BANNED
- Aug 11, 2011
- 124
- 54
paypal have own option to buy crypto.
paisawaisa
Elite Member
- Mar 23, 2022
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No one allowed that. Paypal was risky to use.
Crytononame
Senior Member
- Oct 24, 2024
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Another excursion into history? Only not very smart cryptocurrency exchanges used PayPal in the early stages. The payment system has a chargeback option for 100 days. Bitcoin trading was in a gray area, so a client who bought cryptocurrency could then return the money paid for it.
iams0l
Registered Member
- Feb 9, 2025
- 80
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Kinda mixed bag, I'd say. On one hand, it was super convenient, especially if you already used PayPal for other stuff. No need to set up a whole new account somewhere. But the fees were probably killer, and the whole "Bitcoin" thing was so new and wild west back then, I bet there were some serious risks involved. Plus, I doubt you could even buy that much. So, convenient maybe, but probably not the best deal overall.
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
- 159
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But if someone bought like 1000 usd or more of bitcoin in the early days of exchanges and had problems but disputed something immediately as soon as they saw the issue, would paypal act immediately and in favor of the person who used it to buy bitcoin via paypal?
- Mar 21, 2013
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Early paypal did not allow crypto. In fact they didn't even allow digital goods. Thus so many BHW and IM'ers got banned for selling web stuff.
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
- 159
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Then how could you buy 1000 usd or more worth of bitcoin then if paypal wasnt an option when exchanges first went online?
iams0l
Registered Member
- Feb 9, 2025
- 80
- 59
If you dropped a grand or more on Bitcoin back then and ran into problems, especially if you flagged it right away... hoo boy, that's where things get tricky. PayPal wasn't really set up to deal with the volatility and weirdness of Bitcoin, and frankly, the whole "crypto" thing was still pretty uncharted territory.
I wouldn't bet the farm on PayPal siding with the Bitcoin buyer in those early days, even with immediate dispute. They probably would have sided with the seller if the seller did not send the bitcoin. It was like, is this a legitimate transaction or a "digital goods" scam in their eyes? I'd imagine it would depend on their then current policies and how much they understood Bitcoin itself. You could get lucky, but there was definitely risk involved. It wasn't as cut and dry as buying a physical item.
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
- 159
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Luck isnt guaranteed! What are you talking about?
People used other methods. For example, platforms like LocalBitcoins allowed people to buy Bitcoin from other users, sometimes using PayPal. You could also use bank transfers on exchanges like Mt. Gox. Despite the lack of PayPal, people still found ways to buy Bitcoin.
georgelupino
Junior Member
- Oct 7, 2024
- 159
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But would bank transfers also be somewhat risky in its own ways?
Right, bank transfers have risks because they can be traced, which compromises privacy. If the bank or exchange is compromised, your funds could be at risk. Also, these transfers leave a digital footprint.
However, that was back when PayPal didn’t support crypto. Now, transferring crypto is much simpler and safer. You can use crypto wallets or decentralized exchanges, which don’t require personal information and are not dependent on the banking system.