The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has hit a new 15-month high following news that Paypal will be allowing US users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin crossed it’s previous 2020 high of $12,481 today following a rally that started earlier this week and has seen the cryptocurrency add over $1,200 to it’s price. The last time Bitcoin was above this level was early July 2019, over 15 months ago.
After bouncing off a low of $11,200 on October 16, Bitcoin began climbing rapidly – possibly due to fears regarding the worsening pandemic and the upcoming US election – and has continued since. Today’s announcement from Paypal helped catapult it even further.
After briefly touching very near $12,500 and making the new 15-month high, the BTC price faced mild resistance but seems to now be holding steady in that region. Up by almost 10% over the past seven days, the world’s leading digital asset looks like it might still have some gas in it to keep going.
Paypal
Online payments giant Paypal announced today that from next year it will allow its 26 million customers to begin transacting in cryptocurrencies. According to reports, Paypal users will not only be able to buy and sell digital assets unsing its services but also hold assets on the platform itself.
Supported cryptocurrencies will include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), and Litecoin (LTC), with the potential for more assets to be added later. Paypal assures no additional fees will be incurred for using digital assets but all merchant transactions will be settle in local fiat currency set at Paypal rates.
“Consumers will be able to instantly convert their selected cryptocurrency balance into fiat currency, with certainty of value and no incremental fees,” the Paypal release stated.
Paypal is able to offer the new service following the award of a “Bitlicense” from the New York State Department of Financial Service – the first of its kind to be granted.
