"PayPal allows Bitcoin and crypto spending"

PayPal has entered the cryptocurrency market, announcing that its customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin and other virtual currencies using their PayPal accounts



Those virtual coins could then be used to buy things from the 26 million sellers which accept PayPal, it said.

PayPal plans to roll out buying options in the US over the next few weeks, with the full rollout due early next year.

Bitcoin prices rose alongside the news, breaking the $12,000 (£9,170) mark.

The other cryptocurrencies to be added first will be Ethereum, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash (a spin-off from Bitcoin).

All could be stored "directly within the PayPal digital wallet", the company said.

PayPal said it was aiming "to increase consumer understanding and adoption of cryptocurrency".

"As part of this offering, PayPal will provide account holders with educational content to help them understand the cryptocurrency ecosystem," it said.

When it comes to using the virtual coins, PayPal will convert the cryptocurrency into the relevant national currency, so the company being paid will never receive the virtual coins - just the correct amount of pounds or dollars.

PayPal said the system meant there would be "certainty of value and no incremental fees".

But using Bitcoin to pay at ordinary merchants is not due to launch until "early 2021".

PayPal has been granted permission for its operation from the New York State Department of Financial Services, in the form of a conditional "Bitlicence" - the first such licence granted.

To begin with, the service will work with an existing cryptocurrency provider in the US, the Paxos Trust Company.

I'll stay away, thanks.