The platform reported the user’s trading operations as irregular. Although PayPal launched its new cryptocurrency service, there are employees of the company who seem to know nothing about it.
Trading Bitcoin with PayPal’s new cryptocurrency service could result in the permanent suspension of a user’s account and the blocking of all his funds for six months.
An American PayPal user, identified as TheCoolDoc, said that he recently used the platform to conduct some trading operations. He did this taking advantage of the fact that the company decided not to charge fees for transfers with Bitcoin until 2021 and due to the current volatility of the cryptocurrency market.
He commented that he conducted a group of cryptocurrency buying and selling operations that exceeded USD 10,000 in one week. However, instead of the platform reporting them as cryptocurrency transactions, they categorized it as “item sales.”
The system reported the movements as something unusual, which did not surprise the user since he had not conducted so many operations since he created the account. PayPal decided to limit TheCoolDoc’s operations, as well as send a message requesting explanations for 10 operations that the customer had conducted in recent days.
According to the user, the developers of “PayPal Crypto” did not think about the detail of reporting cryptocurrency transactions as such. For that reason, he sent all the necessary information for them to review his transactions, in addition to his identification data and a personal photo. Besides, he noted that all the operations that he had conducted were connected to Paypal Crypto.
However, he received a message from PayPal saying that they had permanently suspended his account and that they would withhold his money for 180 days. The message stated that the affected user “will not be able to do more business with Paypal.” TheCoolDoc added that a total of USD 462 will remain in his account possibly for six months.
The PayPal Support employees were open to helping him, but they did not know anything about PayPal’s new cryptocurrency service. The customer says that he had to explain the details about this new feature to the operator even though the company had already launched it in recent weeks.
PayPal Is Not an Exchange to Trade Bitcoin
User Bittabet argued that “PayPal is not a cryptocurrency exchange. He says that its service aims to allow people to hold Bitcoin and then spend it on other businesses. In other words, the platform is a kind of crypto-asset wallet or bank account, rather than a product for trading.
The same user explained that PayPal may never have taken into account the volatility of Bitcoin and the speculation of these markets. For that reason, they adopted the asset as one more currency for their traders, but people like TheCoolDoc may have other plans.
Another user, identified as ModernRefrigerator, commented that the company has a centralized design, which lends itself to censorship and the withholding of funds. He believes that it is necessary to support the development of more decentralized exchanges that allow users to do what they want with their money. “When an exchange like PayPal or Coinbase exercises that kind of control, it goes against the original vision of Bitcoin.”
On November 13th, PayPal announced the start of its cryptocurrency operations in the United States. This sparked excitement in the cryptocurrency market while also helping the price of Bitcoin to start its bullish run.
However, these new events do not make it clear whether PayPal is prepared for cryptocurrency users or whether it has a regulation capable of adapting to this market. Only time will have the last word on it, while “TheCoolDoc” awaits his money back.
By Willmen Blanco
