The following information is for educational purposes only and does not constitute an endorsem*nt of this type of Cryptocurrency. Consider seeking tax and financial advice from licensed professionals. The cryptocurrency service is currently available to PayPal Personal account holders only.
Visit Discover Crypto for more information.
Buy it. Sell it. Hold it. Transfer it.
Crypto, short for cryptocurrency, is a digital currency you can buy, sell, and securely hold in your PayPal account. PayPal also supports the transfer of cryptocurrencies between PayPal, Venmo, and other supported wallets and exchanges.
With PayPal you can:
- Send and receive Crypto to and from eligible confirmed personal PayPal accounts in the U.S. and U.S. Territories (excluding Hawaii.)
- Buy, hold and sell Crypto.
- Through checkout with Crypto you can sell Crypto and use the proceeds to pay for purchases through your PayPal account.
- Transfer cryptocurrencies between eligible PayPal, Venmo, accounts and other wallets and exchanges.
You can find our Terms and Conditions and Acceptable Use Policy by clicking Legal at the bottom of any PayPal page.
Receiving crypto into PayPal
Once you’ve completed verification:
- Select receive in the crypto hub in your PayPal account.
- Choose a cryptocurrency type, for example, Bitcoin, to generate a crypto address.
- Use the crypto address to send crypto from an external crypto wallet. (A new address is automatically generated for every transfer.)
Remember that this address will only work for the cryptocurrency you choose. Crypto sent to the wrong address type (for example, Bitcoin Cash sent to a Bitcoin address) will be lost.
Sending crypto out of PayPal
To enable external transfers, you’ll need to go through an additional level of account verification. Once enabled, all you need is an external crypto address to transfer cryptocurrency out of PayPal.
Be sure that you enter an address for the exact cryptocurrency you want to send. Crypto sent to the wrong address type (for example, BTC versus BCH) will be lost.
PYUSD can be sent to most Ethereum addresses in wallets that support ERC-20 tokens. For PayPal USD, first, check with your external wallet to confirm they will accept your PYUSD.
Crypto transfers can’t be canceled
Because of the irreversible nature of cryptocurrency protocols, transactions can't be canceled or reversed once initiated. If you sent cryptocurrency to the wrong external crypto address, please contact the recipient and ask for their cooperation in returning it. If you don’t know the owner of the address, there are no actions you can take to get your crypto returned.
If you sent cryptocurrency to the wrong PayPal account holder, please contact the recipient and ask them to return it. Any crypto transferred to another PayPalaccount that hasn’t been claimed by the recipient after 30 days is automatically reversed to the sender.
Network fee
Sending crypto outside of PayPal will incur a network fee, also known as the blockchain network fee. It isn’t a PayPal transaction fee. The fee may fluctuate depending on the network congestion. We will show you the amount you will pay for network fees when you send your crypto and add it to the amount of cryptocurrency you want to send. Visit our fees page for more information.
Crypto transfer timeframes
Transfers into or out of PayPal on the blockchain usually take around 2 hours to be completed, but this time may fluctuate depending on the type of crypto chosen and network congestion.
When sending crypto to another PayPal Balance account, if your recipient isn’t set up to get crypto in their PayPal Balance account, they’ll have 30 days to get set up and accept your transfer.
Weekly crypto transfer limit
In the US, the maximum amount for weekly cryptocurrency transfers is $10,000 per week. This total maximum applies if you send internal transfers (to other PayPal accounts) or external transfers, or a combination of internal and external transfers.
Additional info
After completion, blockchain-based transfers will have a transaction hash (txHash) that is displayed within the activity details. This identifier can be used to look up additional details in any compatible blockchain explorer.
PayPal Purchase Protection
PayPal Purchase Protection doesn’t apply to any transactions in your crypto hub, including purchases, sales, or transfers.
Crypto transfers can fail
Transfers can fail for many reasons, including issues with the cryptocurrency network, system downtime, or issues unique to your account. PayPal does not own or control cryptocurrency networks. If you are trying to send crypto, PayPal will not treat a transfer of Crypto Assets as complete until the transfer is confirmed by the network. A transfer that is never confirmed by the network will show as failed.
When crypto is sent to you, PayPal needs several confirmations on the blockchain to accept the incoming crypto. The number of confirmations depends on the type of cryptocurrency you are trying to receive. You can check the status of your incoming transfer on any publicly available blockchain viewer.
