How To Buy Bitcoin With PayPal?

By Prashant Jha

If you’re considering the prospect of buying Bitcoins, there are many things to know before investing in cryptocurrencies. However, a related piece of information you also need to be aware of is how to buy Bitcoin using PayPal, one of the most common payment options in everyday usage. Now if you are not a regular in the crypto scene, you might be wondering why this issue deserves an article of its own. So here we not only clear up that confusion, but also help you out with detailed information about how to buy Bitcoin with PayPal.

Why Can’t PayPal Be Used to Buy Bitcoins Directly?

The systems of PayPal and Bitcoin are inherently in conflict with one another. While PayPal allows chargebacks, Bitcoin does not. If Bitcoin transactions were allowed to be charged back, that would open up many doors for hackers and scammers to make the most of this opportunity by making fraudulent chargebacks. For the ordinary goods and services, PayPal can easily confirm if the required goods have been delivered or not, but for Bitcoin, such a confirmation is not usually forthcoming. Hence it is not viable to use PayPal for buying Bitcoins directly. Having said that, it is not altogether impossible to do that. So how do you do it? Let’s have a look.

How Do You Buy Bitcoins Using PayPal?

According to the PayPal terms of service, there can be entities called SLLs, or Second Life Lindens and these can be used to purchase Bitcoin using PayPal. Therefore many SLL platforms (similar to exchanges) have come up that offer these services. One of the most popular among these is VirWox. Now, it uses the Second Life Game as a way to buy Bitcoins using the money generated as a part of the game, and as a means to buy in-game collectibles with. This is legally a grey area, undefined by PayPal terms and thus is frequently used for buying Bitcoins.

How to Use VirWox for Buying Bitcoins Using PayPal?

First of all, the user must have formulated a clear idea about how much they want to invest in Bitcoins, how much they wish to buy, and whether they choose offline or online wallets, to store their bitcoins. Then, the user must create his or her very own Bitcoin account, giving all the required information and ensuring an account confirmation with the use of an email address. Once this is done, the user may use PayPal to transfer funds to their VirWox account. They then must choose the option to redeem the existing balance for SLL, which can then be converted to Bitcoin (BTC). The platform charges a hefty transaction fee of about 10% as it isn’t easy to use PayPal for Bitcoin purchases. After making the purchase, one should immediately transfer their BTC holdings to a secure wallet, the process of which usually gets confirmed within two days.

Other Options to Buy Bitcoins Using PayPal

Alternative platforms for doing this exists in the form of LocalBitcoins and Paxful, among others. While the former only connects you with prospective BTC sellers and requires to handle all risks and carry out all investigations about authenticity yourself; the latter, i.e, Paxful also offers an escrow service ( serves as the third party that holds funds and disburses only when requisite deal obligations have been met) in order to make the process of buying Bitcoins even more secure.

Now, buying Bitcoins alone is not enough. It is imperative to store them securely and to know how you can do so, you must check out our tips to secure crypto wallets.

Prashant Jha

As a content writer Prashant believes in presenting complex topics in simple laymen terms. He is a tech enthusiast and an avid reader.

Related Posts