PayPal has some interesting feelings towards bitcoin. Apparently, while the currency itself shouldn’t be up for regulation, businesses that deal in it should.
The company made a submission to the Australian Senate committee investigating the regulation of digital currencies that calls for the recognition of differences between digital currencies, and the companies that facilitate digital currency transactions.
PayPal’s submission states:
“While the currency itself should not be regulated, and transactions by individual users without the assistance of the intermediaries should not be regulated, companies that provide a financial service for digital currency transmission, for issuance or sale of digital currency, or for exchange with other currencies such as the Australian Dollar, should be regulated in a manner similar to the existing regulations that apply to other payment services… Those regulations, however, should be adapted to recognize the specific details of how different digital currencies work, particularly ‘decentralized’ digital currencies that are not controlled by a specific issuer.”
The company’s work isn’t just stopping there. PayPal is also making various recommendations to the Senate committee, among them that bitcoin and related digital currencies be recognized as full financial instruments, and that:
“Technology neutral regulation is preferable to ensure innovation is not stifled.”
September saw PayPal’s announcement that it had struck deals with companies such as BitPay and Coinbase to integrate support for bitcoin payments in its Payments Hub.
