eBay Payments Unit Braintree to Let Merchants Accept Bitcoin

Braintree, the eBay subsidiary that runs a payment system used by popular mobile apps, plans to announce that its customers can start accepting bitcoin, according to two sources.

The move would allow websites and apps that run payments through Braintree (part of eBay’s PayPal) to start accepting bitcoin as a payment method, these people said. Braintree’s most popular customers include Uber, Airbnb and HotelTonight. It’s not clear which, if any, of these customers will choose to accept the digital currency.

The move is not expected to extend to PayPal or eBay, at least for now. One source said Braintree is working with bitcoin company Coinbase to process the bitcoin payments.

Braintree is expected to announce the news in the near future — perhaps as early as today. The Wall Street Journal first reported that Braintree was in talks with bitcoin companies to accept the digital currency.

A bitcoin is generated when computers running specialized software solve complex mathematical equations. It has gained popularity over the past year as speculators have bought the currency with the hope that its value will increase over time. Some well-known companies, including Dell and Overstock.com, have also started to accept bitcoin as a payment method. Bitcoin is currently valued at about $476, after soaring above $1100 late last year.

Update 4:14 pm ET: Braintree confirmed the news in a blog post published on Monday afternoon.

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

Will you join us?

Our biggest supporters are our readers — and we’re so grateful to everyone who has made a contribution during our September campaign. We’re less than 1,000 contributions away from reaching our goal for the month, which in turn will allow us to say yes more often when our incredible journalists come to us with questions they want to answer and projects they want to pursue. Will you make a contribution before the month ends and support our policy coverage through 2024 and beyond?

One-Time Monthly Annual

$5/month

$10/month

$25/month

$50/month

Other

$

Yes, I'll give $5/month

Yes, I'll give $5/month

We accept credit card, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. You can also contribute via