eBay have inserted a new Virtual currency category on its US website, with listings for dozens of Bitcoin and altcoin-related activities and with shares in mining operations:

Source & Copyright©2014 - eBay Inc.

The Paypers web-site report that “eBay has included the category in its ‘Category Changes‘ list for April 2014 under ‘Coins and Paper Money’. There have been multiple entries for Bitcoin and altcoin trades, Mining Hardware, and ‘Mining Contracts’, where investors are invited to buy per-gigahash shares in existing and proposed crypto-currency mining operations. Search results revealed hundreds of mining-related listings not yet categorized.”

Paypers adds, “There are, however, other listings promising the coins will be sent electronically. The ‘Mining Hardware’ and ‘Mining Contracts’ subcategories also have some currency sales listed with Auction and ‘Buy it Now’ options.”

Apparently, this is not permitted on eBay’s UK website, which has had a ‘Virtual Currency’ category since February 2014, but stipulates listings must be classified ads.

Future development

A filing to the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) in early 2014 referred to Bitcoin as a potential competitor to PayPal (owned by eBay), which usually charges a 2-3% fee on transactions it processes.

Paypers speculates that “eBay has also applied for patents in the last few months that suggest an interest in digital currency exchange and other payment ‘tokens’.”

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CTMfile take: This is a scary world. The scraps over Bitcoin delivery, e.g. not received or “that’s not a Bitcoin” must be interesting, but not funny.