Link your PayPal account:
Complete all identity document verification steps and confirm that your country of residence is correct.
From your account Settings, select Payment Methods, then Add a Payment Method.
Select PayPal to be prompted to sign in to PayPal.
Important:
For security purposes, general limitations apply when linking your PayPal account.
If your PayPal email does not match your Coinbase email, you'll need to complete 2-step verification on Coinbase for security purposes.
Your PayPal account’s country and name must match your Coinbase account’s country and legal name.
You can only link your PayPal account to one Coinbase account at a time.
To add a different PayPal account, you must first unlink your previous one on file.
Prepaid cards, business cards, and credit cards linked to your PayPal account are not currently supported by Coinbase.
For fraud prevention, PayPal transactions can be subject to withdrawal holds based on our internal criteria. To send funds faster and avoid this, use a different payment method such as a wire transfer or debit card.
You can buy crypto using your PayPal balance, a linked debit card (unless you're in Canada), or a linked bank account.
PayPal doesn't support credit cards, PayPal Credit, or Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) options for crypto purchases. Attempting to use them may result in a failed transaction.
US customers will need to have a valid payment method (like a bank account or debit card) linked to their PayPal account to buy cryptocurrency, or add cash through your PayPal account.
Canadian customers can use their PayPal balance, but we recommend linking a valid bank account to your PayPal account.
If you’d like to change your payment method, you'll first need to unlink your PayPal account from Coinbase.
Unlink your PayPal:
Computer
From your profile icon, select My preferences to get to your Settings page.
Go to the Payment Methods tab and select Remove next to your PayPal account.
Sign in to PayPal to select another payment method.
Mobile
From the menu
, select Profile & Settings. From the list of payment methods, select the PayPal account, then Remove.
Log in to PayPal to select another payment method.
The PayPal payment went through but I didn’t receive the crypto:
In rare cases, your PayPal payment may complete while the crypto transaction fails.
If that happens, you’ll either:
Get a full refund to your PayPal account
Have Coinbase manually complete your crypto purchase for you
Contact us if you don't see one of these solutions shortly after a failed transaction.
Buy cryptocurrency or add cash using PayPal
To review the amount limits for PayPal on your account, please visit https://www.coinbase.com/settings/account-levels
Supported PayPal transactions by region
Local Currency | Buy | Add Cash | Cash Out* | Sell* | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | USD | Crypto | USD | USD | None |
European Union*** | EUR | Crypto | None | EUR | EUR |
United Kingdom** | EUR, GBP | Crypto | None | EUR, GBP | EUR, GBP |
Canada | CAD | Crypto | None | CAD | CAD |
Australia | AUD | Crypto | Crypto | AUD | AUD |
*Cash out refers to a direct cash movement from your cash balance to an external source. Sell refers to an indirect cash movement from a crypto balance to cash, then to an external source.
**Cash out may not be available for all UK customers; Sell will be offered in instances where Cash out is unavailable.
***Not available in all EU countries. We're rolling out PayPal options gradually.
The option to link my PayPal account isn't available
If you don't see the option to add PayPal as a payment method, this feature is not yet available for your region. As soon as it's ready, you'll receive an email with instructions on how to link your PayPal account.
PayPal declined my transaction
PayPal may decline the transaction for reasons including, but not limited to, insufficient funds, bank errors, or fraud. If your payment was not successful, you can try again with a different funding source linked to your PayPal account or choose another method of payment. You may also reach PayPal support to investigate further.
There are two transactions in my cash balance
PayPal only allows cash-to-cash transfers, so the amount of your purchase was added to your Coinbase balance, then immediately used to purchase the same amount’s worth of cryptocurrency. While this happens instantaneously, our goal is to transparently display the movement of your funds.
I can't add a new PayPal account
If you’ve recently added your PayPal account and are unable to add another, try again in a few days.
If you've already linked and unlinked your PayPal accounts and can’t re-add them, try using a different payment method.