When Reddit user u/swiftboatvet participated in a PayPal survey regarding online shopping and payment methods, CryptoCoinsNews reports, the questions presented soon became wholly concerned with Bitcoin. Not only that, the survey seemed to invite direct comparisons between PayPal and Bitcoin itself.
According to u/swiftboatvet, who uploaded screenshots of some of the survey to imgur, there appeared “4-5 pages comparing PayPal to Bitcoin,” with questions pertaining to usability, support and safety, among others.
The questions, however, seemed more applicable to PayPal and could hardly even be asked of Bitcoin, making the requested comparison somewhat impossible.
One question invites a rating of 1-10 for PayPal and Bitcoin of the statement “Is easy to make changes to my account,” while the following one requires the same for “Is easy to set up an account.” Any user familiar with Bitcoin would struggle to answer these, of course, as Bitcoin has no such accounts. While PayPal perhaps means wallets or trading accounts on exchanges, no such clarification appears to be provided.
Further questions highlight the same misunderstanding, including “Resolves account issues quickly” and “Keeps me up to date,” each requiring a rating of 1-10. As Cryptocoinsnews points out, the basic confusion seems to lie in PayPal’s treatment of Bitcoin as a service rather than a currency, and Reddit users were quick to voice their opinion following publication of the images.
“brb...making some changes to my bitcoin account,” the most popular comment by u/MyNameisGoxxy reads.
The tension in what was until recently a captive market for PayPal is tangible, with eBay “actively considering” Bitcoin integration while Bitcoin’s flagship entities such as Bitpay and Coinbase start drawing customers away, especially in the international payments category.
Nevertheless, that Bitcoin is so pertinent to PayPal’s future success makes it all the more surprising that such an uninformed survey should have been released. Furthermore, areas where Bitcoin and PayPal could be said to be competing are not mentioned, international payment fees being a notable example.
u/swiftboatvet clarified that the questions concerning Bitcoin appeared as a result of having selected Bitcoin in an earlier question. However, the bizarre wording of these later questions remains a mystery indeed.