1998 founded Standing
payments · paypal.com
PayPal
the moat is real
27 years 262 days and counting
Confinity / X.com merger energy, 1998-2000. Still the button a lot of the web cannot take off the page.
Why it lasted
- It is the checkout button for people who do not want to type a card into a stranger's site.
- eBay needed it, then could not kill it after the spin-out.
- The brand still means 'send money' in places Stripe never reached.
Times it almost ended
- The fraud years almost ended it. The mafia lore is cope: operations and freeze-risk were the product.
- Stripe, Square, Adyen, Apple Pay: death by nicer APIs. PayPal kept the consumer account graph.
What would finish it
- Wallets owned by the phone OS plus merchant fees that finally make the yellow button optional everywhere.
Questions
Is PayPal still up?
Yes, with a Standing verdict: the moat is real. Founded 1998.
How long has PayPal been around?
PayPal has been up since 1998-12-01.
Why did PayPal survive?
It is the checkout button for people who do not want to type a card into a stranger's site.
Could PayPal still die?
Wallets owned by the phone OS plus merchant fees that finally make the yellow button optional everywhere.