Online juggernaut, eBay, has added a virtual currency section to its site, allowing for bitcoin and dogecoin trading. The feature only appears for the US site as of now, but that can change in the future.

eBay Digital Currency Section

Users can now buy and sell digital currencies, as well as mining contracts and hardware. eBay has indicated the virtual currency section in a document that identifies all the site’s changes for the month of April 2014. It is listed under ‘Coins and Paper Money.’

However, the auction site has yet to accept bitcoin or any other form of digital currency for their own payment methods. This is most likely due to bitcoin’s competitive nature towards eBay owned payment processor, PayPal.

eBay has divided its digital currency section into 3 areas. (Currency, Mining Contracts and Miners.)

In the mining contracts sections, sellers adhere to selling contracts with a fixed hashing rate. Hashing rates are important because as time goes on, increased hashing speeds are necessary to make the most out of digital currency mining. Bitcoin mining becomes more and more difficult over time, requiring faster speeds and powerful energy sources to function.

Additionally, subcategories under mining and mining contracts allow for digital currency sales listed as auction and ‘Buy it Now’ options.

eBay has recognized bitcoin to be a direct “potential competitor” with PayPal, under a filing with the US Securities and Exchanges Commission.

Plans for eBay Bitcoin Exchanger

CEO of eBay, John Donahoe, has publicly expressed interest with the digital currency industry. There have also been plans for eBay to become more involved with currencies like bitcoin.

Donahoe spoke with Bloomberg’s Matt Miller on the topic of eBay’s thoughts on virtual currencies. Donahoe stated that:

“PayPal is building a digital wallet that can take multiple types of currency.”

It was later discovered that eBay had filed a patent application with the United States Patent & Trademark Office, back in July 2013, which had mentions of bitcoin. The patent speaks of an eBay bitcoin exchanger type of system, which can be used to accept any form of currency. The patent also refers to some sort of rewards or point system for the exchanger.

eBay may be getting closer towards accepting bitcoins for payment, and are perhaps taking it slow to make sure everything is done correctly.

For more digital currency news, stay tuned to Coinreport.net.

Image via eBay