Tomorrow’s Tech Treepowered by Astra

Commerce & Finance · Recorded milestone

Online payments

Recorded year1999

PayPal lets people pay anyone with an email address.

Explore this milestone on the interactive map

Built on

Public-key cryptographyRecorded · 1976enables
HTTPS encryptionRecorded · 1995enables
Online retailRecorded · 1995enables

Led to

Online gig workRecorded · 2005enables
Home-sharing platformRecorded · 2008enables
Crowdfunding for creative projectsRecorded · 2009enables
Paid newslettersRecorded · 2017enables

Sources & evidence

Additional source

Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.