Was PayPal ever a good option in the early days of exchanges in order to buy bitcoin?
Paypal wasn't an option in the early years of Bitcoin. I believe it was on October 21 2020 when paypal first launched its service, due to the pandemic and a strategic move of paypal to broaden its horizon, they announce their addition of Bitcoin services stated in this link:
https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2020-10-21-PayPal-Launches-New-Service-Enabling-Users-to-Buy-Hold-and-Sell-CryptocurrencyIt was said that in 2021, paypal users can use BTC to pay for paypal partner merchants which is said to be around 26m.
If someone wanted to buy a ton of bitcoin in early 2010, would PayPal have been the way to go to buy more than 1000 usd worth of bitcoin?
Paypal in the year 2010 does not support Bitcoin purchase.
Why did PayPal get a bad reputation then?
Paypal have poor customer service, they can revert payment which scammers are exploiting, and paypal just like any centralized services can freeze or pause an account. One of the worst move of paypal which give users a bad taste of their service is the implementation of the fine for misinformation where they can withdraw $2500 for
spreading misinformation
from the suspected account. Detail about the story can be found here:
https://www.collctiv.com/blog/whats-going-on-with-paypal