Consumers and organizations are increasingly using tokens other than Bitcoin, according to BitPay Inc., a worldwide payment processor.
BitPay-enabled merchants’ share of Bitcoin transactions fell from 92% in 2020 to 66% last year, the company stated. A 15% Ethereum, 13% stablecoins like Litecoin and Dogecoin, and 3% new coins like Shiba Inu from BitPay in 2021.
Increase in Altcoins
As more firms use stablecoins for cross-border payments, alternative coins have increased. The value of a stablecoin in cryptocurrency remains constant if the value of other cryptocurrencies falls. Fans like Tesla Inc. Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, helped promote Dogecoins last year.
Despite the fourth quarter’s volatility, many investors may have chosen to hoard rather than spend the world’s most popular coin. Bitcoin’s first commercial transaction saw a programmer buy two pizzas with Bitcoins worth billions of dollars.
Many choose to spend their bitcoins on high-end jewelry, watches, cars, yachts, and even gold. Bitcoin supposedly replaces gold. According to CEO Stephen Pair of the Atlanta-based private firm, luxury item transaction volumes have increased 31% since 2020. There was a 57% year-over-year increase in the company’s total 2021 payment volume.
About BitPay
2011 was a time when few businesses accepted cryptocurrency. That was the establishment of BitPay. There is an average of 66,000 transactions each month. That’s just a sliver of the amount that Visa handles.
Microsoft, AT&T, and other major corporations use BitPay’s $1 billion yearly transaction volume and 80 workers to accept cryptocurrency payments.
You can use BitPay to gauge the industry’s health. A recent slump hasn’t had the same impact on crypto buyers as the 2018 crypto winter, says Pair. Despite the impact on luxury spending, crypto has a considerably greater user base than cash.
Pair explained that the company fluctuates with pricing since consumers tend to spend less when prices drop. With this latest pullback, we haven’t seen as big of a reduction in volume. It’s probably just a reflection of the increasing number of businesses who require this as a payment instrument.
The number of businesses that accept cryptocurrency payments has increased. BitPay and VeriFone began working together last year to accept digital currency at VeriFone terminals in various retail locations.
Also, BitPay is displaying signals of self-assurance. A new chief operating officer, Jim Lester, has been hired to help grow the company. Lester was formerly responsible for product management, strategy, and marketing for electronic billing and payments at ThingTech and Fiserv.
PayPal Holdings Inc. is just one of a growing number of corporations embracing crypto payments, demonstrating the market’s tremendous potential.
PayPal’s entry into this market has benefited Pair’s business by encouraging more firms to accept crypto payments. Last year’s revenue rise was close to 50%, he claimed.
Index Ventures and Founders Fund are among the investors who have contributed $72 million to the company. It has discussed an IPO internally but does not expect to go public, raise funds, or sell short.
