The cryptocurrency bear market has had an impact on how people pay with cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin (BTC) remains an important payment tool despite enormous volatility, according to data from BitPay.
The share of Bitcoin payments in total BitPay transactions has dropped amid the current crypto winter, but it remains the most popular cryptocurrency for payments on the platform.
Bitcoin-based payment sales volumes on BitPay accounted for up 87% last year and fell to 52% in the first quarter of 2022 amid the bear market, BitPay VP of Marketing Merrick Theobald told Cointelegraph. In contrast to the number of transactions, Bitcoin sales volumes on BitPay are associated with the total value of crypto payments processed in Bitcoin.
Theobald noted that BitPay saw an impact on sales volume primarily among non-stablecoin purchases, as stablecoin sales continued to occur regardless of cryptocurrency price fluctuations.
Theobald noted that BitPay’s global transactions remained stable despite the market downturn, with monthly transactions increasing from around 58,000 in 2021 to 67,000 transactions in 2022.
In line with the sales volume, the amount of Bitcoin payment transactions has also dropped significantly this year. According to data from BitPay, the share of BTC transactions fell from 57% in March to 48% in July.
On the other hand, BitPay users have been paying more and more in other cryptocurrencies such as Litecoin (LTC), as LTC transactions increased from 14% in March to 22% in July.
Despite a massive drop in bitcoin payments amid the bear market, BTC remains the most commonly used cryptocurrency for transactions on bitpay, accounting for over 50% of all sales on the platform.. According to Theobald, that’s further evidence that Bitcoin’s public payment service use case, the one originally outlined by BTC creator Satoshi Nakamoto, is still relevant. The executive said:
“People still use BTC on BitPay more than other cryptocurrencies because it is the oldest and most well-known cryptocurrency, has the largest market capitalization, and has proven over the years to be a great digital payment tool.”
Theobald also suggested that some users may have preferred to pay with Bitcoin in the midst of the bear market because it may be more expensive to sell BTC on an exchange and use it later to buy items online. “BitPay offers customers a more direct and less expensive way to use their Bitcoin to purchase everyday items,” he added.
BitPay is one of the largest cryptocurrency payment companies in the world, allowing individuals and businesses to purchase products and services with or accept cryptocurrency as payment.. BitPay provides cryptocurrency payment services to a large number of companies in the United States, such as Newegg, Verifone, and Shop.com. The BitPay platform has also gained popularity for administrative payments and donation campaigns in the United States.
The news comes amid a JPMorgan report on declining demand for cryptocurrencies as a payment method over the past six months. Takis Georgakopoulos, global head of payments at JPMorgan, said the bank has been handling significantly fewer cryptocurrency payments.JPMorgan reportedly sees “very little” demand for such payments at the moment.
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