Close Menu
TechCentralTechCentral

    Subscribe to the newsletter

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    Facebook X (Twitter) YouTube LinkedIn
    WhatsApp Facebook X (Twitter) LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentralTechCentral
    • News

      World Bank set to back South Africa’s big energy grid roll-out

      20 June 2025

      The algorithm will sing now: why musicians should be worried about AI

      20 June 2025

      Sita hits back at critics, promises faster, automated procurement

      20 June 2025

      The transatlantic race to create the first television

      20 June 2025

      Listed: All the MVNOs in South Africa – 2025 edition

      19 June 2025
    • World

      Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

      19 June 2025

      Trump Mobile dials into politics, profit and patriarchy

      17 June 2025

      Samsung plots health data hub to link users and doctors in real time

      17 June 2025

      Beijing’s chip champions blacklisted by Taiwan

      16 June 2025

      China is behind in AI chips – but for how much longer?

      13 June 2025
    • In-depth

      Meta bets $72-billion on AI – and investors love it

      17 June 2025

      MultiChoice may unbundle SuperSport from DStv

      12 June 2025

      Grok promised bias-free chat. Then came the edits

      2 June 2025

      Digital fortress: We go inside JB5, Teraco’s giant new AI-ready data centre

      30 May 2025

      Sam Altman and Jony Ive’s big bet to out-Apple Apple

      22 May 2025
    • TCS

      TCS+ | AfriGIS’s Helen Hulett on how tech can help resolve South Africa’s water crisis

      18 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E2: South Africa’s digital battlefield

      16 June 2025

      TechCentral Nexus S0E1: Starlink, BEE and a new leader at Vodacom

      8 June 2025

      TCS+ | The future of mobile money, with MTN’s Kagiso Mothibi

      6 June 2025

      TCS+ | AI is more than hype: Workday execs unpack real human impact

      4 June 2025
    • Opinion

      South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

      17 June 2025

      AI and the future of ICT distribution

      16 June 2025

      Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

      13 June 2025

      Beyond the box: why IT distribution depends on real partnerships

      2 June 2025

      South Africa’s next crisis? Being offline in an AI-driven world

      2 June 2025
    • Company Hubs
      • Africa Data Centres
      • AfriGIS
      • Altron Digital Business
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Altron Group
      • Arctic Wolf
      • AvertITD
      • Braintree
      • CallMiner
      • CYBER1 Solutions
      • Digicloud Africa
      • Digimune
      • Domains.co.za
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • Incredible Business
      • iONLINE
      • Iris Network Systems
      • LSD Open
      • NEC XON
      • Network Platforms
      • Next DLP
      • Ovations
      • Paracon
      • Paratus
      • Q-KON
      • SevenC
      • SkyWire
      • Solid8 Technologies
      • Telit Cinterion
      • Tenable
      • Vertiv
      • Videri Digital
      • Wipro
      • Workday
    • Sections
      • AI and machine learning
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud services
      • Contact centres and CX
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Electronics and hardware
      • Energy and sustainability
      • Enterprise software
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Lifestyle
      • Motoring
      • Public sector
      • Retail and e-commerce
      • Science
      • SMEs and start-ups
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Events
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home » Cryptocurrencies » Bitcoin’s dominance in crypto payments is starting to wane

    Bitcoin’s dominance in crypto payments is starting to wane

    By Olga Kharif17 January 2022
    Twitter LinkedIn Facebook WhatsApp Email Telegram Copy Link
    News Alerts
    WhatsApp

    Consumers and businesses are increasingly starting to use digital tokens other than bitcoin for purchases, according to BitPay, one of the biggest crypto payments processors in the world.

    Last year, bitcoin’s use at merchants that use BitPay dropped to about 65% of processed payments, down from 92% in 2020, the company said. Ether purchases accounted for 15% of the total, stablecoins were 13% and new coins added to BitPay in 2021 — dogecoin, shiba inu and litecoin — accounted for 3%.

    The alternative coins’ use surged partly as more businesses have begun using stablecoins for cross-border payments. Consumers also tend to move to stablecoins — whose value is supposed to stay steady — when crypto prices drop, and they’ve been falling since early November. Coins like doge also made a splash last year, thanks to fans like Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who on Friday said the token can be used to buy the company’s merchandise.

    BitPay helps companies ranging from Microsoft to AT&T accept cryptocurrency payments

    With bitcoin’s price rising 60% last year, despite the fourth-quarter volatility, many investors may also have chosen to hold onto the world’s biggest cryptocurrency instead of spending it. Many remember bitcoin’s first commercial transaction, in which a programmer spent bitcoins now worth billions of dollars on two pizzas.

    When they did spend their crypto, many bought luxury good like jewellery and watches, cars, boats — and even (cover your ears) gold, which bitcoin — touted as digital gold — is supposed to replace, according to BitPay. The Atlanta-based private company’s transaction volumes related to luxury goods surged 31% last year from 9% in 2020, said CEO Stephen Pair. The company’s overall 2021 payment volumes rose 57% year over year.

    BitPay was founded in 2011, when few companies accepted digital coins. Today it processes an average of about 66 000 transactions per month. That’s a tiny fraction of, say, Visa’s volume: the credit-card network processed 206 billion transactions in the year ended 30 June 2021.

    BitPay, with its US$1-billion in annual transaction volume and 80 employees, helps companies ranging from Microsoft to AT&T accept cryptocurrency payments.

    Barometer

    It can also serve as an industry barometer. At least so far, the recent downturn hasn’t affected crypto investors’ spending habits as much as in the crypto winter of 2018, Pair said. While luxury spending has been hit, the overall declines have been much smaller, he said — perhaps a sign of confidence that the current downturn could be short-lived, or that crypto has a much broader base of users.

    “Our business ebbs and flows to some degree with the price, when the price goes down, people tend to spend less,” Pair said. “We have not experienced as much of a decline in volume with this recent pullback. It’s probably just a reflection of more and more companies that need to use this as a tool to conduct payments.”

    More merchants are accepting crypto payments now. Last year BitPay began working with VeriFone to accept digital coins at its terminals at various stores.

    For its part, BitPay is showing signs of confidence as well. It just appointed Jim Lester its first-ever chief operating officer to expand the business. Lester previously headed start-up ThingTech, and was also senior vice president of product management, strategy and marketing at Fiserv’s electronic billing and payments division.

    Dogecoin has gained a measure of popularity for payments, thanks in large part to Tesla CEO Elon Musk

    A growing list of companies including PayPal are stepping into crypto payments as well, showing the payments market’s growth potential.

    “PayPal getting into this space has been great for our business, because it causes companies to start asking the question of should they accept crypto payments,” Pair said. BitPay had close to 50% revenue growth last year, he said.

    The company has raised $72-million from the likes of Index Ventures and Founders Fund. It doesn’t expect to go public, raise another funding round or sell in the near term, though it has talked about an IPO internally, Pair said.

    “We really like where we are strategically,” Pair said. “This space is still very young. A lot of it has to do with what we think about timing. In the next couple of years we are likely to see very substantial growth.”  — (c) 2022 Bloomberg LP



    Bitcoin BitPay dogecoin Elon Musk ether litecoin Shiba Inu
    Subscribe to TechCentral Subscribe to TechCentral
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email Copy Link
    Previous ArticleMatric results online: Where to find them
    Next Article The metaverse will be built on the blockchain

    Related Posts

    Watch | Starship rocket explodes in setback to Musk’s Mars mission

    19 June 2025

    Starlink to South Africa: ‘We are ready to invest’

    17 June 2025

    Up to Icasa whether Starlink gets a licence: Malatsi

    11 June 2025
    Company News

    Making IT happen: how Trade Link gears up to enable SA retail strategies

    20 June 2025

    Why parents choose CambriLearn for online education

    19 June 2025

    Disrupt first, ask questions later – the uncomfortable truth about incident response

    18 June 2025
    Opinion

    South Africa pioneered drone laws a decade ago – now it must catch up

    17 June 2025

    AI and the future of ICT distribution

    16 June 2025

    Singapore soared – why can’t we? Lessons South Africa refuses to learn

    13 June 2025

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2025 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.