Crypto Spending on Luxury Products Increased by 31% in 2021: BitPay

Crypto payments processor BitPay has revealed that altcoins generated a significant share of the payments it processed last year.

Bitcoin’s Dominance on BitPay is Starting to Decline

BitPay, one of the leading cryptocurrency payment processors, has revealed that altcoins are starting to eat into Bitcoin’s dominance on its platform.

BitPay is a cryptocurrency payment processor that allows vendors and merchants to accept crypto payments for goods and services. The company’s payment protocol allows consumers to enjoy a streamlined and secure cryptocurrency checkout process.

Sonny Singh, the company’s Chief Commercial Officer, told Bloomberg that the BTC payments at merchants who use BitPay’s services declined to 65% of all processed payments in 2022. This is a drop from the 92% that was recorded in 2020.

The company said altcoins have started to generate a significant share of its processed payments last year. Ethereum (ETH) accounted for 15% of the total transactions, while stablecoins generated a total of 13%.

According to the CCO, the increase in the use of stablecoins on its platforms can be partly attributed to the fact that more businesses use them for cross-border payments.

More People Are Using Crypto to Pay for Luxury Products

Stephen Pair, Chief Executive Officer at BitPay, revealed that more people are using cryptocurrencies to pay for luxury products. In 2021, BitPay’s transaction volumes related to luxury goods increased by 31%.

Customers are using cryptocurrencies to pay for luxury products such as jewelry, watches, cars, boats, and precious metals.

Bitcoin and the broader cryptocurrency market have been underperforming over the past few months. BTC is currently trading around $43k per coin. Pair admitted that the decline in Bitcoin’s price had affected its operations in recent weeks.

He said, “Our business ebbs and flows to some degree with the price, when the price goes down, people tend to spend less. It’s probably just a reflection of more and more companies that need to use this as a tool to conduct payments.”