An average of 178,475 daily transactions have been made on Bitcoin in its 5,603 day existence.
Crypto Payments Soared To Unprecedented Levels In 2023, CoinGate Report Reveals
The year 2023 witnessed a remarkable surge in crypto payments, signaling a significant milestone in adopting digital currencies for retail and e-commerce transactions.
According to a recent report by CoinGate, a crypto payment processor firm, the number of crypto payments processed reached staggering heights, showcasing robust growth and diversification in the crypto landscape.
Massive Surge In Crypto Payments
In 2023, CoinGate processed an astounding 1,294,058 cryptocurrency payments, marking a 39.4% increase compared to the previous record. This exponential growth, equivalent to one payment every 24 seconds, underscores the accelerating pace of crypto adoption.
Notably, approximately one-third (32.35%) of all transactions processed by CoinGate in the last ten years occurred in 2023, emphasizing the surge in the popularity of digital currencies.
Per the report, integrating Binance Pay wallet into CoinGate’s payment services in March 2023 played a significant role in driving this growth.
Binance Pay accounted for 8.2% of all crypto payments in 2023, showcasing a steady increase in usage throughout the year. This upward trend, from 4.5% in March to 13% in December, indicates the growing adoption and usage of Binance Pay as a preferred payment method.
Lightning Network Surges In Popularity
Moreover, CoinGate’s report highlights the increasing maturity and acceptance of the Lightning Network, an essential component of Bitcoin payments.
In 2023, the Lightning Network facilitated 7.8% of all Bitcoin payments processed by CoinGate, representing a notable increase from previous years.
Furthermore, the overall number of Lightning Network payments grew by 35.9% compared to the previous year, indicating a growing reliance on this technology.
However, Bitcoin, long considered the dominant cryptocurrency for payments, saw a decline in its share of total transactions processed by CoinGate. While Bitcoin accounted for 54.8% of all transactions in 2021, its share dropped to 35.6% in 2023.
Stablecoins, particularly Tether’s USDT, emerged as a popular choice for crypto payments in 2023. The usage of USDT increased from 15.1% in 2022 to an average of 25.4% in 2023, indicating a shift towards stablecoins due to their perceived stability and reliability.
Alternative Payment Solutions
According to CoinGate’s report, crypto-friendly merchants experienced remarkable success in 2023, with a significant portion of their sales attributed to cryptocurrency payments.
Eldorado.gg, a gold and accounts marketplace for gamers, reported crypto payments contributing to 3% of their total sales. IPRoyal, a proxy service provider, saw over 30% of their payments made in cryptocurrencies.
Hostinger, a web hosting provider, captured nearly one-fourth of all crypto-paying customers, showcasing the effectiveness of alternative payment solutions in catering to diverse customer needs.
Overall, 2023 demonstrated a paradigm shift in the adoption of cryptocurrency payments. The surge in transactions processed by CoinGate, the increasing usage of Binance Pay and the Lightning Network, and the diversification of cryptocurrencies used for payments all point towards a new era of acceptance and trust in digital currencies.
As crypto-friendly merchants reap the benefits of embracing these payment methods, it becomes evident that cryptocurrency payments offer sales growth, solutions for the unbanked population, and global accessibility.
With the stage set for further expansion in 2024, the transformative power of cryptocurrency payments continues to reshape the retail and e-commerce landscape.
Featured image from Shutterstock, chart from TradingView.com
Lightning Labs launches rebranded ‘Taro’ amid Bitcoin’s BRC-20 bottleneck
Lightning Labs have unveiled a new solution to the clunky process for minting new assets on the Bitcoin network.
Lightning Speed: Eight Mind-blowing Facts About The Lightning Network
Welcome to “Lightning Speed,” a new section in which NewsBTC will explore the possibilities that Bitcoin’s Lightning Network opens. In this first edition, we will focus on Peter St Onge’s “The Lightning Network is About to Change the World” article. According to his bio, the academic “holds a Ph.D. in Economics from George Mason University, and a B.A. in Economics and Political Science from McGill University.” Make of that what you will.
St Onge was at the Free State Project’s Porcfest in New Hampshire when he had an epiphany. “The Lightning Network is now moving Bitcoin exponentially closer to becoming a true universal medium of exchange that is controlled by the people, not by governments.” That’s right. Bitcoin already won the store of value race, but, with the Lightning Network, it becomes the apex medium of exchange. What does this mean for the world?
Lightning At The Porcfest
Before we blow minds, let’s explore the Free State Project’s Porcfest real quick. St Onge sets the stage:
“As we enjoyed the mild New Hampshire summer, people wandered over to buy $2 sodas with Bitcoin, paying instantly and with zero transaction fee. I watched patient bitcoiners onboard Lightning newbies, taking them from zero to a Lightning wallet full of fresh hot sats in literally 5 minutes. It was the iconic “buy a coffee with Bitcoin” on steroids.”
Yes, #LightningNetwork is being used at #PorcFest2021. Ana sold a water to @jfcarpio as @Joe_Saz watches pic.twitter.com/sUou8otfP4
— Patrick Motorist (@BitcoinMotorist) June 27, 2021
This was before everybody and their grandmothers went to Bitcoin Beach to test the Lightning Network first hand. Watching the transaction’s speed and comfort, St Onge knew. This was “Confirmation that the Bitcoin developer ecosystem has now built the holy grail: Bitcoin as a true medium of exchange. One where transfers are instant, essentially free, and as easy to use as the simplest app on your phone.”
St Onge’s Four Insights About The LN As A Medium Of Exchange
- The fees are really that cheap. St Onge recalls, “our sats party replicated what’s now going on across the world. Just last week at El Salvador’s now-famous Bitcoin Beach, 20,000 near-instant transactions went around with aggregate fees of $4.98. One-fortieth of a penny per transaction.”
- Traditional banking can’t compete. “For perspective, that’s about 500 times cheaper than the credit card fee on a $5 cappucino, and it’s at least 4,000 times cheaper than the average credit card transaction fee.”
- It gets better. The fees are not correlated to the transaction’s total amount. “Note, 1/40 of a penny would cover essentially any amount — you could buy a house with Lightning for 1/40 penny.”
- The Lightning Network doesn’t sleep. “It transfers instantly, 24/7 including holidays, and is able to leap national borders and regulatory gatekeepers with zero effort.”
BTC price chart for 12/04/2021 on Tradestation | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
St Onge’s Four Insights About The Lightning Network’s Growth & Potential
- The network is growing exponentially. “Lightning Network statistics have exploded since May, with network capacity now expanding by an annualized 635%. As these new Lightning apps onboard millions of people, they then pass along and train newbies by word-of-mouth, creating exponential growth that can very quickly go from irrelevant to dominant.”
- The project has been years in the making. “The original Lightning Network White Paper came out in 2015, and after heady growth through 2019, the Network was essentially moribund these past 2 years.”
- Most altcoins are no longer needed. “First, it knocks the legs out of competing “medium of exchange” (MOE) coins like Dogecoin, Bcash, Ripple, Litecoin, or their many knock-offs.”
- This is just the beginning. “Just as the internet needed user-friendly interfaces (web browsers) before it could really change the world, Bitcoin needed user-friendly interfaces to grow beyond money and towards being the base layer — the “rails” — for decentralized services built on Bitcoin alone.”
The Lightning Network is changing the world already. Because of that fact, NewsBTC created “Lightning Speed,” a feature about the possibilities that Bitcoin’s Lightning Network opens.
Featured Image: jplenio on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView
