Cryptocurrency payment service BitPay processed 608,000 transactions in 2024 as more holders showed a willingness to spend their digital assets during the bull market.
According to BitPay’s “Decrypted 2024” report, Litecoin (LTC) dominated the transaction volumes on its platform with 201,165 payments. Bitcoin (BTC) transactions were a distant second at 130,250 payments, followed by Ether (ETH) at 56,356 payments.
BitPay said that “2024 was all about putting crypto to work,” showing that the asset class “isn’t just for holding—it’s also for spending.”
The report showed a strong correlation between crypto prices and spending, with users cashing out their holdings to pay for luxury goods, jewelry, electronics and precious metals. Transactions for these items grew between 39% and 205% compared to the previous year.
On a national level, the United States dominated BitPay payments, accounting for more than 76% of the total transactions.
BitPay lists the most popular transactions on its platform in 2024. Source: BitPay
BitPay allows merchants to accept crypto payments and receive settlements in their local currencies. The firm is headquartered in the US, and the majority of its customers are located in the country.
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Crypto payments growth: A slow grind
Although Bitcoin and crypto have made strong inroads as investment vehicles, the asset class has lagged as a viable payment method.
Using data from Deutsche Bank, American Banker reported that crypto retail transactions accounted for just 3% of payments between 2021 and 2023.
Perhaps ironically, it’s the growth of stablecoins — digital versions of fiat currencies — that is boosting the adoption of crypto as a payment rail.
For example, crypto payment processor CoinGate reported a 29.6% increase in crypto transactions in 2024, with stablecoins accounting for more than a third of total transactions.
Stablecoin usage continues to surge, especially in the last two years. Source: CoinGate
In a December Cointelegraph Magazine feature, Monty Munford said centralized stablecoins may be convenient, but they undermine the true spirit of crypto as a decentralized protocol.
“Major stablecoins, therefore, require a lot more trust from users than Bitcoin, but they seem happy to do so,” said Mumford.
Stablecoins currently command a total market capitalization of $206 billion, according to DefiLlama. The two largest stablecoins — issued by Tether and Circle, respectively — account for nearly 89% of that total.
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