Cryptocurrencies are far from mainstream in retail as of yet.  However, that might change in the coming years since many big retail players line up to use and accept cryptocurrencies. 

Cryptocurrency payment provider had a record year despite declining crypto prices

Bitpay is the largest global bitcoin and blockchain payment, provider.  The company, founded in 2011, and its products enable businesses to send and receive cross border payments.  Consumers can manage their digital assets with the Bitpay wallet and turn their assets into dollars with a prepaid credit card. 

Last year was a record year for the company.  For the second year in a row, they managed to get a revenue of over $1 billion in transactions.  They are set to reach even higher results by adding new customers like the State of Ohio.  Bitpay’s B2B grew by almost 255 per cent from 2017. 

“BitPay’s B2B business continues to grow rapidly as our solution is cheaper and quicker than a bank wire from most regions of the world,” said Stephen Pair, Co-founder and CEO of BitPay. 

Interestingly, even though the price of bitcoin has declined during 2018, the usage has gone up according to the CEO of Bitpay.  It could have something to do with our current which involves VISA, Mastercard and SWIFT.  Pair adds:

“To process over a $1 Billion for the second year in a row despite Bitcoin’s large price drop shows that Bitcoin is being used to solve real pain points around the world.” 

Major retailers stop using Visa and might turn to cryptocurrencies

Bitpay also reveals that many companies have issues with SWIFT who they currently use for cross-border payments.  The four biggest problems are visibility, certainty, cost and consistency.  Around 40-50 per cent of the respondents had these issues.  Blockchain challenges the old ways which have proved successful. 

Even though VISA and SWIFT stand for the biggest amount of transactions worldwide, companies turn their backs on the payment network.  A few weeks ago, the large retail company Kroger Co announced that they would stop using VISA because of the company’s excessive fees.  VISA even plans to increase their fees in April this year.  Kroger company look at alternatives and Pompliano, the co-founder of Morgan Creek, suggested bitcoin. 

While not many famous stores accept bitcoin, the community speculate if the Japanese version of Amazon, Rakuten, might accept cryptos shortly.  In a statement, they said that it would support “all payment solutions,” which may include cryptocurrencies. 

Even Starbucks, one of the companies supporting the most anticipated Bakkt platform, might start accepting cryptos.  Maria Smith, the Vice President, said:

“As the flagship retailer, Starbucks will play a pivotal role in developing practical, trusted and regulated applications for consumers to convert their digital assets into US dollars for use at Starbucks,”

The future of payment is taking shape, and it seems as though more and more companies look into cheaper and more efficient alternatives to today’s systems.  Is blockchain that solution? 

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