According to CryptoPotato, the number of outlets accepting bitcoins is on the rise, with statistics from BTC Map showing that by the end of 2023, the number has risen to 6,126, up from 2,207 at the start of the year. As of 8 January this year, 6,332 bitcoin-enabled businesses were registered, slightly behind the peak of 6,590 seen at the end of September. Over the past year, the number of active locations for bitcoin payments has tripled from 2,000 in early 2023.
According to the statistics, 5,535 businesses are open for onchain transactions, 5,107 merchants have opted to use Bitcoin Layer 2 Lightning for faster and cheaper payments, and 1,050 vendors support contactless transactions. Despite lingering concerns over bitcoin's volatility, its adoption remains in indifferent and steady growth. In response to the growing demand, companies of all sizes and in various business areas are expanding their range of payment options to cater to new audiences.
Statistics also indicate that Central and South America has more companies accepting bitcoins compared to Africa and Asia. There is a noticeable increase in the number of trading platforms supporting the flagship cryptocurrency asset in the US and Europe. Among the latest organisations to announce bitcoin adoption is Japanese giant Mercari, with over 20 million monthly users, which will start accepting bitcoin payments from June.
On the other hand, the total number of crypto ATMs in the world has decreased from 37,827 on 1 January 2023 to 33,628 on 1 January 2024. The year 2023 marked a reversal of the historical trend, leading to a net decrease in the number of bitcoin ATMs by the end of the year. The current number of installed cryptocurrency ATMs globally is approximately 11.1 per cent lower than at the start of 2023, with the most significant drop of 15.4 per cent in the US, where the number fell from 32,672 to 27,631 over 2023.
