Bitcoin Loses Role in Payment Systems: BitRefill and BitPay Focus on Stablecoins

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by Giorgi Kostiuk

2 years ago

Made with AI

  1. Decline in Bitcoin Usage on BitRefill
  2. Stablecoins Dominate on BitRefill
  3. BitPay and Stablecoins


    4. Bitcoin (BTC) is no longer used as electronic cash, being displaced by other assets. Recently, platforms such as BitRefill and BitPay have observed a rise in the use of stablecoins for transactions.

    Decline in Bitcoin Usage on BitRefill

    BitRefill noted that Bitcoin is no longer the top choice as a means of payment. High and unpredictable fees, and non-intuitive units led the users of the service to shift to other tokens, especially stablecoins. The trend for BTC shifted in the past 12 months, affecting on-chain BTC, and payments through the Lightning Network. At the same time, BitRefill is tapping the monetary value in the Ethereum ecosystem, as recent market research revealed.

    One of the main reasons for abandoning BTC as a payment tool is the removal of zero-confirmation transactions. BTC transactions on BitRefill turned from instant to taking up to 10 minutes for a block confirmation.CITE_W_A

    Stablecoins Dominate on BitRefill

    A more detailed breakdown of payments shows BitRefill inflows come from stablecoins on the Ethereum network, as well as L2 networks like Polygon. BitRefill was among the payment tools during the first crypto bull market and still has some of the older legacy assets like Litecoin (LTC), Dogecoin (DOGE), and even Dash (DASH). The so-called legacy coins still rely on network effects and make up for average payments above $55. The largest payments through BitPay use Ethereum-based USDC. Based on data shared by Matt Ahlborg, market research consultant at BitRefill, the average payment for USDC users is $312, while BTC users pay $147 on average.

    BitPay and Stablecoins

    BitPay recently had a tally of the most widely used crypto assets for payments. After a campaign on voting and spending, the service still presented BTC and ETH as leaders, while the regulated stablecoin USDC took the third spot. Previously, Litecoin (LTC) sank to the fourth position during the latest spend period. Despite this, LTC had the biggest share of BitPay transactions as the most numerous. New BitPay users are onboarded mostly through BTC, ETH, and USDT. These assets saw the biggest inflows of new wallets. USDC and USDT were also leaders in the biggest average value for individual transactions. BitPay remains a strictly KYC service recently changing the rules for EU-based users, requiring an ID scan and verification for transfers and purchases above $1,000.

    Stablecoins such as USDC and USDT continue to strengthen their positions in the world of crypto payments, especially on platforms like BitRefill and BitPay. The preservation of legacy assets and the shift of users to stablecoins indicate the ongoing development and adaptation of the crypto market to new demands and challenges.

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