Spending Cryptocurrency: The Progress From the Last Decade

Spending cryptocurrency has definitely become way easier over the years. Sure, we’re nowhere near the sage of mass adoption, but compared to 2009, the growth is insane. Every year, more and more physical merchant locations allow their customers the option to pay via crypto.

According to the most recent information, there are currently 15 558 business venues throughout the world, which currently accept bitcoin. This is a 18% increase from last year.

Currently, it seems that Europe is the best place for spending cryptocurrency. The European city which at the moment has the most venues accepting bitcoin is Ljubljana in Slovenia with over 300 venues.

According to Forbes, last year, Prague held that spot. Back in 2018, Prague had over 50 venues which accepted crypto payments.

Croatia and Slovenia are continuously accepting more and more crypto every day. This includes hotels, gift shops, restaurants and ever grocery shops. Ljubljana also has its own crypto shopping mall named “BTC City”.

Spending cryptocurrency has never been easier

Even though the Republic of Slovenia has roughly 2 million citizens, the dedication the country puts towards becoming an international crypto hub is undeniable. Currently, Ljubljana has over 10 times the number of crypto-accepting venues as San Francisco.

If we compare Ljubljana to Moscow, we can see just how much effort Ljubljana puts into crypto adoption. For its 275 000 citizens, the Slovenian city has roughly 320 venues which accept cryptocurrencies. Moscow, with a population over 12 million has no more than 150.

One of the biggest reasons as to why crypto is not yet good enough for everyday transactions is because of the high amount of volatility the crypto market experiences almost daily. Back in 2014, Stripe opened up support for bitcoin payments.

In 2018, transaction times still took over an hour and sometimes dragged on for days. This means that by the time the transaction was confirmed, the price changed so much that the amount was almost always wrong.

In the last few years however, bitcoin transaction fees were also very volatile. Back in the 21^st of December 2017, the transaction fee was up to $54.90 as last week on October 21^st 2019, it was merely $0.53.

It’s highly unlikely that mass adoption will be reached before volatility has calmed down, but over the next 10 years, the amount of venues where spending cryptocurrencies would be possible is sure to increase at least tenfold.

You can also check out:

• Zero-knowledge Proof, Public, Private Blockchains and their Differences
• Silvergate Became the Biggest Crypto Bank in the World in Record Time
• CBDCs: Will Central Bank Digital Currencies Shape the Future