Bitcoin Forum

Virtual currencies are currently a fringe phenomenon in the U.S., accounting for a tiny fraction (less than 0.001%) of all U.S. retail transactions

In the five-year period ending 2016, more than half a billion retail payments were made in Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies that include Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin, according to the most recent estimates.

Virtual currencies' (including Bitcoin) are a way to transfer value, but there is no established mechanism or legal framework in place to protect users.

Virtual currencies could lead to financial services for individuals and corporations that wouldn't be possible otherwise. Bitcoin itself could become the most prominent example of just such a new kind of "money"

Pretty interesting stats, even if it is just 0.001% of all transactions, we've seen quite a lot of volume when it comes to using BTC, and keep in mind, 0.001% of the transactions in the US is still a huge number, for sure.

Are these stats only counting retail as purchases made by cryptocurrencies in person? Or do these also count transactions online from big brands (eg, buying a computer of newegg for BTC), or using purse.io to buy items of amazon?

Decent step to adoption, but a lot more needs to be done before we can reach a higher percent.

I think these stats are pertaining to all bitcoin-related transactions as long as bitcoin is in the talk of the transaction or used as a medium for payment they are counted in. If you'll gonna tally a compiled transaction percentage of an asset in a country you need to consider all possible transactions that will include that asset so for sure it includes all.

Bitcoin can be an alternative to money or even platic money such as debit/credit card. Most people prefer it since they have access to their own money and is not controlled by other entity such as banks. Virtual money or cryptocurrency can be the next trend that we will have in the future. Imagine managing your own finance, and transacting easy, fast and convenient. Let's just hope that slowly crypto will be accepted by the government and adopted by the mass.

Virtual currencies (cryptocurrencies) operate on a decentralized platform; that is users are basically in charge of the safety of their funds. Setting up a legal framework will not be able to keep  the funds of users safe if these users do not set up security measures to protect their private keys secured for an external interference or third party.  With cryptocurrency, users are solely in charge of their funds and how they decide to send or receive funds. Users are responsible for their safety, establishing mechanisms will not really be of help keeping the funds of users safe..

Only because most people havent adopted the usage of it for our normal daily lives. Adoption of it could develop it in an incredible way that caters to the security and protection that is needed when transacting online. The reason is just stated by you, cause it's a fringe phenomenon.
It is already a prominent example. It's only limiting fsctor right now is that it's a "fringe phenomenon". If the world started developing towards the global adoption of Virtual currencies, a lot of natural resources can be actually saved plus to that the qol changes it could bring to most people.

Damn. That's actually a lot lower then I thought it would be then, I expected companies like purse.io (basically makes it able for you to spend cryptocurrencies on amazon and some other sites) to have fairly decent traffic, as well as other online businesses that accept cryptocurrencies to be quite high traffic.

It can be a replacement to a lot of the payment methods we use, but the thing is getting people to change, especially when it's technology is so new and a lot of people don't like/understand it.

Remember that this is only for “US” means we take the .001% so what more if we add the other countries or should I say Continents?specialy Europe and Asian countries?this can be more even higher so this stats shows how large Bitcoin reached just for more than 5 years since this stats isn’t for 2016 when we reached the hype in 2017 ,if the stats recorded year after surely it’s more larger
I think this is the overall stats sine US will not release records that is incomplete
Well we must see also the world record to attract many investors if they saw the success of cryptocurrency and not just Bitcoins

I wonder what exact points you are trying to establish?

Unlike many other countries, US at least provides a legal framework for cryptocurrencies so it is expected to grow only! But what you are saying is an estimation, the actual numbers probably are far more different than this estimation. It may be higher or may be lower! I doubt any official data has been released yet to prove your statement. 

it is only bitcoin and if anything it definitely is not ethereum. you can't find any retailer that accepts ETH as payment ever. not to mention that it is not even a currency, it is a token with one purpose: smart contract fuel.

There was a video I stumbled upon while looking on youtube today. It was of the ripple ledger and how someone noticed transactions from their xfer script were inaccurate. Something about missing "1"s or something. I didnt understand it as I am not into xrp and all this alt coin mumbo jumbo.
But from what they found out it didnt sound too good for ripple and their use of these payment systems. This ripple foundation has been advertising it as the solution of virtual currencies world wide adoption towards retail markets ie. xrapid payment system

update found the video on oddities in the xrapid ledger https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csr7OffvNKs

It would be interesting to see how they got to those statistics, because most p2p transactions between people would not be reflected in those stats. The real treasure of Crypto currencies are the direct payment ability that enables people to pay for services and goods, without having to use third party payment services.  ;) 

The problem with Bitcoin as a payment option is the legislative challenges and not Bitcoin as a currency, because the governments are protecting the power and monopoly that they have in their reserve currencies.  ::)

That is fine, but those are the stats from before cryptocurrencies 'came out.' I believe that the stats from the last two years would be a lot more promising.

Fringe phenomenon in the US, but I think even more of a fringe outside of the US, judging from the number of companies involved, users, even nodes, if I recall the largest concentration of nodes is in the US.

So this is why I always say mass adoption is not yet here and still a long way from being achieved and STILL we are early adopters even now!

0.001% of the US transactions and we are now hoping for adoption?

they should measure the percentage of transaction in the darkweb because thigns are happening down there than what is happening in newegg or the people buying items using purse.io in amazon.


it will change one day. we will be seeing more people buying stuff in grocery stores using the card related to crypto.

Other virtual currencies that will not work like bitcoin do you mean?

well, it can be understood , considering that a new kind of money.
it takes decades to maximize it.


i wonder how much retail payment by cryptocurrencies on 2017-2018.
since that time its a highest price ever for all cryptocurrencies.


yep, we can understand about it, it is a single payment system where both the seller and the buyer agree to the desired payment instrument
and of course, the law does not apply there.
and i believe there also no tax included on that payment.

This is so because a huge part of the American consumers are still confident in using their credit cards and cash when buying something in retail, and not much retail stores are really accepting crypto in their establishments. Perhaps if a lot more stores do this kind of thing where they would be willing to accept crypto, the statistics would change and we would actually see something positive.


This seems to be outdated. Governments are slowly trying to make crypto a safer place and imposing regulations where users are protected, at least when they are dealing with third-party establishments and services, that is.


It already is, isn't it?

Virtual currency usage have been making a big change in the transaction that is taking place around the globe. From its day of very first usage to now the progress is very big. Though this hasn't got legal support in lot of countries, it has been growing big because of the technology that backs the virtual currency network.

Now too this has been used as money, but this is limited. This needs to go mainstream, for the same to happen we need to wait with patience for years. This will continue to be the change of the traditional system as a new money as people have been moving towards digital ecosystem.

It is becoming clear that the world is moving strongly towards digitization. Despite the statistics here, people are really making use of virtual currencies for various online transactions. In the last decade, bitcoin  for instance has become a very credible payment method that is conveniently used by all people across the globe.

The way I see it, consumers don't like to carry cash so much these days, more so pay an ATM withdrawal fee to access their own money. Plastic cards that offer benefits and incentives are achieving high adoption rates and Mobile payments are just a cool new way to pay.

Bitcoin needs to have a way to seamlessly integrate into the existing financial ecosystem so that people can easily use it and have a solid reason to spend their bitcoin rather than hold on to it.

Virtual currency's have actually contributed a quota to the world economic system with regards to payment structures and systems. As the move towards online transactions and purchases increases, the need and use of virtual currencies become imperative. With more adoption coming along the way, Bitcoin could see more application in day-to-day transactions and purchases.

I'm hopeful about Cryptocurrency, and right now Bitcoin is the only real token to hold. the true capabilities of Cryptocurrency are barely comprehensible. For me it's the ability for transactions of immutable value to be made across the globe instantly and direct. Right now if you think about how you make payments today, they all include a third party to function, even if you consider cash withdrawal from your bank account. Being able to send directly allows not just individuals, but entities and even software to interact with and control units of value.

Once we understand this we can start building use cases that have never been possible before with the backing of the global internet networks, beyond just the Cryptocurrency network.

The economic system of the US knows what is the capability of crypto and how it possibly make  change from fiat money to digital form crypto.
Yes, we are in the adoption of a new system and ain't no wonder why the US very conscious of this possible change cause it will devalued their dollars sooner and they don't want it to happen. There is something they need to prevent it and if we take a look, most promising countries never accept crypto just like China and the US.

That is certainly a huge factor in terms of giving crypto the green light, it affects their very own national fiat currency. Moreover, nations cannot just give them a go because these cryptocurrencies are not created out of their own rules and terms. There is always the possibility that nations will accept Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies openly but it might not happen that it will become their main currency. If these nations will shift to cryptocurrency 100%, expect that it will not be the existing cryptocurrencies we have today. They will surely be creating their own. China is already showing this.

cryptocurrency has the advantage of low transaction costs, and fast because there are no special requirements that must be met, different if through a bank that takes days and many requirements.
and this is the reason why cryptocurrency will become a virtual currency that is so promising in the future. if the speed of bitcoin is the same as the speed of sending money through ATM, then I'm sure cryptocurrency is preferred by the public over FIAT.

We know it was a great deal for crypto but it was just supposed to see use not only for an online transaction, we would like to see it also usable into offline transactions. That US restriction against crypto is what to be one factor that could change crypto dissemination. They are influential in terms of the economic system which might be able to decline other cryptos rather than creating their own if this digitalization system will grow and acceptable to the public.

That's true, I'd put the US in the middle for bitcoin adoption, hasn't had the best regulations, but still has a lot of people who use and spend BTC, I'd definitely estimate some other countries like Singapore or Japan to have over 0.1% of all transactions be crypto-based, especially with projects like Pundi X making such a huge impact in Singapore.

I think we'll need to see a lot more investments and companies that are willing to take BTC, and then give it some time and consumers will be interested in paying BTC.