CoinDesk now estimates that approximately 60,000 merchants around the globe accept bitcoin. In 2014 there has also been greater bitcoin adoption by major brands, including Zynga, Square and Overstock. Even eBay has added a ‘virtual currency’ category to its US and UK sites.
In the offline world, there are approximately 4,000 premises where bitcoin can be used in person and, of these, food establishments are by far the most common type of business accepting the cryptocurrency (Figure 1).
The merchant acceptance in bitcoin is continuously growing, though most of the merchants use bitpay or coinbase and don't keep the bitcoin.
