Bitcoin Transaction Volume Tops PayPal, Creeps Up on Visa

[Phlaser]

To many, Bitcoin’s shot at “real-world” utility is defined by the yardstick of Visa’s transactional throughput; yet, the original cryptocurrency now purportedly handles more annual transacted value than PayPal—and appears to be gaining on Visa, fast.

https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-transaction-volume-tops-paypal-creeps-up-on-visa/

[manfredmann]

So there will be a possibility that bitcoin will be utilized as a form of payment like Paypal? Well bitcoin might become like this but it doesn't mean that bitcoin does not serve its purpose of course it is still there and i think that many people now are aware of block chain technology that is why they grasp already the use of bitcoin into different applications.

[BrewMaster]

it is "value" not "volume"!

in my opinion although things such as both value and volume as in how much money was transferred through bitcoin and how many transactions per second it processes are great things to achieve, there is another important matter that we should not forget...
bitcoin is the only decentralized currency that has been created. when comparing it with PayPal and Visa you are comparing apples and oranges. decentralized currency with a distributed ledger versus centralized payment processors with a database. they are not even comparable.

[gentlemand]

A fun wee figure but meaningless. Much of that 'value' will be coins moving between wallets owned by the same person or to and from exchanges. There are very few actual transactions taking place. It's primarily movement.

If we could boil down the figures to numbers that exactly matched how Paypal was used I don't think anyone would be shouting about it.

[aoluain]

Well it shows for sure there is a lot of movement of bitcoin, trading obviously plays a
big part as most other currencies are traded against bitcoin.

Fortunately or unfortunately which ever way you want to look at it, it means spending
probably hasnt overtaken the "investment" useage of bitcoin.

[larkscrypto]

That's a great news. Bitcoin is the most potential coin in the cryptocurrency market and it has huge possibilities in future. By appearing on Visa, it is going to get more public attention and more exposure.

[jackpot888]

This the testimony of the fact that in future bitcoin will also be used for the payment system as well as it will rule and dominate the world’s economy and transaction systems. Such thing will add value to the market but the main function of the bitcoin will remain intact.

[blackandwhite89]

This will not affect the main function of the BTC. This proves that bitcoin is getting more and more popular. Bitcoin will be the leader in the transaction processing system in future and by this it will be a powerful crypto currency in the world.

[icostairs]

A fun wee figure but meaningless. Much of that 'value' will be coins moving between wallets owned by the same person or to and from exchanges. There are very few actual transactions taking place. It's primarily movement.

If we could boil down the figures to numbers that exactly matched how Paypal was used I don't think anyone would be shouting about it.

You might be right but if we check the volumes on exchanges, those don't indicate coins moved from a wallet to another, they indicate actual transactions, and both the volume and the value is quite high. At the same time I don't take this information for granted and I know Bitcoin still has some road ahead until it is used as widely as Paypal is. Unfortunately, Bitcoin is mainly being traded on exchanges, while almost every online shop uses paypal.

[KayceeMae]

Seems unbelievable, so I clicked out of curiosity. It identifies in the first paragraph that it is talking about transaction value, NOT transaction volume.

[MidnightNugget]

Does not matter what happens in the future with BTC, such as if it will be the dominating coin in the market or that it will change the face of the economy for good or that it will rule the economy, in the end BTC will be BTC. And its function will never be compromised.

[CrashGangster]

Well, people use bitcoin to make transaction to move to another address for various reasons. But that doesn’t mean that the BTC doesn’t serve its purposes. Bitcoin is still in its service. People know how block chain technology works and thus people are now using the BTC into different sectors or applications.

[squatter]

A fun wee figure but meaningless. Much of that 'value' will be coins moving between wallets owned by the same person or to and from exchanges. There are very few actual transactions taking place. It's primarily movement.

On top of that, the idea of "transaction value" really doesn't mean much if the analysis doesn't account for change addresses. Most transactions involve change.

Let's say I use "Input A (0.5 BTC)" to pay "Address A" 0.01 BTC and "Change address B" 0.49 BTC. When you look that transaction up on Blocktrail, the "value" is 0.5 BTC, even though only 0.01 BTC changed hands. It's meaningless.

[BrewMaster]

A fun wee figure but meaningless. Much of that 'value' will be coins moving between wallets owned by the same person or to and from exchanges. There are very few actual transactions taking place. It's primarily movement.

On top of that, the idea of "transaction value" really doesn't mean much if the analysis doesn't account for change addresses. Most transactions involve change.

Let's say I use "Input A (0.5 BTC)" to pay "Address A" 0.01 BTC and "Change address B" 0.49 BTC. When you look that transaction up on Blocktrail, the "value" is 0.5 BTC, even though only 0.01 BTC changed hands. It's meaningless.

i don't know how Blocktrail does things since i have never checked it out but most of the explorers "guess" the change and exclude it. it usually is not that hard to do since change is for most transactions either
- too obvious back to the same address
- smaller
- a brand new address
- final output
and even if you don't, the difference is not that huge. maybe 10 or 20% lower. still the value transferred through bitcoin every day is huge.

[biskitop]

what I see here, the obvious difference between bitcoin and paypal is, transaction time. bitcoin can be faster than paypal. even bitcoin only takes 1 hour when paypal must take up to 4 days. obviously it makes people switch to bitcoin and the volume of bitcoin transactions increases beating paypal.

[IndigoRed]

what I see here, the obvious difference between bitcoin and paypal is, transaction time. bitcoin can be faster than paypal. even bitcoin only takes 1 hour when paypal must take up to 4 days. obviously it makes people switch to bitcoin and the volume of bitcoin transactions increases beating paypal.

I agree. By design and structure alone, bitcoin is better than paypal. If this is just movement of coins as others are pointing out, that's still something. It means there's a growing number of bitcoin users out there. Sooner than later, bitcoin will be the chosen mode of payment/transactions because of speed, accuracy and lower costs.

[flowers5]

To many, Bitcoin’s shot at “real-world” utility is defined by the yardstick of Visa’s transactional throughput; yet, the original cryptocurrency now purportedly handles more annual transacted value than PayPal—and appears to be gaining on Visa, fast.

https://cryptoslate.com/bitcoin-transaction-volume-tops-paypal-creeps-up-on-visa/

I will be so happy when that POS Paypal finally dies for good.  Glad to see Bitcoin stomping on it right now and we are just getting started. 

[demenBTC]

A fun wee figure but meaningless. Much of that 'value' will be coins moving between wallets owned by the same person or to and from exchanges. There are very few actual transactions taking place. It's primarily movement.

If we could boil down the figures to numbers that exactly matched how Paypal was used I don't think anyone would be shouting about it.

You might be right but if we check the volumes on exchanges, those don't indicate coins moved from a wallet to another, they indicate actual transactions, and both the volume and the value is quite high. At the same time I don't take this information for granted and I know Bitcoin still has some road ahead until it is used as widely as Paypal is. Unfortunately, Bitcoin is mainly being traded on exchanges, while almost every online shop uses paypal.

btc prices never settle at a certain value, so many stores have not been able to transact using bitcoin, but I believe there will be a program or planning like that in the future

[pooya87]

To many, Bitcoin’s shot at “real-world” utility is defined by the yardstick of Visa’s transactional throughput;

it is not "defined" that way, having a TPS close to Visa is only one of the many goals. the main goal of bitcoin has always been being a decentralized payment system not a payment system to compete with Visa or have fastest TPS possible.
however with Lightning Network we are already achieving that and far beyond that. so it is not just the value of the total transactions made daily. we are already capable of a lot faster and more transactions.

[ClassyDancer]

This is good, right? I really want bitcoin to beat PayPal. haha.... I mean sure, PayPal was convenient for a while, but now that we know how much money we can save with bitcoin transactions, I cannot wait for the day bitcoin officially becomes a digital currency. It will turn out cheaper, faster and way more convenient for all of us.