Bitcoin’s dominance of crypto payments is starting to erode

livemint.com:

Consumers and businesses are increasingly starting to use digital tokens other than Bitcoin for purchases, according to BitPay Inc., one of the biggest crypto payments processors in the world.

Last year, Bitcoin’s use at merchants that use BitPay dropped to about 65% of processed payments, down from 92% in 2020, the company told Bloomberg. Ether purchases accounted for 15% of the total, stablecoins were 13% and new coins added to BitPay in 2021 -- Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and Litecoin -- accounted for 3%. 

The alternative coins’ use surged partly as more businesses have begun using stablecoins for cross-border payments. Consumers also tend to move to stablecoins -- whose value is supposed to stay steady -- when crypto prices drop, and they’ve been falling since early November. Coins like Doge also made a splash last year, thanks to fans like Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Elon Musk, who on Friday said the token can be used to buy the company’s merchandise.

With Bitcoin’s price rising 60% last year, despite the fourth-quarter volatility, many investors may also have chosen to hold onto the world’s biggest cryptocurrency instead of spending it. Many remember Bitcoin’s first commercial transaction, in which a programmer spent Bitcoins now worth billions on two pizza pies.

When they did spend their crypto, many bought luxury good like jewelry and watches, cars, boats -- and even (cover your ears) gold, which Bitcoin -- touted as digital gold -- is supposed to replace, according to BitPay. The Atlanta-based private company’s transaction volumes related to luxury goods surged 31% last year from 9% in 2020, said Chief Executive Officer Stephen Pair. The company’s overall 2021 payment volumes rose 57% year over year.

BitPay was founded