The Bitcoin Network Has Handled More Volume Than PayPal in 2021

Despite being in existence for only a decade, new stats show that the world’s largest cryptocurrency network, Bitcoin, has outperformed popular payment company PayPal in terms of quarterly volume processed. 

The stats published by blockchain research firm Blockdata B.V. shows that the Bitcoin network processed an estimated average of $489 billion quarterly in 2021, while the PayPal network managed $302 billion. 

Interestingly, the milestone also demonstrates how impressive the Bitcoin network has been, boasting an uptime of 99.98% since its launch. 

But No One Uses Bitcoin For Payments?

PayPal has become one of the most trusted payment companies in the United States and across different parts of the world. Launched in 1999, the fintech company offers payment services to some of the world’s biggest online merchants, including Shopify, Big Commerce and Woo Commerce. 

It is safe to say that PayPal is used mainly as a spending technology, where billions of dollars are spent to make payments. 

On the other hand, Bitcoin, which launched as a decentralized technology with several individual nodes operated by people around the world, is being used more as a savings technology.  In fact, a common argument by Bitcoin critics is that many people still consider the cryptocurrency as an investment and never use it for payments.

However, the latest statistics suggest that Bitcoin as a payment option has gained momentum in recent times, augmenting the investment use case. Several payment firms, including BitPay, offer infrastructure for bitcoin use in payments, and there have also been parallel adoptions of bitcoin for payments in El-Salvador, where the cryptocurrency now enjoys “legal tender” status.

Bitcoin May Overtake Visa and Mastercard 

With Bitcoin’s average quarterly volume in 2021 surpassing that of PayPal’s, it is only a matter of time before the popular blockchain outperforms payment giants like Visa and Mastercard. 

According to the stats, the average quarterly volume of Visa and Mastercard reached $3.2 trillion and $1.8 trillion, respectively. 

Although Bitcoin’s quarterly volume is far from competing with Mastercard and Visa, it is interesting to see a network that is not up to 12 years reach a whooping $489 billion average quarterly volume. In addition, as Bitcoin’s adoption continues to surge, there is a tendency that in the near future, its average quarterly volume may surpass that of Visa and Mastercard.