Cryptocurrency payments operator BitPay revealed that XRP has emerged as a popular choice for making payments, experiencing a 42% increase in the number of payment transactions. In the past year, XRP has been used for 7,310 payments to legal entities across various sectors worldwide.
Bitcoin leads the pack with 296,689 payments, followed by Litecoin with 213,647 transactions, and Ether with 81,619 transactions (almost three times fewer than LTC).
Aside from XRP, other popular cryptocurrencies for payments via BitPay in 2023 include Dogecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Polygon. Surprisingly, the stablecoin USDT did not make it to the top ten.
BitPay has recorded cryptocurrency payments in 175 countries, with the majority originating from the USA. Notably, luxury brands like Gucci and Ferrari have also started accepting cryptocurrencies as payment options in 2023.
BitPay had already added support for XRP payments in 2020. Lawyer John Deaton, advocating for XRP holders, has reaffirmed that utilizing XRP for international payments through Ripple’s On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) solution is completely legal.
Eleanor Ashworth is editor-in-chief at BTCNews. A Cambridge-trained journalist with 18 years across the Financial Times, Reuters and the Telegraph, she joined the crypto beat in 2017 after covering the Bank of England and HM Treasury. She holds the SABEW Best in Business award (2022) and was shortlisted for the British Journalism Awards (2023). At BTCNews she sets the editorial line for Bitcoin and macro markets coverage, with a focus on institutional adoption, regulation and central-bank policy. Based in London.
