When people talk about the future of digital currency, they often speak about mass adoption. What is mass adoption, exactly? Mass adoption is the concept that digital currency will be widely accepted and adopted as a form of payment across all types of vendors, large and small. Mass adoption is often seen as a major obstacle to the wide-spread acceptance of digital currency by the general population.

When we think of mass adoption, we think of how ubiquitous Apple Pay or Google Pay is. Basically, any establishment with a Square POS device accepts the easy-to-scan Apple Pay and Google equivalent. Is it possible for blockchain digital wallets to become that widespread? Can Bitcoin actually compete with the visibility of Apple or Google?

Competition is Possible

Apple Pay and Google Pay are gaining momentum. In December 2017, nearly 12.8% of adult smartphone users had set up Apple Pay and tried it at least once. According to a study by PYMNTS, that number rose from 3.8%, which it was in November 2014.

The frequency that Apple Pay is used for eligible transactions is also going up. In June 2015, 1.3% of people used Apple Pay for eligible transactions. However, in December 2017, the percentage of times Apple Pay was used for eligible transactions was 3.0%. That is nearly a 50% increase in 3 years.

The reason that Apple Pay is rising in prevalence is two-fold. The number of Point of Sales Devices that accept Apple Pay has risen tremendously. Furthermore, using Apple Pay as a touch-only payment method is appealing to users, especially those that are prone to leave their wallets at home. When using Apple Pay on your phone or watch, you don’t need to bring around your purse or a bulky wallet.

Some of you might think that it is going to be very hard for digital currency to match the user base that Apple has. In the USA alone, 43.5% of the 223 million smartphone users had an iPhone from 2014 to 2016. That is around 97 million people.

Meanwhile, the number of Blockchain wallet users is roughly 30 million people. That is 1/3 of the number of Apple users. Given the fact that Apple as a company is much older than how long digital currency has been around, digital currency can still catch up. Yet, whether Bitcoin can actually catch up to Apple will be a mystery that only the future holds. For now, we can just sit and HODL.

In Closing

While the digital currency industry is still new, it has gained tremendous momentum. The question is whether or not this momentum can continue to bring digital cash as a payment method into a payment method that is widely adopted.