Bitcoin payments processing company BitPay recently confirmed that there is a growing interest for the cryptocurrency among both online merchants and customers. In an article in IBTimes, BitPay indicated that the use of bitcoin is switching from an investment to an everyday currency in transactions.

In particular, the bitcoin payments processor revealed that the total number of bitcoin transactions more than doubled last year. However, this was partly a result of the fact that the average order value has dropped by almost half.

Bitcoin Payments Adoption

“As bitcoin becomes a more established technology, we expect to see more consumers using it,” Wouter Vonk, BitPay’s European marketing manager mentioned.

“The investors are usually the first ones to hop on new technology, but as bitcoin circulates more, and as the amount of transactions increases, we should see bitcoin being used by more and more average consumers,” he added.

According to BitPay’s research, 100,000 merchants across the globe were accepting bitcoin, 53 percent of which used their service. The data also showed that nearly 90% of bitcoin’s customers are in the United States. But when it comes to strong growth, emerging markets were the leaders, as Brazil chalked up a 406% increase in acceptance for bitcoin payments for merchants.

“We see bitcoin being used in emerging markets as a supplement to the current banking and monetary systems,” Vonk explained. “Bitcoin breaks down the barriers to financial tools that many people in emerging countries are facing.”

These figures show that, despite increased public distrust over the cryptocurrency, more open-minded individuals are giving bitcoin a chance and are seeing the benefits of using these in transactions. Of course the data also reveals that consumers are still wary about the security threats and hacking incidents in bitcoin exchanges, but enthusiasts are hopeful that further progress in the industry could pave the way for stronger acceptance of bitcoin payments as the main mode of transaction in the future.