Every year, experts seem to say that this is the year for bitcoin, and every year it is. Since 2014, bitcoin has continued to smash records and climb to unprecedented levels. Earlier in May, the cryptocurrency rose to a record-breaking high of $2000, highlighting just how widespread global belief in the currency has come in such a short space of time. Don’t forget that it was only 2010 when one poor chap, who must be kicking himself now, purchased two pizzas for 10,000 BTC. Those same pizzas would be worth around $20 million today. The internet money invented by Satoshi Nakamoto is looking like the real deal, and could soon make paying for things online with individual currencies a thing of the past.

There are plenty of reasons why bitcoin is managing to take the world by storm. In the past, investors purchased commodities like gold and silver as a way of protecting their money from unpredictable economic circumstances and currency fluctuations. Bitcoin is now making a case to be a modern day version of this, and people have even begun to refer to it as “Gold 2.0.” During 2016, it was evident that people were turning to the digital gold in times of uncertainty, as the value of bitcoin spiked before Brexit and then again before the US presidential election.

Even prior to bitcoin making a name for itself as an investment opportunity, big companies were turning to it for other reasons. Fast food retailers like Subway and Starbucks began offering the e-currency as an alternative form of payment, which may be advantageous for tourists who don’t want to carry hard cash around. It can also be used as a way to save money with special offers (see video below). Other online businesses have decided to go all out and only operate in bitcoin. This is particularly prevalent in the online casino sector, where businesses need to do all they can to outdo the competition.

But why bitcoin? Why does switching to the e-currency give sites the upper hand? Well, it can be used to attract a wider demographic of player, that’s why. The benefits of using the currency, as stated on the blog of bitcoin-based operator Vegas Casino, include it being anonymous, safe and secure, and available anywhere. For instance, if someone in Australia wants to play at an English site, in the past they would have had to think about exchange rates between Australian dollars and English pounds. When playing with bitcoin, though, there is no need to worry about this, and players can get straight to doing what they want to do: play games.

With bitcoin casinos and popular takeaways flying the flag for bitcoin, there is no doubt that other businesses will soon follow suit. In this advanced technological age, in which people live half their lives chatting and playing games online, it would make sense to have one currency for all. And looking at how far bitcoin has come since those two pizzas only seven years ago, one would expect to see that by 2020 the unique invention will be the number one method of paying for things online.