Bitcoin Has Surpassed PayPal In Transaction Volume And Could Leave Behind Mastercard 'In Time' Too, Says Intelligence Firm

Apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin BTC/USD, which has already exceeded PayPal Holdings Inc. PYPL in terms of transaction volume, could surpass Mastercard Inc. MA “in time,” according to blockchain intelligence firm Blockdata.

What Happened: Bitcoin could attain the transaction volumes attained by Mastercard in five years, as per Blockdata.

However, the bitcoin volume growth will be based on three factors – the increase in the number of transactions, bitcoin’s price rise, and the increase in the average amount of bitcoin sent per transaction.

The Bitcoin network processed an estimated $489 billion per quarter in 2021 on average, Blockdata said.

For comparison, PayPal processed an average of $302 billion per quarter, while the Mastercard network processed $1.8 trillion per quarter and the Visa Inc. V network processed an average of $3.2 trillion per quarter.

Bitcoin's processed volume could equal that of Mastercard as soon as 2026, if the cryptocurrency’s 2021 price growth is taken as a metric, as per the report. If the average yearly bitcoin price is used as a growth metric, it could attain the level only by around 2060.

See Also: How To Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

Why It Matters: Launched in 2009, Bitcoin has gained increasing mainstream adoption over the past few years. It is the world’s largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization that surpassed the $1 trillion mark this year.  

The rise in Bitcoin’s acceptance as a major store of value and payment option has also been influenced by major corporations adding the cryptocurrency to their balance sheet.

Bitcoin’s year-to-date gains are 94.3%. The cryptocurrency is down 17.0% from its all-time high of $68,789.63 reached in November.

Price Action: Bitcoin is down 0.3% during the past 24 hours, trading at $56,812.70 at press time.

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