Bitcoin vs PayPal is a battle which Bitcoin appears to be winning! Up until Bitcoin became mainstream, PayPal was among the most convenient means to transfer funds. However, Bitcoins are changing the game. We now have statistical evidence to show that BTC is becoming larger than PayPal.
Here’s a closer look at how BTC appears to be winning the Bitcoin vs PayPal battle.
Bitcoin vs PayPal: Bitcoin’s Annual Transaction Value Surges Past PayPal
Bitcoin’s annual transaction value surged past that of PayPal in 2017. However 2017 was a year when BTC had boomed – so that can be discounted as an exception. What gives a more clear picture of how Bitcoin might be winning the Bitcoin vs PayPal battle is how BTC performed in 2018.
Bitcoin’s transaction value is already in excess of $1.3 Trillion. This places it closer to the likes of financial powerhouses such as Visa and Mastercard and above PayPal. However, is BTC truly as huge as this graph makes it appear to be?
Bitcoin vs PayPal: Why The Comparison Doesn’t Really Matter
This comparison appeared on a Reddit thread where a number of people immediately pointed out some things which were wrong with it. This graph is essentially pointless because when it comes to Bitcoins, these transactions are often trading-related transactions.
This means that people are buying, selling and transferring cryptocurrencies frequently in order to make a profit on them. This isn’t the case with other names on the list which are used purely for payments. Here’s what Redditors have to say about this Bitcoin vs PayPal analysis:
Invalid comparisons. No one trades PayPal or Visa credits hoping to get rich. They also aren’t used for people transferring to themselves between accounts/wallets.
This comparison is bullshit. And I assure you that 99% of the volume in PayPal is real use and real purchases. Bitcoin’s volume is mainly just traders.
The vast majority of Bitcoin transactions are just people buying and selling Bitcoin rather than using it as a currency. Totally different things.
1.3 Trillion! and I bet 1 Trillion of that is people just moving from wallet to wallet.
People don’t “Day Trade” or “Arbitrage” paypal, like they do BTC. This is a completely invalid comparison.
Comparing a currency to payment networks doesn’t really say much. Bitcoin’s on-chain transactions aren’t indicative at all of its usage. There are some aspects that will make it look much larger and others that will make it look smaller. Looking at them won’t inform you at all about the underlying reality.
Right now, I think the only thing we can say with any degree of certainty is that BTC is still tiny, but it is growing and still has plenty of room for growth. This is also true of the Lightning Network (which – being a payment network – would be more appropriate to compare to things like PayPal; although you can’t because you can’t see all transactions on LN and that’s a good thing).
