Bitpay’s chief operating officer, Sonny Singh, recently attested to the efficacy of bitcoin as a means of payment, stating that “bitcoin is being used all around the world for things other than speculation and trading.” The COO also reported that Bitpay processed $1.2 billion USD worth of bitcoin payment in 2018.
Bitpay COO Promotes Bitcoin as Means of Payment
Sonny Singh, the chief operating officer of Bitpay, recently discussed the use of bitcoin as a means of payment.
Mr. Singh stated that “Bitcoin is actually working,” adding that when “people say ‘wow the price has gone down so much, it’s crashing’ – that’s not relevant to what I’m doing.”
The Bitpay CEO asserted that “The key thing is that bitcoin is actually being used all around the world for things other than speculation and trading.” Mr. Singh claims that Bitpay “did 1.2 billion dollars last year in payments,” adding that such “means people spent $1.2 billion dollars of payments using bitcoin.”
Need for Greater Crypto Education to Foster Adoption
Despite his belief that bitcoin is currently “working” as a means of payment, Mr. Singh emphasized the need for greater education regarding the benefits of cryptocurrency in order to foster adoption.
“In America, everyone’s so used to credit cards or goes online and types credit card numbers. But it’s safer and easier to do this through QR code because you don’t have to give your credit card numbers. […] The merchants save money in America by paying with bitcoin, because they pay 1% of the transaction fee, but with credit cards, that’s 4%. So the merchants can make a lot of money if you are paying with bitcoin. But yet they don’t understand it, they have to be educated about it. And the consumers have to get the habit of spending with bitcoin. For them, it’s better and quicker than credit cards, and better for privacy,” he stated.
Mr. Singh added that the typical American cryptocurrency-user is principally concerned with speculation rather than the utility of bitcoin, stating: “A lot of people in America have heard of bitcoin, but not a lot of them own bitcoin. Even the tech people and college kids bought bitcoin, they’ll not spend it. They bought it only for speculation. And if you ask them about bitcoin, they can tell you about the price but nothing else, because they treat it as an investment tool. We need to get these people to actually start to spend bitcoin.”
Asian Region a Key Market for Bitpay
The Bitpay COO indicated that Asia comprises the company’s major market, stating “I have to say that Asia is a very big market for Bitpay and for bitcoin overall. And it will be that way for a long time, not just for trading, but for businesses as well. If you [live] in China or Korea and you have to pay an invoice to America, let’s say a million dollars, and you use bank services, it’ll take you 3 to 5 days for that payment to happen and it cost 3% to 4% in fees. We can do the whole thing in one day for 1% fee by bitcoin. That’s how bitcoin solves a real pain point. It’s cheaper and quicker than bank wire in most regions of the world.”
Mr. Singh also expressed his confidence that bitcoin “will become a main street product in the next couple of years,” adding “It just takes a little time.”
