Cryptocurrency

Bitcoin is Finally Becoming an “Everyday Use” Currency

Published

8 years ago

July 6, 2015

Jeff Desjardins

Bitcoin is Finally Becoming an 'Everyday Use' Currency

Bitcoin is Finally Becoming an “Everyday Use” Currency

Over the last few years, Bitcoin has gained a reputation as an investment commodity. It has been toted as a method to preserve wealth and to hedge against currency devaluation as bitcoins cannot be “printed”.

This reputation still holds true today. With Greece’s economy on the rocks and the unfolding aftermath of a “no” decision, the bitcoin price has skyrocketed by around 20% in the last month. While Greeks are having difficulties buying the cryptocurrency due to capital controls, Coinbase has reported that buys across Europe have increased 300% as others observe what is happening in Greece.

However, recent transaction data also shows that more bitcoins are being spent on “everyday use” items. Bitpay, which facilitates retail transactions using bitcoins, reports that the number of transactions has increased from 209,420 to 563,568 (from 2013 to 2014). Interestingly, the average order amount decreased substantially from $513 to $281 per order as more people bought more everyday items.

What are people buying with bitcoins? It turns out the list is pretty boring: bedroom sheets, headphones, area rugs, mattresses, coffee tables, sunglasses, and donations to non-profits all help round out the top ten items bought on Overstock.com. With the cryptocurrency becoming more ubiquitous as shown by reaching the 100k daily transaction mark (not including popular addresses) this year, it is being used more and more for regular ecommerce purchases.

As we’ve previously shown with technology hype cycles, it takes some time for new innovations to develop the infrastructure to reach their hyped potential. There is evidence that shows that cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin are along this path. Even though they are primed to change the world and spur even more innovation, the world has not yet been ready. It seems to be getting closer, though.

Original graphic by: Coupofy

Related Topics:btc everyday use transactions bitcoin currency cryptocurrency

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Charting the Number of Failed Crypto Coins, by Year (2013-2022)

We visualize over 2,000 crypto failures by year of death, and year of project origin. See how and why crypto projects die in these charts.

Creator Program

Published

5 months ago

May 9, 2023

Aran Ali

The Number of Failed Crypto Coins, by Year (2013-2022)

Ever since the first major crypto boom in 2011, tens of thousands of cryptocurrency coins have been released to market.

And while some cryptocurrencies performed well, others have ceased to trade or have ended up as failed or abandoned projects.

These graphics from CoinKickoff break down the number of failed crypto coins by the year they died, and the year they started. The data covers a decade of coin busts from 2013 through 2022.

Methodology

What is the marker of a “dead” crypto coin?

This analysis reviewed data from failed crypto coins listed on Coinopsy and cross-referenced against CoinMarketCap to verify previous market activity. The reason for each coin death was also tabulated, including:

Failed Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)
Abandonment with less than $1,000 in trade volume over a three-month period
Scams or coins that were meant as a joke

Dead Crypto Coins from 2013 to 2022

While many familiar crypto coins—Litecoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum—are still on the market today, there were at least 2,383 crypto coins that bit the dust between 2013 and 2022.

Here’s a breakdown of how many crypto coins died each year by reason:

Dead Coins by Year	Abandoned / No Volume	Scams / Other Issues	ICO Failed / Short-Lived	Joke / No purpose
2013	9	0	0	0
2014	277	20	5	2
2015	223	27	1	2
2016	152	22	4	5
2017	169	71	46	6
2018	390	237	112	12
2019	203	73	51	2
2020	77	19	9	0
2021	34	36	2	2
2022	50	23	8	2
Total	1,584	528	238	33

Abandoned coins with flatlining trading volume accounted for 1,584 or 66.5% of analyzed crypto failures over the last decade. Comparatively, 22% ended up being scam coins, and 10% failed to launch after an ICO.

As for individual years, 2018 saw the largest total of annual casualties in the crypto market, with 751 dead crypto coins. More than half of them were abandoned by investors, but 237 coins were revealed as scams or embroiled in other controversies, such as BitConnect which turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

Why was 2018 such a big year for crypto failures?

This is largely because the year prior saw Bitcoin prices climb above $1,000 for the first time with an eventual peak near $19,000. As a result, speculation ran hot, new crypto issuances boomed, and many investors and firms got bullish on the market for the first time.

How Many Newly Launched Coins Died?

Of the hundreds of coins that launched in 2017, more than half were considered defunct by the end of 2022.

proportion of launched crypto coins each year that have died

Indeed, a lot of earlier-launched coins have since died. The majority of coins launched between 2013 and 2017 have already become “dead coins” by the end of 2022.

Coin Start Year	Dead Coins by 2022
2013	66.67%
2014	76.54%
2015	68.42%
2016	60.87%
2017	57.14%
2018	27.62%
2019	4.74%
2020	1.03%
2021	0.59%
2022	0.06%

Part of this is because the cryptocurrency field itself was still being figured out. Many coins were launched in a time of experimentation and innovation, but also of volatility and uncertainty.

However, the trend began to shift in 2018. Only 27.62% of coins launched in that year have bit the dust so far, and the failure rates in 2019 and 2020 fell further to only 4.74% and 1.03% of launched coins, respectively.

This suggests that the crypto industry has become more mature and stable, with newer projects establishing themselves more securely and investors becoming wiser to potential scams.

How will this trend evolve into 2023 and beyond?