The bitcoin network already processes more transactions in dollar terms than Paypal, and the world's largest decentralized cryptocurrency network by market capitalization could surpass Mastercard as early as 2026.
On November 25, the market intelligence platform Blockdata released a report titled "When is the Bitcoin network likely to handle the transaction volume of MasterCard and Visa?" " report, which pointed out that in 2021, the transaction volume processed by the Bitcoin network every quarter is about 489 billion U.S. dollars, which is higher than Paypal's 302 billion U.S. dollars. Just 12 years after its inception, Bitcoin processes about 27% of Mastercard’s quarterly transaction volume ($1.8 trillion) and about 15% of Visa’s ($3.2 trillion).
There are three factors that could push the total transaction volume of the Bitcoin network to rise to the level of the two credit card giants: the total number of transactions, the average number of bitcoins sent per transaction, and an increase in the price of bitcoin.
The first factor - the total number of trades - is the most variable. In theory, “if Bitcoin moved 260% more value per transaction today, it would process as many transactions as Mastercard per day.”
However, the report found no current data to suggest that the average amount of bitcoin sent per transaction is on the rise. This trend may change in the future, but a price increase to $245,000 would also allow Bitcoin to catch up to Mastercard if current volumes are used. Some analysts said such a price move may be more likely than a rise in trading volume.
Blockdata ultimately claimed that Bitcoin’s price increase is unlikely to bring its transaction volume to an appropriate level to match Mastercard’s. This may not be until 2060 if the average annual price of Bitcoin is considered. On the other hand, "at the current 2021 growth rate, it will not be until 2026 at the earliest."
The report noted that despite its relative youth, the decentralized Bitcoin network has managed to achieve higher transaction volumes than the two centralized credit card giants.
“Impressively, as a decentralized network that is only 12 years old, it handles 27% more transactions than Mastercard, which was founded in 1966.”
Cointelegraph Chinese is a blockchain news information platform, and the information provided only represents the author's personal opinion, has nothing to do with the position of the Cointelegraph Chinese platform, and does not constitute any investment and financial advice. Readers are requested to establish correct currency concepts and investment concepts, and earnestly raise risk awareness.