Bitcoin, Visa Record Decline in Transactions, but Pizza Deliveries Increase

During the first-quarter of 2020, there has been considerable decrease in online purchases utilizing Bitcoin (BTC), Visa and few other retail apps, covering cryptocurrency and fiat currency dealings.

With hundreds of thousands across the world under self-quarantine or in lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in general, everyone would expect online shopping and deliveries to increase.

Nonetheless, with jobless rate on the increase and an unpredictable economic outlook, it looks as if consumers prefer to save their money for rainy day.

The cryptocurrency market is also facing the lacking of enthusiastic buying.

BTC has witnessed a decline in daily trades by about 100,000 since the start of this month.

A similar scenario existed during “crypto winter” when the price of BTC plummeted to roughly $3,000 in December 2018.

On February 5, just days before the outbreak of coronavirus disease across the globe, Bitcoin’s blockchain network, which went online on January 12, 2009, recorded a new milestone in the form of half a billion transactions.

Even though the strong increase in the number of transactions reflects mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies for day-to-day use, the latest decline in transactions indicates a considerable reversal to the objective of achieving mass adoption.

Mati Greenspan, crypto market analyst, opined that “people are simply more hesitant to spend their Bitcoins at this time.”

As per a Reuters report, Visa, considering the steep decline in usage, anticipates to record only single-digit percentage revenue growth in the second quarter of 2020, compared to the double-digit revenue growth in the same period last year.

Reuters has assessed that initiatives such as lockdowns could be responsible to a certain extend as consumers refrain from visiting entertainment parks, restaurants and in general, activities outside their home.

Nevertheless, ther is also a decline in online spending as big ticket purchases such as flight reservation is not feasible.

On March 25, Square, the firm behind crypto supporting Cash App, anticipates to post “lower-than-expected revenue and earnings” after revealing a 25% decline in vendor Gross Payment Volume. The company has also taken back its FY20 forecasts and intends to provide a fresh outlook by May.

On a slightly optimistic note, pizza deliveries have seen an increase. The US pizza chain Papa John has disclosed that Comp sales increased by more than 5% in 1Q20 as people restricted to homes depend on home deliveries of food products.