Behind the Bitcoin surge: Consumers prefer to hold it, not spend it

Part of the reason for the surge in stablecoin usage is that more and more businesses are starting to use them in cross-border payments. Consumers are also turning to stablecoins (which are relatively stable in value) when cryptocurrency prices fall.

Meanwhile, as bitcoin has soared over the last year, consumers have begun to choose to hold it rather than choose to spend it. Many consumers remember Bitcoin's first real-world transaction: a programmer had used 10,000 Bitcoins to buy two pizzas, which are worth about $420 million at the current price of Bitcoin.

BitPay CEO Stephen Pair told the press that the company's overall payment volume grew 57% year-over-year in 2021.