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- According to new data from SEMrush, Bitcoin is becoming increasingly popular as a means of payment in Italy.
- Every month, more than 215,800 people use Bitcoin to pay for goods in an online shop in Italy.
Bitcoin is a new Internet currency that is increasingly being used to pay for goods or simply and conveniently online. More and more online shops offer the possibility to pay with cryptocurrencies in addition to classic payment methods such as credit cards, debit cards or Paypal. Italy is also proving innovative and Bitcoin has recently become one of the most popular payment methods.
Bitcoin in third place in Italy
The marketing analysis company SEMRush shows in a new survey that Bitcoin is the third most popular payment method in Italy. The evaluated data set is based on figures between October 2018 and September 2019. The Italian online magazine La Stampa reports that Paypal comes first, followed by PostePay and Bitcoin. The following figures show online purchases made depending on the payment method used:
- Paypal 1.383.000
- PostePay 1.175.000
- Bitcoin 215.800
- American Express 189.000
- Kreditkarte 33.950
Bitcoin is used more frequently for payment in online shops than American Express and credit cards. This development clearly shows that Bitcoin has now arrived in the mainstream. In June 2019, Bitcoin achieved a record 368,000 purchases using BTC as a payment method. La Stampa further states that Bitcoin was also viewed with great skepticism in Italy a few years ago.
However, the adaptation continues regardless of the actual development of the Bitcoin price. In 2018, the total e-commerce claims were over 40 billion euros, with 62% of Italians making at least one online purchase. Italy is thus one of the strongest markets in terms of turnover within the European Union.
Swiss Amazon implements Bitcoin
Already in March this year, the largest online mail order company in Switzerland, Digtec Galaxus, also known as the “Swiss” Amazon, announced that it will accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and some other Altcoins as legal means of payment with immediate effect. The company is working with payment provider Coinify, which charges a fee of 1.5% of the purchase price per transaction.
To date, a minimum order value of 200 francs has been applied in order for the purchase to be paid for in cryptocurrencies. Depending on the currency, the payment is confirmed at different speeds, but it never takes longer than a few minutes. The company offers more than 2.7 million different products and achieved sales of more than USD 900 million in 2018.
