Cryptocurrencies continue to crowd out fiat. For example, in 2024, the volume of transactions with stablecoins surpassed the figures for the Visa and Mastercard payment systems.
Fedor Ivanov, director of analytics at Shard, is confident that cryptocurrencies will continue to gain ground on the financial market in 2025. He named the coins that, in his opinion, could become a popular means of payment for everyday settlements.
Cryptocurrencies vs. Fiat
Cryptocurrencies continue to win back their place from traditional finance. The process is happening in many countries around the world, where new financial instruments related to the cryptocurrency market are emerging. Most often, this concerns investments – investment crypto funds are already offered in the USA, Canada, Australia, Brazil and some Asian countries. Even in Russia, there was an attempt to issue bonds tied to a crypto ETF, but it ended in failure – the Bank of Russia cancelled the issue of these securities.
Similar processes are taking place in the payments industry – most large companies are trying to integrate digital assets into their products and, thus, stay within the global trend.
As for payments, stablecoins are used first and foremost for this – digital money created to sooner or later replace fiat payments. According to the CEX.IO crypto exchange, one of the largest exchanges in the world, the volume of transactions in stablecoins in 2024 exceeded the volume of transactions made in the Mastercard and VISA payment systems. But these statistics do not include other cryptocurrencies that are also used for payments.
Classic crypto for payments
Many popular classic cryptocurrencies, as well as stablecoins, have come a long way from unknown coins to popular instruments for calculation. Let's consider in detail the position of popular digital assets.
Bitcoin (BTC)
Bitcoin is the undisputed leader in adoption and use in the world. It is no coincidence that in 2024 its market share did not fall below 50%. Bitcoin is already used as a means of payment around the world, which is facilitated by the introduction of Lightning.
BTC as a means of payment in online trading is accepted by many companies in various fields: from cars to utilities and taxes. In most countries of the world where cryptocurrency is regulated, car dealers, as well as real estate agencies and sellers of luxury goods, accept bitcoin and stablecoins as payment. There are also special platforms that sell luxury cars for bitcoin. The most striking example is CryptoAutos.
Ripple (XRP)
XRP is a cryptocurrency created by Ripple. The coin operates on its own blockchain. XRP is a key element of the Ripple settlement ecosystem, which is used to speed up settlements in many financial companies around the world.
The coin itself is currently not popular as a means of payment, but this is probably due to the fact that Ripple has been involved in legal disputes with American regulators for the past few years. With the arrival of Donald Trump in the White House, lawsuits against Ripple began to be withdrawn. At the same time, the cryptocurrency itself may become one of the assets selected for the US crypto reserve.
XRP is a deflationary coin, its emission is limited, and the technical solutions used and a special consensus algorithm make it a real candidate for payments in jurisdictions where regulation emphasizes transparency and security.
In fact, XRP is a private cryptocurrency. All network validators undergo KYC procedures with Ripple, which makes the token one of the safest and least used for criminal purposes. Cases of large-scale thefts of XRP are isolated, the coin is not popular with criminals and for money laundering purposes.
An important detail is that immediately after the pressure on Ripple from the American authorities eased, the company received a license to carry out cryptocurrency payments in the UAE. The more clients use Ripple solutions, the more confident the company's token will feel.
Litecoin (LTC)
A PoW coin that is technologically similar to Bitcoin has been on the market for a long time and has gained popularity due to faster transactions and lower fees than Bitcoin. Litecoin is a popular coin with strong community support. As with BTC, the cryptocurrency network experiences halvings and its supply is limited. Litecoin is issued in 84 million coins.
Litecoin has been in the shadow of Bitcoin for a long time, but the more expensive the first cryptocurrency becomes, the more interesting it is for people to go into similar products with a lower entry threshold. Therefore, in 2024, the price of Litecoin almost doubled, reaching $ 135 per coin.
Like Bitcoin, Litecoin is already actively used in payments and will continue to be used. It has already been implemented by many platforms, as well as payment giants such as Paypal and Venmo for users in some jurisdictions, primarily the United States.
Toncoin (TON)
TON, although experiencing volatility due to the arrest of Pavel Durov in France, has significant potential for use in crypto payments. The project's blockchain is known for its high transaction processing speed and low fees, which makes it attractive to payment systems.
Toncoin is closely linked to Telegram, which ensures its widespread distribution and ease of use for messenger users. In fact, the Telegram ecosystem of applications and marketplaces is largely based on TON as a means of payment.
Toncoin appeared recently, but is already accepted as a means of payment. The same luxury car sales service CryptoAutos integrated the coin into its platform.
Ton Foundation is actively promoting the coin in the MENA region and the CIS, which will further stabilize its rate by attracting new users. Positively for the future, Toncoin also allows you to look at the permission for Pavel Durov to leave France, which indicates that there are clearly positive shifts in the trial against him.
Crypto conquers the planet
In 2025, further development of the regulatory framework for cryptocurrencies is expected. In Russia, for example, digital currencies are officially recognized as property and are subject to taxation. The country has launched an experimental legal regime that allows the official use of coins for cross-border payments.
The MiCA regulation has come into full effect in the EU, which, despite its strictness, makes the rules for using cryptocurrencies clear and transparent not only for specialized companies such as crypto exchanges, but also for other non-professional market participants.
The development of Layer 2 solutions for networks such as Ethereum and Bitcoin will increase the speed and reduce the cost of transactions, which will also make cryptocurrencies more convenient for everyday payments. And companies that offer solutions for accepting cryptocurrency payments as a service simplify integration for businesses and promote the spread of cryptocurrencies in everyday transactions.
As the number of jurisdictions where cryptocurrencies are legal increases, their use in everyday payments will also grow. Countries are not far behind – many places, including the US, Brazil, Argentina, Switzerland and some EU countries, already allow you to pay taxes in cryptocurrency, as well as officially receive your salary in it.
Factors of acceptance of cryptocurrencies as legal means of payment
The most important factors include regulation. Both at the level of individual states and at the global level. There are no far-reaching examples – two countries that recognized bitcoin as a fully-fledged legal means of payment abandoned this idea under pressure from international financial regulators.
El Salvador, the only country in the world with a formed policy for the acceptance of Bitcoin, which recognized it as a legal means of payment in 2022, was forced to partially abandon the idea under pressure from the IMF. The IMF refused to lend to the country until it lifted the obligation of all legal entities in the country to accept Bitcoin as payment for their services. At the same time, the IMF continues to insist on the complete abolition of settlements in the first cryptocurrency, citing risks to financial stability.
The Central African Republic, which also legalized bitcoin as a means of payment, abandoned the idea almost immediately, under pressure from the Bank of Central African States, the issuer of the CFA franc, the currency of the CAR among others.
At the regional level, regulation is also the main problem. Even in those countries where cryptocurrency is legal, it is not always possible to use it for settlement purposes. An example is all the countries of Central Asia and Belarus. There are also restrictions in Latin American countries, although the situation there is ambiguous. In Bolivia, for example, where cryptocurrency was recently completely banned, in 2025 it was allowed to be used in the banking sector and for the purchase of fuel by the largest state-owned company YPFB.
Key issues
As for security, the main problem is the vulnerability of user wallets to all kinds of phishing and hacker attacks. While banks are strictly regulated and licensed, crypto companies are not always. Accordingly, payment services and user wallets are more susceptible to attacks by intruders. Otherwise, all problems have been solved, including the problems of blockchain network throughput, which are effectively solved by L2 solutions like Lightning.
Источник: cryptocurrency.tech
