BitPay: “Silicon Valley is becoming a Bitcoin hub”

     Bitpay Chief Commercial Officer Sunny Singh, who has made it his mission to bring Bitcoin to a large number of small businesses around the world, recently led a discussion on Bitcoin: the rapid growth of blockchain technology for banks, venture capital, and its importance for merchants and small e-commerce businesses.

Bitcoin vs. Internet Venture Capital Funds

     Singh began his talk with a simple comparison between the Bitcoin industry and Internet investments.

     According to Coindesk and PwC, investments in Bitcoin have totaled $9.16 billion so far in 2015, up 262.5% from the same period last year.

     “You can see a rapid growth in venture capital in the bitcoin space,” Singh explained, adding:

"The most important number is that venture capital has tripled this year compared to the same period last year. The company has been in Silicon Valley for 15 years and can predict many development trends and obtain funding. Looking back at the success of Google and Facebook, we are witnessing the establishment of the same ecosystem."

Payment amount

     According to data from Coinometrics and Statistita, Bitcoin has taken over global financial services and remittance companies like Western Union and digital money transfer and settlement platform Xoom.

     “Two years ago, this was unthinkable,” Singh said. “This shows how much traction Bitcoin has gained in just the past two years. I think in the next two years, it really has a long way to go and will reach higher goals.”

Merchants and global users

     In the past two years, institutions and merchants around the world that accept Bitcoin have announced positive growth in sales revenue. Dell, for example, reported positive year-on-year growth in Bitcoin sales last year.

Dell also tweeted:

"If you're a retailer, there's really no reason not to accept Bitcoin at this point" http://t.co/pWYy7NnhXH @nytimes

                                               — Dell (@Dell) July 18, 2014

     Online retail giants such as TigerDirect have reported very positive consumer feedback and an increase in Bitcoin sales over the past 18 months.

     “According to Leeds, TigerDirect is excited about the decision to accept Bitcoin. Leeds noted that Bitcoin has already attracted new users to TigerDirect, with 46% of users using Bitcoin being new users,” Bitcoin Magazine reported.

     Today, multinational corporations that have gained a lot of experience with Bitcoin are trying to convince other merchants to accept Bitcoin.

     “Twelve months ago, people like me were speaking to merchants at conferences and explaining why they needed to accept Bitcoin. Twelve months later, companies like Dell, Overstock and Microsoft are actually telling merchants why it’s valuable to accept Bitcoin. We’ve seen a pretty significant change in the ecosystem,” Singh explained.