CoinGate’s Crypto Payments Report (Q1 2024)

The first quarter of 2024 has just concluded, and it’s evident that cryptocurrency payments continue to surge in popularity, showing no signs of slowing down. 

In Q1 alone, we processed just under 394,000 payments, or one payment every 20 seconds. 

This is a notable improvement from the yearly average of 24 seconds in 2023, which suggests that we’re right on track for another record-breaking year for crypto payments.

By accepting cryptocurrency payments, you, too, can benefit from the growing crypto commerce. For starters, take the first step and sign up for a CoinGate account.

How Did Crypto Payments Perform in 2024?

This report aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of crypto payments’ performance during this quarter. We’ll compare the current data with the previous quarter’s figures and look back at how Q1 2024 stands against Q1 2023. 

Additionally, we’ll delve into specific areas such as the Lightning Network usage, the most popular cryptocurrencies used for payments, and more.

If you’re interested in accepting crypto payments yourself, don’t forget to create a CoinGate account. 

Crypto Payments: Q4 2023 vs. Q1 2024

In Q1 2024, USDT dominated the payments landscape, accounting for 41.4% of all transactions. This represents a significant 17.86% increase in USDT payments during Q1, leading to a 5.2% rise in its dominance as a payment currency since Q4 2023.

Interestingly, USDT overtook BTC as the primary payment currency in the latter part of 2023 and has maintained its top position ever since. 

On the other hand, Bitcoin’s share of payments has decreased from 28.30% in Q4 2023 to 19.6% in Q1 2024, following a 28.46% reduction in Bitcoin payment transactions. Despite this decline, BTC remains the second most favored payment currency on CoinGate.

Litecoin (LTC) and TRON (TRX) have seen their shares increase, with LTC’s share rising to 12% and TRX’s to 9.3% in Q1 2024, thanks to respective payment count increases of 19.63% and 32.87%. 

Ethereum (ETH), however, has witnessed a decrease in its share from 9.8% to 8.1%, with a 14.74% fall in payment transactions.

Together, these five cryptocurrencies now constitute 90.4% of all payments made on CoinGate in Q1 2024, with TRX climbing to fourth place, surpassing ETH.

Year-Over-Year Analysis: Q1 2023 vs. Q1 2024

The comparison between Q1 2023 and Q1 2024 reveals significant changes. Bitcoin’s share has dramatically decreased by 24.5% from its previous dominance, coupled with a 42% reduction in BTC payment transactions.

Conversely, USDT has shown remarkable growth, with its transaction count increasing by 159%, resulting in a 20.6% boost in its share of payments compared to last year.

Meanwhile, LTC dominance went up by 3.6% and TRX by 2.7%, while ETH dominance went down by 2.3%.

Lightning Network in Q1 2024

Our data reveals a consistent growth in orders processed through the Bitcoin’s Lightning Network (LN) over 2022 and 2023. 

But the opening months of 2024 have been particularly striking, with a significant uptick in LN transactions noted in March.

In general, the statistics from the first quarter of 2024 paint a compelling picture. The year started strong with 2,745 LN transactions in January, slightly dipping to 2,697 in February, before witnessing a substantial surge in March up to 3,673 orders. 

Concurrently, the percentage of BTC payments made via the LN has climbed from 11.1% in January to an impressive 13.5% by March, marking the highest adoption rate of Lightning Network observed to date. 

This trend strongly signals the market’s growing trust in the Lightning Network as an efficient and viable option for Bitcoin transactions.

Most Popular Blockchains of Q1 2024

In our exploration of the most favored cryptocurrencies for payments, we’ve pinpointed USDT as the top choice among our users. Yet, USDT’s versatility across multiple blockchain networks raises an intriguing question: which networks are preferred for USDT transactions?

TRON has taken the lead this quarter, accounting for 26.6% of all transactions processed in Q1 2024. This is an increase of 2.37% over the previous quarter, signaling a growing preference for TRON network among our users.

A deeper dive into the TRON network’s activity reveals that 65.06% of its transactions are in USDT, 34.87% in TRX, and a nominal 0.07% in USDC.

Ethereum, which held the top spot in Q4 2023, now ranks as the second most popular blockchain network in Q1 2024. It’s closely trailing TRON, with 25.6% of all payments processed on its network. 

This represents a 1.35% increase from the previous quarter, which illustrates Ethereum’s sustained relevance in the crypto payments space. 

The breakdown of transactions on Ethereum shows a majority of 69.84% in USDT payments, followed by 28.89% in ETH, with the remainder distributed among USDC, SHIB, and DAI.

Conclusions

In Q1 2024, we continue seeing an increase in the adoption of cryptocurrency payments, with transactions speeding up significantly. 

USDT emerged as the dominant payment currency, which shows a strong preference for stablecoins over more volatile cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, leading to its decrease in dominance. 

The adoption of payment solutions like the Lightning Network grew, suggesting that users lean towards efficiency and convenience. 

Additionally, TRON surpassed Ethereum as the most popular blockchain, highlighting shifting user preferences towards networks potentially offering better transaction conditions. 

Overall, we can confidently say that cryptocurrency payments continue showing signs of growth, in some cases, exponential growth. 

If you want to be part of this growth, consider accepting cryptocurrency payments.

The best way to start is by signing up for a CoinGate account.