Australian Cryptocurrency Expenditure at Retail Businesses - November 2019
Retail data provides the clearest picture of the utility of a coin and given the tremendous development occurring in the Bitcoin Cash community, it’s no surprise that Bitcoin Cash is absolutely dominating the Australian retail scene. With each month, we are seeing the gap widen still further as Bitcoin Cash continues to strengthen its retail grip, adding merchants, meetups, conferences, events. This leading indicator deserves significantly more attention from the market.
The October data revealed some large retail payments due to the many contractors developing their Bitcoin Cash customer base. Lawyers, accountants, engineers, electricians, builders and other professionals are expanding their business processes and importantly, closing vital loops which are known to amplify the Bitcoin Cash economy.
Sourcing the Data
The HULA system has expanded and provides valuable BCH visibility on the largely hidden retail peer-to-peer economy in Australia. Surprisingly, less than 20% of the Bitcoin BCH merchants are visible via the HULA data, lending confidence to these Bitcoin Cash retail numbers.
On the other hand, our source of BTC retail data (and that of other cryptos) is more extensive due to their localisation to a single point-of-sale platform in Australia, the TravelByBit PoS.
Examining cryptocurrency usage
What immediately leaps out from the November retail figures is just how fast the Bitcoin BCH economy is growing in Australia. BCH recorded a mind-blowing 267% month-on-month growth, accounting for $51,996.73 of the total $55,725.05 expended during the month.
The Australian crypto economy appears to be booming with the heavy lifting shouldered by Bitcoin Cash. BTC recorded less than a single transaction per day over the whole of Australia for the month and LN fared worse recording no growth for the month.
An expanding professional economy
In October, the Bitcoin Cash activity from the professional sector accounted for a small number of large payments. Such large payments are absent from other cryptos which have largely neglected to onboard professionals in any significant number.
The November figures show a sizable jump in this sector, as a growing number of professionals harness the power and convenience of Bitcoin Cash.
Comparing back-end systems
The Bitcoin Cash platform of choice in Australia is the Bitcoin.com Cash Register App, a simple, effective and very fast point-of-sale system that continues to gain market share from its rivals, recording 93% of expenditure in November up from 90% in the previous month.
Conclusion
Australia’s Bitcoin Cash economy is noted for its walking-the-talk integrity, a single minded adoption of Bitcoin Cash as the future global electronic currency. The recent Bitcoin Cash City Conference for example, expected delegates to spend only Bitcoin BCH during their entire visit, conference tickets, airfares, accommodation, transport, food, entertainment and so on.
Australia was the first to pioneer payment systems that feature Bitcoin Cash only, permitting merchants to field a Bitcoin Cash payment option superior to even the fastest fiat systems. The result is that Australia not only has a high number of merchants accepting Bitcoin Cash but the vast majority of these merchants walk-the-talk with only a Bitcoin Cash crypto payment option.
Not immediately visible is the depth of the Bitcoin Cash development pipeline in Australia, although it appears this is about to garner some notice. For those that think these reported monthly BCH growth numbers are unsustainable or transient, will have to think again. Several major BCH projects in the development pipeline are advancing to the next level and already professional involvement has significantly increased as this sector wakes to the speed and power of Bitcoin BCH.
Over November, Australian Bitcoin Cash economy grew an astounding 267% (and accounted for 93% of all crypto retail expenditure) while by contrast, Australian fiat turnover grew just 0.2% in October (with November likely to be a similar figure), a more than 1000 fold difference.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is the closest thing humanity has to an ideal money and BCH becoming the global currency would usher in an era of fairness, efficiency and prosperity, features Australia for one, can certainly use more of.
