Altcoins are coming for . Many of them – , , , – were initially conceived more as utility tokens for blockchain platforms than as mediums of payment.
But increasingly, many of them are turning to payments, while an expanding range of third-parties are building payment services around them.
According to payments industry players, this shift is happening for a variety of reasons. From the emergence of Facebook's to the growth in stablecoins and the superior scale offered by certain blockchains, altcoins have targeted a growing interest in crypto payments, while also proving their ability to satisfy such rising demand.
More payment options
In November, Cardano announced the launch of a new crypto payment system, AdaPay. Aimed at merchants, AdaPay allows users to accept payments in ADA with a “near-instant” settlement into 35 fiat currencies.
Such movements into payments have been a recurring theme among altcoins over the past year.
For instance, XRP was initially aimed at financial institutions looking for real-time gross settlement systems, but now it’s expanding by moving into payments more generally.
In February, it announced a deal with money-transfer service Intermex to provide remittance services between the United States and Mexico. And in October, its developer initiative, Xpring, announced a partnership with major crypto payment processor BitPay, whereby BitPay would begin enabling merchants to accept XRP as payment.
Even if altcoins aren't launching new payment systems themselves, many are increasingly signing deals through which they'll be accepted by services.
In September, BitPay announced that it would begin accepting payments in ETH, for example. Similarly, payment gateway GoCoin announced in May that it would be accepting ETH and EOS, in addition to the likes of BTC.
