The number of businesses and merchants that accept bitcoin payments increased by a whopping 174% last year, according to data from BTC Map, a tracking site. The number of restaurants, stores, and services that accept bitcoin reached 6,126 by the end of last year, up from just 2,207 merchants at the beginning of 2023.
BTC Map uses OpenStreetMap to identify areas where bitcoin is being used for everyday transactions. People and merchants can mark these crypto-friendly businesses and merchants on the map. Increases in the number of bitcoin-friendly merchants on BTC Map also indicate that more people are marking the locations where cryptocurrency payments are accepted.
Central and South America, along with those in the United States and Europe, showed larger groups of businesses that accept bitcoin. More than 1,000 businesses that accept bitcoin were marked in Italy, and 380 businesses were marked in South Africa.
One of the biggest brands that began accepting bitcoin payments is the Italian luxury automaker Ferrari. In October 2023, Ferrari decided to accept payments in the form of bitcoin, ether, and US dollars in the United States.
