70% of crypto funds within the European Union go towards retail, meals and beverage purchases, in keeping with a report from Oobit, a cryptocurrency funds platform that surveyed its customers’ spending habits.
The report, which denominated all transactions in US {dollars}, confirmed that the typical fee dimension utilizing the Oobit app was $8.36, whereas the typical deposit into the app was round $85. After retail and meals and beverage purchases, 26% of funds went to tourism-related actions corresponding to lodging, journey and aviation. 1.5% went to authorities providers and digital funds, whereas a further 1.5% went to miscellaneous purchases like healthcare and leisure.
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The report notes that the elevated adoption of crypto funds is probably going as a result of rising acceptance of digital property within the EU, with elevated credibility coming from governments passing crypto laws. Nevertheless, 92% of funds got here by utilizing the USDt (USDT) stablecoin, which has run afoul of the MiCA regulation which went into full impact on Dec. 30, 2024.
Oobit’s report dietary supplements information from Chainalysis, which confirmed that adoption of cryptocurrency in Central, Northern, and West Europe (CNWE) has grown 44% year-over-year. For transactions below $1 million, the stablecoin market in that area has grown at a fee 2.5 instances quicker than that in North America.
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Micropayments, stablecoins rising crypto use instances
Micropayments, which generally use stablecoins, have been a rising use case for crypto. Advances in expertise just like the Lightning Community, which has permitted fast micropayments in Bitcoin (BTC), and crypto debit playing cards which provide spending in crypto with “crypto-back,” have spurred this adoption. As Oobit notes within the title of its report, crypto is transferring from memes to a way of alternate.
These adjustments have begun to spur worldwide adoption. In June 2024, Nubank introduced the Lightning Community to 100 million Latin American clients.
In June 2023, IBEX partnered with Grupo Salinas to permit tens of millions of Mexicans to pay for his or her web payments with Bitcoin. On March 13, 2025, Ripple secured a Dubai license to supply crypto funds within the United Arab Emirates.
Then there are the stablecoins themselves like USDt and Circle’s USDC (USDC). In response to DefiLlama, the stablecoin market cap has grown from $62.8 billion on April 1, 2021, to $229.6 billion on March 18, 2025, a proportion rise of 266%.
Stablecoin market cap from April 1, 2021, to March 18, 2025. Supply: DefiLlama
These fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies are continuously utilized in creating international locations the place the native currencies are being devalued.
As Arthur Azizov, CEO of B2BINPAY, wrote in a February 2025 opinion piece for Cointelegraph, crypto funds could expertise an evolution from 2025 onwards. Some key components to be careful for are the debut of central financial institution digital currencies, which may push residents to extra decentralized choices, and the mesh between crypto fee suppliers and conventional finance firms.
Journal: Bitcoin funds are being undermined by centralized stablecoins