Coindesk and PwC: Bitcoin Investments Increase 262.5 Percent from 2014 to 2015

Bitpay Chief Commercial Officer Sonny Singh, recently led a discussion on the advancements of the digital currency space. The talk covered blockchain research, global payments trends and emerging bitcoin investments.

“You can see the rapid growth of the VC investments in the bitcoin space,” said Singh.

“The most important number is (VC investments have) gone up 3x this year compared to last year, and so having been based in Silicon Valley for 15 years, and seeing a lot of trends and companies getting funding, back from Google and Facebook and all that, we’re seeing the same kind of ecosystem being built.”

When it comes to payments volume, bitcoin has officially surpassed Western Union and Xoom, a global remittance company focused on the Asia-Pacific region. Currently dominating the sector are the following institutions: Visa, MasterCard and China Union Pay.

Two years ago, bitcoin would not have made a significant impact in the financial space. Singh expects the nascent currency to gain more traction in the coming years, as more individuals learn about the mechanics of the payments method.

Major tech brands also played an influential role in the spread of bitcoin. This year alone, several companies and merchants opened their doors to the community by catering to digital currency payments.

“12 months ago, people like myself were at conferences speaking to merchants out there explaining to merchants why they need to accept bitcoin. 12 months later, merchants like Dell, Overstock, and Microsoft are actually speaking to merchants now explaining the value of why accepting bitcoin is important,” stated Singh.

In blockchain research, notable establishments such as UBS, Barclays, Samsung, IBM and Santander have vowed to push the application of the technology and spread its use to other forward-thinking industries