Transactions made in Bitcoin towards merchants that use BitPay tumbled to about 65% of payments in 2021, a sharp drop from 92% in 2020, the company said. Ether made up 15% and stablecoins were 13%. The least-used tokens to make payments were those added only recently to BitPay's roster — dogecoin, shiba inu, and litecoin — which accounted for 3%.

This shift away from Bitcoin happened partly due to a preference for stablecoins, while other cryptocurrencies were dropping. Another factor might be users not wanting to spend Bitcoin if they think its price could increase 10-fold within a year. 

People used their cryptocurrency to buy luxury goods including cars, jewelry, boats, watches, and even gold, according to BitPay. The company's transactions for luxury goods soared 31% in 2021 from 9% in 2020, while overall payment volumes rose 57% year on year. It had 50% revenue growth last year.

Cryptocurrencies have recently taken a hit after the Federal Reserve's December meeting further fueled market expectations of a possible rate hike in March, enough to weaken crypto and tech stocks. This has heightened concerns about a liquidity squeeze, which can be a pressure on risk assets.