By Nakul Shah, a prominent voice in the cryptocurrency industry since 2016 and an author and publisher of 75 white papers and a book, Blockchain for Business with Hyperledger Fabric
In less than 20 years, we’ve gone from the invention of the first cryptocurrencies to having them seemingly everywhere in our world. There’s hardly a day that goes by when these turbulent currencies don’t feature in the conversation or on the news in some way.
I can now pay for my weekly ASDA shop or even buy a car using cryptocurrency in the UK. Although crypto payments are mostly limited to the online world for now, I think we could be closer to seeing frequent in-person crypto transactions than we realise.
When did crypto start?
Before Bitcoins start coming out of our ears, let’s go back to the start and talk about the birth of cryptocurrency. If you’re not a crypto nerd like me, you’ve still likely have heard of the original currency, Bitcoin, which was first proposed by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto in a white paper in 2008. The father of crypto was even jointly responsible for the first crypto transaction, which took place in January 2009 between Nakamoto and software developer Hal Finney.
What do I mean by volatility?
How did we go from these humble beginnings to being able to grab a Costa coffee using crypto? As someone who’s watched from the early days, I can tell you that it was a considerable journey, thanks to the currency’s characteristic high volatility. To give you a quick definition, a highly volatile asset is one where the value fluctuates significantly.
One of the reasons we see the value of crypto move around more than something like the Pound Sterling is because it’s decentralised. Decentralised means it’s not attached to a central institution, like the Bank of England, which can help stabilise the value. This makes crypto highly dependent on public opinion, as well as the influence of global events.
To give you a flavour of just how temperamental crypto can be, between 2020 and 2024, crypto had at least one week where it dropped 40% in value and four weeks where it dropped more than 20%. Although it’s not all downhill, at the same time, crypto climbed, with at least one week of 30% growth and at least ten above 20%, there’s no escaping its volatility.
How did crypto overcome people’s reservations?
You might be wondering if all of this is true, then how come we still see cryptocurrency in industries including retail. Well, a lot of it was down to changing perceptions. Around 2013, crypto went from a fringe concept, seen by many as a joke, and started creeping in the public consciousness. It was the first time Bitcoin’s value broke into the thousands, reaching a value of £1,213 in November, a far cry from where it started the year on a measly £13.
Although it retains its volatility, the value of Bitcoin today completely dwarfs those early prices. In 2025, Bitcoin is trading at a value of £121,000, which is pretty close to the value of £123,166, which it peaked at. President Donald Trump has been a strong supporter of the currency; on the 7th of August, he signed an order to allow 401k retirement plans to invest in crypto. The move opened up an eye-watering $9 trillion in capital to crypto and has seen the value of coins skyrocket.
UK legislation changes
Although the US is the hub of crypto, here in the UK, we’re also making some big changes to its regulation. In April, the Government published draft legislation that looks to bring the regulation of crypto under the same rules as other assets. That includes placing the currencies under the remit of the Financial Conduct Authority. For retailers, it will help to make legislation much clearer and bring crypto even closer to traditional forms of finance.
Entering mainstream
- When crypto really started gathering steam after 2016, customer demand meant industries like retail started to adopt it as a payment method. Users can now pay using the most popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, at retailers throughout the UK. Here are a few of the retailers that accept BitcoinArgos
- Uber
- Marks & Spencer
- Domino’s
- Google Play
- Supermarkets (ASDA, Sainsbury’s, Tesco)
- Xbox
- PUMA
- Adidas
- John Lewis
- H&M
- IKEA
Can you use crypto to pay in-person?
It’s a common misconception that cryptocurrency can only be used online, and although that is the most common use case, it’s not a limitation. On apps like Crypto.com Pay, users are given a QR code linked to their crypto wallet. They can present the code at a till to pay using crypto (it’s similar to paying using a voucher).
The future of crypto in retail
Cryptocurrency wallets are used to store users’ information and keys to give them access to their holdings. These are similar to Apple Wallets, which also don’t directly store your money but give you access to spending it. I can easily see the same technology being incorporated to allow crypto owners to more easily spend at in-person stores.
Could a partnership with Apple be on the table?
Back in 2022, Apple unveiled their feature called Tap to Pay, which allowed retailers to accept payments on their phones, essentially turning them into a mini card machine. If you’ve even been to something like an outside market when Wi-Fi is poor, you’ll likely have seen how important this feature can be.
Well, not long after it was introduced, MetaMask—one of the most popular crypto wallets, with around 30 million monthly users—expressed their interest in the technology. They highlighted how it could allow crypto owners to buy and spend directly from their wallet. News of their interest came very shortly after they added Apple Pay to their wallets to allow users to purchase crypto more efficiently.
I believe we’re creeping closer to seeing the development of a crypto wallet that echoes the Apple Wallet. It would allow users to directly spend their cryptocurrency in as little as a tap, removing many of the boundaries that stand in the way of retailers integrating the currency into their daily payments.
Why was crypto such a big hit with retail?
There are a lot of advantages that come with introducing crypto into the retail space.
Lower fees
Everybody likes to pay less, which is why lower fees are one of the strongest selling points for cryptocurrency. When I’m paying using crypto, I usually only have to pay the minimum blockchain fee, which means both the retailer and I save money.
Easier international payments
As we mentioned before, crypto is a decentralised payment method, which means there are no exchange rates. It can be traded around the world without any need for currency exchange, which means clients and companies alike can avoid fluctuating conversion rates.
Faster transactions
Rather than having to wait around for days, or even weeks, crypto payments usually hit bank accounts within a few hours.
Leading the way in security
One of the big positives for cryptocurrencies, security, deserves its own section. You might have heard the term Blockchain technology thrown around when discussing cryptocurrency, but aside from being the buzzword of the year, it’s actually an incredibly valuable technology that improves crypto safety.
What actually is blockchain?
Now, make sure to hold onto your Bitcoins because I’m about to make things a little more complicated. Cryptocurrency payments depend on something called blockchain technology, which is effectively a virtual ledger of all of the transactions made using a certain form of crypto.
One of the reasons that I view blockchain as one of the most important technological developments of recent years is that once recorded, it’s impossible to edit any of the transactions. That means that payments made using crypto have higher levels of transparency. For retailers, this helps avoid the dreaded chargeback and makes the supply chain more secure and transparent; for me as a customer, it helps to build trust.
What does the popularity of crypto mean for retail?
The potential for cryptocurrencies in the retail industry is incredibly vast. We’ve already seen them introduced as a way to pay online at retailers throughout the country, but in the next few years, I can see them making the jump to in-person payments. I know I’ll certainly be keeping an eye out for the developing relationship between Apple and crypto wallets. When I stand back and look at the big crypto picture, I only see the virtual currencies becoming more widely adopted at retailers throughout the UK.
The author:
Nakul Shah has been a prominent voice in the cryptocurrency industry since 2016. He’s spent time as a financial engineer, integrating statistical and technical tools into his portfolio, and at a Fintech company. It was around this time that crypto caught Nakul’s attention, and he’s not looked back since, going on to publish countless articles, 75 white papers, and even a book, Blockchain for Business with Hyperledger Fabric, on the subject.
