Retailers were already skeptical about letting customers pay with bitcoin before the cryptocurrency's price underwent an astronomical rally this year. That rapid surge hasn't made them any more accepting. In fact, it may have done the opposite.
Bitcoin is accepted at just three of the top 500 online merchants tracked by the e-commerce news and analytics publication Internet Retailer, down from five last year, Morgan Stanley payments analyst James Faucette wrote today in a report, highlighting the "striking" discrepancy between virtually no merchant acceptance and bitcoin's recent gains.
"Bitcoin owners are reluctant to use the cryptocurrency given its rate of appreciation, more evidence that bitcoin is more asset than currency," Faucette said. "Way easier to trade speculatively than convince new merchants to accept the cryptocurrency." ...
... For the remainder of the report:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-...cceptance-am...
