A Spike in Crypto Usage Rates on Stake and Other Platforms

Ten years ago, most people felt intimidated by the very concept of cryptocurrencies. They knew it existed and could potentially be profitable, but that was the extent of it: few of them were willing to give up traditional payment methods.

In 2025, though, this trend has finally begun to change. As Stake, one of the biggest and diverse online sports platforms, reports, a growing number of its users opt for paying through crypto, such as Bitcoin and Litecoin, as opposed to using Visa, MasterCard, or e-wallets.

Stake is not the only provider who noticed this shift: many other websites that offer crypto payments on top of the usual methods have been witnessing the same trend. What stands behind it, and how many people have started seeing value in crypto?

When the Spike in Crypto Was First Noticed: The Timeline

While people were using crypto more and more over the past decade, the real spike began to take place in the last several years. Take a look at this timeline.

• Early 2024 crypto surge. Stablecoins, a form of crypto with the perk of stability, started gaining traction, especially in such regions as Asia, Africa, and Latin America.
• Another spike in early 2025. Merchant payments saw a spike in crypto usage by a record 40%, with USDC in particular jumping by 337%.
• A further 2025 summer spike. A GENIUS Act was introduced in the US in July 2025, regulating the use of stablecoins, which drew further attention to crypto and resulted in record daily $30 billion transactions.

As you can see, Stake was right in its observations: people have begun to use cryptocurrencies with greater vigour than ever before.

Will this trend last? Who knows, but based on how things are going, we should expect to see more spikes in the near future, especially as new laws keep coming out.

What the Future Holds for Our Payment Methods

Right now, the most common payment methods are still credit cards. However, the use of e-wallets is rising quickly, especially among younger people.

With crypto growing more widespread and universally accepted, it’s possible that there will be integrations between it and e-wallets, and maybe with traditional methods, too.

You can already buy crypto via some e-wallets, and soon enough, it might start arriving in the wallets you set up, as well.

Stake uses these changing dynamics to meet the needs of as many of its users as possible, introducing mixed payment methods and inviting people to choose how they’d like to pay.

Other online platforms follow suit, and at the end of the quarter, they review usage rates to understand which methods are popular and which ones are starting to fade into obscurity.

People who appreciate speed and privacy opt for crypto. Even inexperienced users begin to see the value of such payments: it’s always preferable to get paid or see your money arrive to the addressee as soon as it was sent, with no delays or extra ID checks.