Since its inception, one of the major goals of the cryptocurrency community has been the adoption of Bitcoin as a payment method for goods and services. As it stands now, consumers can use Bitcoin across a number of industries to purchase everything from real estate, to PCs, to pizza. However, Bitcoin’s high transaction costs, deflationary nature, and full transparency represent some of the shortcomings that prevent Bitcoin from seeing widespread merchant adoption.

As such, enthusiasts, consumers, and producers alike have gotten behind a number of altcoins as mediums of exchange for a variety of uses. While Bitcoin acted as the catalyst for the first wave of crypto-merchant integration, these emerging altcoins are the pioneers for the interactions between the consumers and merchants of tomorrow.

Privacy Coins

One cryptocurrency niche seeing steady and increasing consumer activity is privacy coins. There exist a number of situations where anonymous transactions are optimal for the consumer or producer. The obvious example is the use of Monero (XMR) to power darknet markets – allowing buyers and sellers to agree upon the sale of drugs and other illicit goods in a completely anonymous, untraceable manner.

However, black market sales do not wholly represent usage of privacy coins. Consumers have also flocked to privacy coins for usage in the adult industry. Monero has seen integration on sites selling sex toys. A number of privacy coins have also been integrated across various porn sites. With privacy coins, there is no paper trail – alleviating the risk of embarrassing or scandalous credit card statements being viewed by other parties. The nature of cryptocurrency also ensures that payments to any merchant will not jeopardize the information or payment details of the consumer.

Of course, the recent Verge partnership

represents the most prominent instance of adoption of privacy coins in the adult industry. Last month, Verge (XVG) unveiled a partnership with porn giant Pornhub.com, which will allow payments to the site to be made via XVG. Although much controversy has ensued, this partnership pins Verge as a pioneer for privacy coin adoption.

Other Instances

Outside of privacy coins, a number of other altcoins have also begun to see meaningful integrations. OmiseGo (OMG), a platform seeking to empower the unbanked and create an inclusive, massively scalable financial ecosystem, earned the spotlight when OMG was integrated by McDonald’s Thailand. As OmiseGo continues to expand its network, it’s predicted that other large corporations will integrate the cryptocurrency down the road.

Beloved meme coin Dogecoin (DOGE) has also seen significant adoption. As the lighthearted and far-reaching community drove the joke coin to a powerhouse with a market cap of over US$500 million, community members and converted fans have driven Doge to be picked up by numerous merchants worldwide. One example that encapsulates the spirit of DOGE is this site for trendy pet accessories.

One upcoming project with a lot of potential is flogmall. Flogmall seeks to become a one-stop online shopping destination that accepts all cryptocurrencies. Of course, this will include KickCoin (KICK), the native token of the platform that’s responsible for crowdfunding the flogmall project, KICKICO.

Of course, with the ever-increasing popularity and information surrounding cryptocurrency, it’s only logical that merchants and consumers worldwide will continue to make new transactions and relationships through cryptocurrency. The future of cryptocurrency in consumer settings is wildly exciting.