Bitcoin's share of cryptocurrency payments collapsed by about a third last year, Bloomberg writes, citing one of the largest platforms for such transactions, BitPay.

Last year, Bitcoin’s use at merchants that use BitPay dropped to about 65% of processed payments, down from 92% in 2020, the company told Bloomberg. Ether purchases accounted for 15% of the total, stablecoins were 13% and new coins added to BitPay in 2021 -- Dogecoin, Shiba Inu and Litecoin -- accounted for 3%.

Investors were more likely to choose Stablecoins because they are less volatile than other cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin set an all-time record last November, reaching nearly $69,000. However, as early as January 10, the value of the most popular cryptocurrency dropped below $40,000 for the first time since September 2021.

Bitcoin lost to its main competitor, Ethereum (ether), at the end of 2021. Ethereum performed much better, growing 408 percent compared to bitcoin's 65 percent. This trend may continue in 2022, analysts said.