Interest in crypto payments rising among merchants and customers
01:40, 17 February 2022
With a sharp rise in the market capitalisation of cryptocurrencies, a new survey by cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com and payment processing firm Worldpay has found a similar increase in merchants and customers wanting to transact in cryptocurrencies.
The survey, which was conducted on 110,000 of Crypto.com’s customers covering a range of geographies, ages and income levels, found that 75% of consumers and 60% of merchants want to transact in cryptocurrency.
“With only 4% of surveyed merchants accepting crypto as a method of payment today, there is a significant gap to fulfilling this customer demand. With limited-to-no opportunity to conduct direct transfers from consumer to merchant crypto wallets today, customers are typically forced to convert crypto to fiat before making purchases,” the report stated.
“In an ideal world, cryptocurrency holders would like to be able to make purchases that take advantage of real-time market prices while avoiding the hassle and cost of fiat conversions. Where direct payments in cryptocurrency are not possible, customers have turned to payment products that contribute to their crypto holdings,” the report added.
Interestingly, despite altcoins being popular in 2021, customers and merchants want to transact using the more traditional Bitcoin and Ether. Stablecoins like the USDC is also a popular choice among customers and merchants as a mode of transaction.
“Exchange-native tokens with attractive staking rewards and access to premium cards are also popular with customers,” the report stated.
A multi-chain future
Given the popularity of altcoins, the survey notes that merchants cannot ignore these for too long.
“As the trend toward a multichain future develops, technology service providers, payment firms and merchants must be flexible to provide fit-for-purpose checkout experiences to customers that include a diverse range of cryptocurrencies at an accelerating rate,” the report said.
Further, the survey found that while customers want parity in both online and offline merchants for transacting in cryptocurrency, merchants are prioritising the online channel for now. This could be because of the infrastructure challenges.
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“Myriad” of challenges exist
“Changes to the in-store payment systems and infrastructure that may be required to ensure compatibility with crypto payments could present a myriad of challenges that don’t exist in digital realms,” the report said.
“Online crypto payment channels will lead the way for mainstream adoption in Europe and North America with new in-store crypto payment channels likely de-prioritised for the short-to-medium term,” the report added.
Interestingly, the appetite for crypto transactions is high not just from merchants of luxury goods but also from retail and grocery merchants. Financial services and healthcare services merchants are also keen on accepting crypto payments.
For the customers, meanwhile, the biggest interest is among those who are buying travel-related products and services. Ironically, among merchants, this is the sector that displays the least interest in accepting crypto.
“Airlines, train operators and national transport systems have a massive opportunity to capitalise on market demand for crypto payments. Once retailers are live with crypto acceptance solutions, we expect a significant uptick in transaction size and footfall,” the report said.
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