More than half of Merchants want to accept crypto payments in the near future 

According to a recent report released by Crypto.com in conjunction with Worldpay IFS which looked at attitudes around cryptocurrency as a means of payment, there is mass interest by both consumers and merchants to transact using cryptocurrencies. 

Currently only 4% of merchants accept crypto payments in strong contrast to the 40% of customers who would like to use their crypto ‘to buy things’. The study specifically surveyed 110,000 Crypto.com customers and 1.5M+ WorldPay from FIS merchants. A similar study conducted by Visa found that 25% of small business owners plan to accept crypto this year; and there is no better way to clearly demonstrate the appetite for consumers to be able to use cryptocurrency to make purchases than the estimated 6.5 million Crypto.com Visa card holders. 

However, the rate at which merchants can accept these payments is likely to take time as institutions grapple with the complexity of these systems and the volatility of the market. This volatility is likely to be the cause of a slower uptake on the merchant side of cryptocurrency payments as business owners may be hesitant to part with their goods and services in exchange for cryptocurrency for fear that their value may drop drastically at any given time. Although, the report claims that merchants can benefit from lower transaction fees which some may find appealing.  

The midterm solution to the immediate issue surrounding price volatility may be in the form of Visa and Mastercard’s prepaid crypto cards. Whereby consumers load their cryptocurrency onto these cards and then use them to make payments to any merchant that would accept a traditional Visa or Mastercard. These cards function as a middleman by converting the cryptocurrency into fiat before transferring them into the merchant’s account. Another solution to this issue may be for merchants to test the waters by accepting USDC and cryptocurrencies with large market caps for payment, a sentiment mirrored by both merchants and consumers in the report. 

There is a divide between Merchants and consumers in terms of adoption. Customers want to spend their crypto on travel, retail and digital media. Whilst merchants in luxury goods, retail, financial services and healthcare are the ones who are innovating first in this space. 

In conclusion there is a real customer demand to spend cryptocurrency, which currently outweighs that of merchants to accept. The creates a huge opportunity for merchants to capitalize on. However, a lack of education and cross stakeholder coordination is slowing the pace at which merchants adopt this technology.