Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently tweeted Cryptocurrency payments are preferable because of censorship resistance and convenience. He said the change has given a huge boost to international businesses, charities and payments within countries.
People continue to downplay how often cryptocurrency payments are better not because of censorship resistance, but simply because they are so much more convenient.
Big boost to international trade and charity, and sometimes payments within countries.
— vitalik.eth (@vitalikbuterin) 24 August 2022
Growing crypto-adoption
A January 2022 report by Crypto.com paints a picture of the financial world, where cryptocurrencies are increasingly being adopted. In 2021 alone, the global crypto-population grew by 178%, rising from 106 million in January to 295 million in December.
As we can see, the monthly growth of crypto-users pretty much matches the price of bitcoin.
The crypto-adoption rate was high in July-August 2021, but declined significantly in September with restrictions in several countries, such as China,
We can also see that Bitcoin and Ethereum continue to be the most popular cryptocurrencies among users, with the former holding around 60% remaining.
BrandEssence Market Research published a study in June 2022 which predicted that the global crypto-payment gateway market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 22.8% between 2022 and 2028.
While North America is expected to capture the largest share in the global crypto-payment gateway market, Asia Pacific is expected to see the fastest growth in the market.
“The widespread adoption of cryptocurrency is one of the key factors driving the growth of the global crypto payment gateway market… however, lack of awareness (emphasis mine) Market growth may be hindered in developing and underdeveloped economies. Despite this, increasing progress in this area may create more opportunities for further growth of the market.”
Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi published the Crypto Perceptions Report 2022 in January. According to this study, only 28% of the respondents said they owned cryptocurrencies. 47% of respondents said they do not have and do not plan to have crypto, and 25% claimed that although they do not have crypto at the moment, they are planning to in the future.
More than 40% of respondents said they were not knowledgeable or very knowledgeable about cryptocurrencies at all, while 28% reported that they were only somewhat knowledgeable.
Most people know about popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Ethereum and Shiba Inu but their knowledge of Tether, Solana or Cardano remains scant. More than 50% of the respondents say that they do not know enough to invest in cryptocurrencies.
Integrated payment solution with cryptocurrencies
Last year, Visa Inc. announced the use of the cryptocurrency USD Coin to settle transactions on its payment network in partnership with CryptoKitties. Mastercard is also offering a range of cryptocurrency solutions, including the Crypto Card program, to enable crypto usage for everyday transactions.
Many crypto-debit cards like Wirex not only offer crypto-payments at POS points, but also reward users with crypto cashback.
A June 2022 report published by research firm Pymnts found that 85% of businesses with annual online sales of more than $1 billion accept some form of crypto-enabled payment method, such as PayPal, for purchases. 77% of merchants who accept the cryptocurrency cite its low processing fees for its appeal.
As we can see, the adoption of cryptocurrencies by merchants is growing at a rapid rate and as consumers become more crypto-aware and encouraged to use them, its adoption is bound to increase.