Consumers Call for More Ways to Spend Crypto

With crypto ownership growing — 23% said that they own or have owned crypto within the past 12 months, up from 16% a year ago according to a survey which was done in partnership with BitPay — it is no surprise that the next urgent topic among the 60 million odd people around the globe “HODLING,” is how to spend it all.

The wave of people who have experimented, made investments, and seen success are the ones who are now ready to start buying with their cryptocurrencies, and they are currently facing high fees and multi-step processes just to be able to off-ramp into their bank accounts.

While some companies are working fast and hard to solve this pain point, consumer demands are not being met by merchants. Only 4% of merchants are accepting crypto as a method of payment, according to a study by Crypto.com released in February 2023, citing the various risks associated with accepting crypto as the main reason for their cautious outlook.

Payments in an already cashless world

We are already living in a world where we carry physical cash around with us less and less, and where we rely more on digital solutions for all our payment needs.

With consumers feeling increasingly comfortable paying with mobile apps than ever before, it is time for the retail industry to be ready to meet expectations of consumers who prefer crypto for payment, and begin to accept it.

Currently, there are 3 main ways to spend your crypto:

• Pay a merchant who accepts crypto payments
• Make a peer-to-peer (P2P) payment from your wallet directly to another wallet
• Use a crypto debit card to convert crypto to cash

“While we have seen more big tech giants start to take the leap into crypto payments and even NFT marketplaces, it has yet to become truly mainstream and easy for those people who wish to spend their cryptocurrencies on a daily basis,” says Yang Lan of Fiat24.

“Peer to peer payments is one way of settling crypto payments, but kind of limits the users to their wallets and specific ecosystems. We believe that the crucial game-changer for crypto spending will be debit cards which supports both crypto and fiat money, and that is what we are launching this year.”

The future

With the increased frequency with which crypto shoppers spend their crypto (83.4% spend crypto at least on a monthly basis, 39% on a weekly basis), there is also a stronger demand for stablecoins, probably driven by market circumstances but also layer 2s.

Crypto payments opens new doors to businesses who are venturing and maximizing digital platforms as their main gateway for receiving transactions. Doing so can remove barriers and help them connect much easier with their clients whether locally or internationally.

The rise of digital payments has provided a gateway for cryptocurrency to establish itself as a worthwhile option providing security, speed, and accessibility. It’s increasing volume of investors and consumers provide a bright and promising future for the digital currency as it caters to the growing needs of consumers today.

What’s your favorite way of spending crypto? Let us know in the comments!