Today, we can confidently say that users all around the world have ceased to perceive cryptocurrency exclusively as a way to earn money and are actively using it for its intended purpose — as a payment method. By October 2019, more than 42 million of cryptocurrency wallets have already been registered. For comparison, in the middle of 2016, there were just 8 million of them. It is also important to notice that a sharp jump of 6 million occurred recently, in the second quarter of 2019. In autumn 2017, the same jump associated with the rise in the price of bitcoin was observed. A significant drop in bitcoin prices by almost 80% in 2018 could not but affect consumer activity.
However, today we are seeing an increase in confidence in cryptocurrencies and, as a result, an increase in the volume of cryptocurrency payments. The reasons for such an interest in cryptocurrencies are very different and depend largely on regional economies. On the one hand, the crises of recent years have strengthened the distrust of national currencies and banking systems among citizens of developing countries. On the other hand, in developed economies, the interest in cryptocurrency payments is being fueled by service providers. Only in September 2019 the media announced the desire of several large companies to start accepting cryptocurrency payments. Among them: French retailers such as Decathlon, Maisons Du Monde, Sephora and California-based luxury car brand Karma Automotive. PWC Luxembourg branch has been connecting crypto payments since October 1.
Despite the fact that the number of merchants accepting payments in cryptocurrency is growing, it is too early to talk about the mass acceptance of such a service by the market. Today, cryptocurrency cards solve the problem of integrating cryptocurrency into the everyday payments. On the one hand, the customer pays with his digital assets, on the other hand, the merchant receives payments in local currency. At the same time, the merchant does not interact with cryptocurrency as the exchange between crypto and fiat currencies is made by the card issuer.
At the same time, customers show a high demand for cryptocurrency cards: since the beginning of the provision of this service, the market has recorded a serious increase in the general interest in cryptocurrencies. Connected to a digital wallet, such a card gives the client maximum mobility in asset management: the client is free to pay online, offline and withdraw cash through an ATM.
All the seller needs is integration with the cryptocurrency payment system allowing to accept and process crypto payments. Ideally, if the merchant has the opportunity to decide in which form to manage store the funds received: leave cryptocurrencies on their merchant account or exchange them to fiat. In September 2019, the European multicurrency digital financial solution #Quppy launched an Acquiring solution and already connects online stores all around the world. The Quppy Acquiring solution enables acceptance of multiple crypto payments with further funds management inside the Merchant interface and on Merchant’s corporate IBAN opened with Quppy.
