Crypto Gains Popularity Despite Headwinds as 75% of Retailers Plan to Accept Crypto Payments

Expect to see many more retailers offering a “pay with crypto” option soon.

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Key points

• Most retailers are reporting moderate to high customer interest in crypto payments.
• Over 85% of retailers rank enabling crypto payments as a high or very high priority.
• Nearly three-quarters aim to accept crypto within two years.

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Even though the market is down this year, cryptocurrency is becoming more popular and more widely accepted as a method of payment. According to a recent Deloitte survey, almost three-quarters of retailers plan to accept crypto payments in the next 24 months.

Deloitte surveyed 2,000 senior executives from retail organizations across the United States to learn more about their investments in digital currency payments. The results show that merchants are prioritizing and investing heavily in crypto payment options.

Retailers and customers are interested in crypto payments

Cryptocurrency still has a long way to go before gaining widespread acceptance, but interest in digital currency payments is high. In research by Deloitte, 96% of merchants said their customers had a moderate or high interest in paying with crypto. Interest is particularly high among young consumers.

With this level of interest, merchants who don’t allow cryptocurrency payments could be missing out on potential customers. That was the consensus among the retailers Deloitte served, with 87% believing organizations that accept crypto have a competitive advantage.

So it makes sense that a large portion of retailers are working hard to enable cryptocurrency. More than 85% consider it a high or very high priority, and businesses of all sizes are spending considerable amounts on it. Among large retailers with annual revenue of $500 million or more, 54% invest more than $1 million to accept crypto payments.

Small organizations spend less, but the majority invest at least $100,000. This includes organizations with annual revenue of less than $10 million, where 58% spend between $100,000 and $1 million.

How traders reduce risk

Volatility is the biggest risk with cryptocurrency and an important consideration for traders. If a company has accepted payments in Bitcoin (BTC) and the value plunges, it could put them in a precarious financial situation. And when the crypto crashes, it tends to crash hard. This year, $2 trillion worth of crypto was wiped out.

To avoid this situation, 52% of respondents plan to have crypto payments converted into fiat currency immediately by third-party payment processors. For example, a US merchant could accept payments in Bitcoin, but immediately convert that Bitcoin into US dollars. This means that the trader never actually holds cryptocurrency funds or risks a price drop.

Merchants are also very interested in accepting payments in stablecoins. In fact, 83% specifically give stablecoin payments a high or very high priority.

Stablecoins are a type of cryptocurrency designed to track the value of another asset. Most of the larger stablecoins are pegged to the US dollar, so they are meant to hold a value of $1. This makes them a safer option for storing funds, at least when they work as intended. However, several stablecoins have failed, TerraUSD being a recent example.

Positive News for Retailers and Crypto Investors

Enabling cryptocurrency payments presents its challenges for retailers. Of those surveyed, 45% said integrating digital currencies into their existing financial infrastructure was their biggest challenge. 44% have opted for the integration of various digital currencies.

However, the first returns are promising. Among retailers already accepting crypto payments, 93% have seen a positive impact on their business’ customer metrics, and they expect this to continue into the next year.

The fact that so many retailers are implementing digital currency payments is also good news for anyone investing in cryptocurrency. As crypto becomes accepted in more and more places, this could entice more people to buy it. It is also a sign of the long-term potential of cryptocurrency as a payment method.

It should be emphasized that cryptocurrency is still very volatile and risky. These are important considerations if you are considering buying crypto. But the consensus among traders is that cryptocurrency will become much more widely used, which is exciting for enthusiasts and investors alike.