85% of US retailers wiling to start accepting crypto

One of the signs we are still early in crypto adoption is that famous merchants starting to accept crypto as payment still make the news. This might end soon though.

Balenciaga, Whole Foods, Chipotle, Manor hotel… By accepting crypto, they still can distinguish themselves from their competitors, showing an open mind, all while extending a part of their brand notoriety to the cryptocurrency space.

However, they could become less exotic very soon, as more and more merchants start realizing they might be missing an opportunity ?️

A recent survey among 2’000 senior executives working at US retailers conducted by Deloitte shows an impressive intention to embrace crypto: 85% of the respondents said their organization anticipates crypto payments to become ubiquitous within 5 years, and they expect their suppliers to accept crypto and stablecoins too. The same 85% gave “high” or “very high” priority to enabling crypto payments within their organizations.

? Why would they do this?

The majority feels that accepting crypto will make them more competitive, while almost half believes it will improve customer experience, increase customer base and (40%) improve brand perception. They are not wrong: 93% of merchants who have implemented crypto payments have already seen a positive impact on customer metrics.

Beyond marketing, nearly 40% of respondents are expecting to take advantage of blockchain-based innovations, allow in-house management of revenue cycle, and enable immediate access to funds.

? How would they do this?

Most companies are ready to invest over $100k (over $1 million in case of bigger companies) to enable crypto payments.

? What are main challenges?

The biggest obstacle for 45% of respondents is complexity of integrating crypto solutions within the existing financial infrastructure and payment platforms’ security. 37% mention the changing regulatory landscape and crypto markets’ volatility, while 30% lack leadership support.

The survey is to be taken with the grain of salt, considering that it was conducted in the end of December, when Bitcoin was at around $50k and market sentiment much better than now. Even so, the numbers are still very impressive, and they give an excellent outlook on the future of payments.