Checkout.com released its Demystifying Crypto: Shedding Light on the Adoption of Digital Currencies for Payments in 2022 report, which found increasingly positive trends in the adoption and appetite for using digital currencies for eCommerce.
The comprehensive report surveyed 30,000 consumers and 3,000 merchants in 11 countries, including the UAE, to examine behaviors and sentiments toward commercial activity involving cryptocurrencies.
According to the findings, crypto is rapidly gaining popularity, particularly among younger demographics, with 40% of 18-35 year old consumers worldwide wanting and planning to use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods or services within the next year. This is up from less than 30% last year and represents a significant shift in mindset from digital currencies being viewed solely as an investment vehicle to a means of doing business on a regular basis. Over 54% of 18-35 year old consumers in the UAE own or plan to buy crypto assets in the next 12 months.
This increased consumer interest in cryptocurrency stems from a broader desire for more convenient, secure payment methods. More merchants and third-party providers then match that by providing the underlying infrastructure to support those methods. In the UAE, 54% of those aged 18-35 believe cryptocurrency should be used as a Central Bank Digital Currency rather than just as an investment asset.
As a result, crypto is already having a significant impact on merchants and the market as a whole. In the first fiscal quarter of 2022 alone, more than $2.5 billion in crypto payments were made using Visa’s crypto-backed card. And merchants who accepted cryptocurrency payments saw net new growth, with 82% saying the options allowed them to quickly attract new customers and reach new demographics.
Almost 70% of global merchants surveyed believe that the speed with which crypto payments can be made and settled has the potential to revolutionize their business models, with over 80% of merchants with existing crypto payment options reporting that it is easier to settle than using fiat currencies.
“We believe this is the largest consumer survey of its kind, and the findings present a clear evolution of consumer attitude towards cryptocurrencies around the world but also here in the Middle East. After a transformational few years across the region, digital commerce is evolving at pace. This is a legitimate transition from the early adoption phase to one that’s more practical, pragmatic and positive overall,” said Mo Ali Yusuf, Regional Manager for Checkout.com in the Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan (MENAP).
“This transition means there’s a groundswell in demand for fintech companies that can provide easy-to-deploy solutions and services to get merchants up and running with crypto payment options and to then help them optimize the process over time. We expect that trend to only get stronger over the coming year as we bridge more services into Web3.”
Even with a solid technology foundation underpinning crypto, the momentum can still be volatile. To date, vendors and merchants have made a considerable effort to continue building trust in these services. And the rising acceptance of crypto at a consumer level has started to influence the way larger corporates are working with digital currencies.
According to the Checkout.com report, over a third of survey participants—including CFOs and corporate treasurers—are increasingly interested in holding stablecoins on their balance sheets. They see this as a way to use decentralized finance for treasury management.
Some are going as far as planning to pay vendors and employees in stablecoins primarily in response to demand from those audiences, with 51% of companies reporting that at least some employees had expressed an interest in being paid in crypto.
More broadly, new communities of content creators, gamers, and gig workers are embracing crypto. Almost half (46%) of online creatives say their fans and audiences have sent them digital currencies to support their work. These communities are stretch-testing what is possible when it comes to the use of tokens and crypto, a preview of what’s to come in the mainstream.
One other likely scenario held by 65% of C-level executives is that Web3 will materially change the B2C dynamic as consumers increasingly become producers. This market is expected to be significant, with the gaming economy forecasted to hit $260 billion by 2025, and the size of the creator economy hitting $104 billion–and expected to rise.
“The Middle East is home to a flourishing digital payments ecosystem today, empowered by the combination of progressive regulation & digital strategies, fintech entrepreneurship, and changing consumer behavior. Checkout.com sees the potential for cryptocurrency to not only transform the way people transact, but also to potentially reinvent the dynamics of the entire digital economy,” adds Yusuf.
To learn more about Checkout.com’s solutions for the crypto community, visit checkout.com/crypto.
