Bitcoin Adoption To Grow 50% By 2025, This Report Claims
According to the latest report, Bitcoin adoption among merchants is expected to increase by 50% in the next three years. This result is from a survey conducted by the Ripple and Faster Payment Council, which involved 300 payment leaders in 45 countries.
A growing interest in Bitcoin payments globally
The report indicated that blockchain technology has emerged as an alternative to expensive payment systems in recent years. Transaction volumes have notably increased in the crypto industry, with over 5.5 million crypto payment users in the US alone in 2023.
The top four use cases for cryptographic payments include remittances, cross-border B2B payments, card payments, and digital payments. Remittances take the lion’s share of that, with foreign workers embracing cryptocurrency to avoid high transaction fees when sending money home to their families.
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Furthermore, the increasing adoption of Bitcoin payments by PayPal and Stipe has also significantly increased adoption. In addition to Bitcoin, stablecoins such as USDT and USDC have seen significant adoption due to their low volatility. It is reported that using stablecoins for international payments is 80% cheaper than traditional payment methods.
Around 97% of respondents to the survey believe that crypto payments will play a major role in faster payments over the next three years. More than half of surveyed leaders expect most merchants to adopt crypto payments in this period.
Middle East Leading the Race to Adoption
According to data from Ripple and the FPC, most payment companies believe that merchants globally will use more cryptocurrencies in the near term. As seen in the chart below, survey results show that 64% of payment business representatives in the Middle East believe that over 50% of merchants will start accepting cryptocurrency payments within the next three years.
Europe follows with 58%, North America with 51% and Africa with 51%. On the other hand, around 17% of the Latin American representatives believe that the adoption would occur during this period. This is despite the growing adoption rate in the Latin American region among formal and informal businesses.
The regulatory issue was also discussed in the Ripple and FPC survey. For the majority of payment companies consulted (89%), the lack of regulatory clarity in the crypto sector is a “barrier” to the use of blockchain technology as a means of payment.
However, it must be remembered that in recent months there have been advances in the regulation of the cryptocurrency sector in several countries. Countries like Venezuela and El Salvador have established a comprehensive legal framework for crypto assets.
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Additionally, countries around the world such as South Africa, Brazil and Singapore are moving forward with their regulations. The survey found that companies’ “optimism” for this market may respond to a “growing appetite” for “access and inclusion to broader financial services.
He also highlighted that other payment methods based on blockchain technology, such as central bank digital currencies (CBDC), would improve global payment systems.
Featured image of Unsplash.com charts by Ripple/FPC and TradingView.com.