97% of Payment Firms Believe in Growing Role of Crypto

A new survey found an increasing drift from global payments firms toward cryptocurrencies, believing in their potential, according to Cointelegraph. 

The survey was part of a report, titled “Transforming the Way Money Moves,” made by Blockchain-based digital payment network Ripple and the Faster Payments Council (FPC) payment organization on the opportunities of crypto-enabled payments. 

According to the survey, 97% of payment companies believe that blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies would play a remarkable role in speeding up payments within the coming three years. 

Over half of the surveyed payment executives thought that crypto payments would be accepted by merchants in one to three years. The findings also showed that 27% of the participants among Middle East and African executives believe that the majority of merchants will be crypto-friendly by 2024. 

Ripple and FPC attributed this optimism in these markets to the wide use of crypto-enabled solutions like mobile payments and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). 

Although 52% of surveyed considered crypto as a payment method, only 17% of those supported crypto-enabled payments at the time of the survey, the report read. 

The report also mentioned reasons for not adopting crypto-enabled payments, including regulatory clarity and limited adoption. About 90% of participants in the survey pointed to regulatory ambiguity as the main obstacle to implementing such a kind of payment, while 45% attributed it to limited industry acceptance. 

The survey included 950 FPC subscribers, including analysts and CEOs across 45 countries, in addition to, 281 respondents addressing 25 questions on blockchain payment use cases and benefits, digital asset ownership, and usage barriers. Fieldwork for the survey was conducted during the first half of 2022.

Ripple’s report also reasserted the significant potential of crypto-related technologies to become an essential part of the global financial system. A survey from Zogby Analytics and CasperLabs suggested 90% of enterprises in the United States, the United Kingdom, and China have been experimenting with blockchain technology since early 2023.