19% of U.S. small business plan to start accepting crypto this year, a Visa survey shows
Achieving strong merchant adoption has been an uphill battle for the fledgling cryptocurrency industry, but this might as well become a reality in 2022.
According to a new poll published by payments giant Visa, more than 25% of small businesses plan to add cryptocurrencies as a form of payment this year.
The company has surveyed 2,250 small-scale business owners from nine countries.
Almost a third of merchants from Brazil, Singapore and some other countries are willing to add cryptocurrency payments. In sharp contrast, only 8% of the respondents from Canada said that they would allow their customers to pay with digital currencies.
The U.S. is somewhat in the middle, with 19% of the surveyed business owners claiming that they would add support for cryptocurrencies in 2022.
Cryptocurrencies have made great inroads in terms of mainstream acceptance last year, but many merchants are still hesitant to accept them due to extreme volatility and regulatory concerns. Those who do accept crypto usually convert it into fiat right away with the help of BitPay and other payment processors.
Last year, movie theater chain AMC started accepting Bitcoin and several altcoins. However, CEO Adam Aron recently confirmed that it would not hold cryptocurrencies on its balance sheet.
Last year, PayPal introduced a cryptocurrency checkout solution for merchants that allows instantly converting crypto to U.S. dollars.
Leading e-car manufacturer Tesla started accepting Bitcoin in May, but it then suspended payments due to climate-related concerns.
Source: https://u.today/visa-survey-forecasts-cryptocurrency-merchant-adoption-boom