There was a time when a store accepting crypto payments was not the norm. In fact, it was downright wacky. There were many companies that were concerned about accepting digital assets as forms of payment due to their volatility, but according to a new survey conducted by financial giant Deloitte, as many as 75 percent of America’s retailers are planning to accept digital currency payments within the next two years.
Crypto Payments Are Becoming More Popular
Moves like these are sure to push the goals of bitcoin and its digital counterparts closer to being achieved. What many people likely forget is that while bitcoin and many of its crypto cousins have taken on either speculative or even hedge-like statuses in recent years, many of them were initially designed to serve as payment tools. They were built to push checks, credit cards, and fiat currencies to the side, but this has been a relatively slow journey given the price swings that continue to drag them down.
It is extremely hard to understand when bitcoin and its crypto family will go up or down in terms of their prices. Many stores and companies have been reluctant to say “yes” when it comes to accepting crypto payments for this reason, and to a degree, we can’t blame them.
Consider the following scenario: someone walks into a store and buys $50 worth of merchandise with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the store doesn’t trade the BTC into fiat right away and about 24 hours go by. From there, the price of BTC goes down and that $50 becomes $40. The customer gets to keep everything he or she bought, but the store has lost money in the end. Is this a fair situation? Not everyone thinks so.
We are witnessing one of the largest examples of this volatility today. Bitcoin, for example, was trading at a new all-time high of approximately $68,000 per unit just nine months ago in November. Now, however, the currency is struggling to maintain a position in the low $20,000 range. Overall, the crypto industry has lost close to $2 trillion in overall valuation in the past few months.
It’s an ugly sight, and yet this recent news regarding company payment systems is quite promising and suggests retailers are beginning to lose their fear of the growing digital currency arena. They are also starting to understand the initial purposes of bitcoin and digital currencies, and they’re trying to transform them into usable tools everyday people can benefit from.
Is Digital Currency Headed for Mainstream Territory?
In a report detailing the survey results, Deloitte writes:
We anticipate that further partnerships with regulated and established institutions in the industry will help deliver the benefits of digital currencies (e.g., convenience and support) and will continue to build the necessary foundation of trust.
