Shocking! 25 Percent Of Small Entrepreneurs In Nine Countries Plan To Receive Payments In Crypto

From the VISA Survey, 25 percent of small traders want to accept payments in cryptocurrencies. (photo credit: pixabay)

JAKARTA – Nearly a quarter of small businesses in nine countries around the world plan to accept digital currency as a form of payment by 2022. While 13% of consumers in those countries also expect retail stores to start offering crypto payments this year and beyond. This was reported according to a survey by Visa Inc.

The survey of 2.250 small business owners in nine countries including the United States, Brazil, Singapore, and Canada suggests that crypto may be starting to become mainstream as a means of payment.

Visa also surveyed 1.000 adults in the United States, along with 500 adults from each of the nine countries.

“I think more people feel more confident in crypto,” Jeni Mundy, Visa's global head of merchant sales and acquisitions, said in an interview.

Despite their increasing popularity among retail and professional investors, cryptocurrencies are not widely used to pay for goods and services, in part due to frequent fluctuations in their value.

On Monday, January 10, Bitcoin fell more than 5%, falling below the $40.000 level for the first time since September 2021.

Small businesses outside of North America are now also more open to accepting digital currencies, including Bitcoin, as a form of payment.

Visa found that more than 30% of small business merchants in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Brazil plan to offer customers the option to pay using crypto in the coming months. Digital currencies have taken off in each of those jurisdictions, despite varying regulations.

In contrast, 19% of small businesses in the United States and only 8% in Canada expect to offer crypto as a payment option by 2022.

Mundy said nearly three-quarters of businesses surveyed worldwide reported that accepting new forms of payment was “fundamental” for their business growth. For many small companies turning to new forms of digital payments, adopting crypto may be a natural evolution.

They asked "what other forms of payment can we take? And what other forms should we consider?" Mundy said. Other countries in the survey include countries such as Germany, Ireland, and Russia.