A survey in June 2022 by Deloitte in collaboration with PayPal has revealed that an astounding 75 per cent of retailers plan to accept either cryptocurrency or Stablecoin payments within the next two years.
The report titled “Merchants getting ready for crypto” involved a sample of 2,000 top retail executives, including those from the cosmetics, electronics, fashion, transportation, food, and beverage industries.
For the uninitiated, a Stablecoin is a sort of cryptocurrency that derives its value from an underlying asset, in contrast to how digital currencies like Bitcoin, which often only have value to the extent that users believe they do.
Stablecoins are frequently anchored to commodities like gold or currencies like the dollar.
Incidentally, while making payment with cryptocurrency is fairly novel now, 83 per cent of retailers expect consumer interest in digital currencies to rise over the next year and a little over half of them have invested over $1 million into facilitating digital payments, the survey revealed.
The Mood of Retailers To Enable Payments With Cryptocurrencies
According to the findings of the survey, over 50 per cent of respondents intend to use third-party payment processors to convert digital currency into fiat currency or money that has been officially recognised by a government as legal tender, including the dollar, the pound sterling, and the euro.
This indicates that the sellers do not intend to really hold the Bitcoin that is accepted as payment, according to the Deloitte report.
One reason for this could be that using this technique is thought to be less dangerous for shops than holding the cryptocurrency directly, given the unpredictability of the cryptocurrency market.
According to Deloitte, this method also makes it quicker and simpler for retailers to accept payments made in digital currencies.
Obstacles To Allowing Cryptocurrency Payments
Merchants are also aware that a number of obstacles remain to be solved before accepting payments in digital currency. According to 90 per cent of those surveyed, the difficulty of integrating different digital currencies with their current financial infrastructure was the biggest hurdle at present.
The survey found that the top adoption barriers were security of the payment platforms, concerns about the evolving regulatory environment, and market instability for digital currencies.
More than half of retailers also concurred that specific cryptocurrency laws, such as national advice on storing digital assets, clarity about the tax repercussions of using digital currencies, and the capacity to hold digital currencies in a bank account, need to be implemented.
Retailers are hopeful about the advantages of allowing cryptocurrency payments despite their concerns. Nearly half of shops think this change will enhance customer service and grow their clientele.
“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,” the report further says.
