US Banks And Payment Providers Do Not Have The Infrastructure To Support The Utility Of Cryptocurrency, Finds New Fintech Research

• As global Bitcoin 2022 conference kicks off in Miami this week, new research by crypto payments company Mercuryo has revealed 32% of US consumers now hold digital assets, and 34% expect to hold it in the future

• Over two thirds of respondents claimed they would like to use cryptocurrency in the same way they’re able to utilise fiat currencies 

• Despite these indicators of the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency, over 60% of US banking and payment providers do not enable their customers to hold or pay using cryptocurrency, with a further 26% of respondents claiming that a lack of regulatory clarity is halting the business development needed to utilise cryptocurrency in their everyday lives

• 30% of respondents also claim their bank has warned them against buying, using or holding cryptocurrency

• The research coincides with the launch of Mercuryo’s Banking as a Service solution, an end to end, plug and play product for cryptocurrency companies looking to build a payments infrastructure for both fiat currencies and digital assets.

New research by global cryptocurrency payments company Mercuryo has revealed that over 32% of the US population now own cryptocurrency, with a further 34% expecting to hold it in the next five years. However, the research has also revealed a stark gap in the necessary infrastructure required for mass cryptocurrency utility, with 65% of US banking providers not having cryptocurrency infrastructure available for their customers, and with 30% of banking providers actively discouraging their customers not to buy, use or hold cryptocurrency.

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The research polled over 750 US consumers, as well as over 250 decision makers within financial services businesses, to explore adoption, sentiment, use cases and blockers to cryptocurrency utility. When assessing consumer usage, over two thirds of consumers would like to use cryptocurrency in the same way they’re able to use other currencies in everyday life. Of those surveyed, the most popular cryptocurrency use cases included paying for goods online (47%), sending money to family or friends (37%) making a charity donation (23%) and paying for online subscriptions and services (23%). 42% of respondents also claimed they would be happy to receive their salary payment via cryptocurrency.

However, despite healthy indicators of mass consumer adoption and a host of business use cases for cryptocurrency, the research also highlighted significant blockers for many US consumers and businesses, with 26% of consumers claiming that a lack of regulatory clarity is halting the business development needed to utilise cryptocurrency in their everyday lives. Not knowing enough about cryptocurrency (30%) and not having the in-house expertise was referenced by 16% of businesses as a reason why they are not implementing cryptocurrency into their businesses. This is despite 69% of US businesses believing that accepting cryptocurrency payments for example, would give their business a competitive edge.

Security concerns remain an ongoing battle for the industry, with the fear of being a victim of cryptocurrency scams having been referenced by over 60% of consumers as a reason not to hold cryptocurrency.

This is likely to be somewhat heightened by fraud and scam communication alerts from their banking provider or regulators, with nearly 40% of respondents claiming their use of cryptocurrency is heavily influenced by communications from banks and regulators. Peer sentiment is also a barrier for some, with 30% of respondents claiming their peers have frowned upon them for holding cryptocurrency.

These concerns collectively have seemingly created accessibility issues, with over 54% of consumers feeling they are unable to carry out a variety of transactions using cryptocurrency in their everyday lives.

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The research coincides with the launch of Mercuryo’s Banking as a Service solution, an end to end, plug and play product for cryptocurrency companies looking to build a payments infrastructure for both fiat currencies and digital assets.

Petr, Co-founder and CEO of Mecuryo comments:

“Whilst it’s an extremely exciting and promising time for the cryptocurrency landscape, to see such evolving use cases and appetite for utilising cryptocurrency, it’s clear the industry has a long way to go in terms of building the appropriate infrastructure to support mass utility.”

“This is why we’re launching our Banking as a Service product, designed specifically to support cryptocurrency companies in providing a plug and play solution for their business, which enables their customers’ to utilise cryptocurrencies in their daily routines.”

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