97% of payment firms believe in the power of crypto

The global payments industry is optimistic about the potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain to enable faster and cheaper transactions, according to a new survey organized by Ripple.

On March 2, the blockchain-based digital payment network Ripple and the payment organization Faster Payments Council (FPC) released a report devoted to the possibilities of crypto-enabled payments.

Titled “Transforming the Way Money Moves,” the report provides insights into global crypto payment trends based on a survey sent to over 950 FPC subscribers, such as analysts and CEOs in 45 countries. The survey included a total of 281 respondents who addressed 25 questions on topics such as use cases and benefits for blockchain payments, ownership of digital assets and barriers to use. Fieldwork for the survey was carried out during the first half of 2022.

According to survey results, almost all surveyed FPC subscribers – or 97% of respondents – believed that cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will play a significant role in enabling faster payments over the next three years. More than 50% of payments executives surveyed believe that most merchants will accept crypto payments within one to three years.

27% of Middle East and Africa executive respondents believe that the majority of merchants will be crypto-friendly as early as 2024. According to Ripple and FPC, such optimism in these markets may stem from crypto-enabled solutions such as mobile payments and central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs.

Despite 52% of respondents considering crypto use for payments, only 17% supported crypto-enabled payments at the time of the survey, according to the report.

The biggest reasons for not yet adopting crypto technologies for payments from respondents were regulatory clarity and limited adoption, the report notes. Almost 90% of respondents pointed to regulatory ambiguity as the main obstacle to crypto payments, while 45% of interviewees cited limited industry acceptance.

In 2022, financial data platform Pymnts and crypto-payments firm Bitpay released a survey suggesting that the majority of respondents for businesses with annual revenue of $1 billion were using crypto-payments to find and acquire new customers.

Related: Brazil’s oldest bank allows citizens to pay their taxes using crypto

The latest report from Ripple further confirms the significant potential of crypto-related technologies to become a crucial part of the global financial system. As a survey by Zogby Analytics and CasperLabs suggests, as many as 90% of businesses in the US, UK and China have experimented with blockchain technology as of early 2023.

The news comes as Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse expresses expectations that the XRP lawsuit with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission will be resolved this year.

“It has been almost two and a half years since that trial started. We have tried to move forward as quickly as possible,” Garlinghouse soadding that Ripple expects a decision “certainly in 2023.”