Here’s why Vitalik Buterin thinks crypto payments will go mainstream

Crypto payments have become more popular, especially after the bull market of 2021. There are now millions of merchants worldwide accepting cryptocurrency payments through direct and indirect integrations. Even large companies have jumped on the bandwagon.

Nevertheless, crypto payments are still in the early stages. There are still quite a few places around the world where users cannot pay for goods and services using cryptocurrency. However, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin expects this to change soon.

Crypto is going mainstream

In a recent interview, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin shared his thoughts regarding crypto payments and how quickly he expects them to grow. The founder spoke at a session during the Korea Blockchain Week 2022 that started on Sunday. Buterin, mainly focusing on Ethereum, shared that crypto payments would become mainstream and why was actually because of the Ethereum merger.

The merger is expected to happen sometime in September, and it is expected to make the Ethereum network faster and cheaper to use. The founder expects the network upgrade to bring Ethereum fees down to as low as $1 after the merger is completed. This will be achieved “by improving the efficiency and accessibility of the crypto,” according to Buterin.

Ethereum developers have been hard at work for about two years now with their efforts regarding the merger. Buterin also highlights this in his speech, pointing to the fact that rollups were part of the development made to make the network faster and cheaper to use.

Market cap at $1.17 trillion | Source: Crypto Total Market Cap on TradingView.com

Make it better for everyone

The fee structure that Vitalik Buterin highlights during his speech has been one of the biggest obstacles to total mainstream crypto payment adoption. Now, when it comes to larger transactions, a $20 fee may seem inconsequential. But the problem arises when a coin like ETH needs to be used for smaller payments like daily purchases.

Buterin pointed to the fact that such transactions are not available to people living in low-income countries. “Many people around the world are already using crypto for international payments,” the founder said. “For lower-income countries, there are also many opportunities ahead for crypto payments, which have the advantages of digital technology – efficiency and security.” For this reason alone, a restructuring of the network to accommodate cheaper transaction fees that go into the ear must be achieved.

Buterin expects transaction fees to drop to 0-25 cents after the rollups are implemented. But going forward, the entrepreneur believes the network could reach as low as 5 cents and lower with further improvements.

Featured image from Coingeek, chart from TradingView.com

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