Three quarters of the institutions will use crypto within the three years: Ripple

A whopping 76% of financial institutions surveyed plan to use crypto in the next three years, according to the report. Ripple’s new report highlights trends in the adoption and use of new technologies such as crypto and blockchain in businesses and financial institutions.

Both financial institutions and businesses understand the benefits of internal crypto usage. The most common reason is that crypto gives more people access to more financial services, say 42% of financial institutions and 41% of businesses.

According to the survey, portfolio management and payments emerge as the most valuable additions to the corporate world. Portfolio management is detailed as hedging against inflation, hedging against other asset types and appreciation. Participants said that data security and quality are two major advantages of blockchain and crypto usage for payments.

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Nevertheless, since this is a new technology, adoption is still an uphill battle for large institutions. According to the report, both companies and financial institutions feel that a general lack of understanding is one of the biggest challenges.

However, the report also emphasized that the slow-moving process of regulations surrounding the industry arouses hesitation from potential users. Regulations from countries around the world have been in constant flux as officials rush to keep pace with the fast-paced crypto scene.

Recently, regulators in the US were investigated by the US Congress for their “non-judicial actions” against crypto companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States is in the process of implementing effective crypto regulations for one of the industry’s most active regions.

Related: Tech trade group calls for regulatory clarity, claiming crypto job losses threaten US interests

Despite setbacks in crypto-ed and unclear regulations, the report still reveals the active interest of global institutions and central banks in digital currencies (CBDC). 34% of surveyed institutions say CBDC will help “accelerate the digitization of finance” and provide “greater access to credit for consumers and businesses.”

From a global perspective, the report analyzed regional nonfungible token (NFT) interest based on emotional vs functional benefits. Respondents in the Asia-Pacific region were three times more likely to purchase an NFT for sentimental or emotional reasons compared to other reasons. Of the eight NFT genres listed, 55% said that music-related NFT is of greatest interest.

Sustainability was also considered, as it is still a hot topic both inside and outside the industry. According to Ripple’s data, over 75% of surveyed consumers prefer to buy sustainable cryptocurrencies. More than 20% claim they will only buy “sustainable” crypto.