CRYPTO FORPAYMENTS:
Consumers are hungry – will merchants
be able to fill their appetite?
FEBRUARY 2022

Crypto for Payments Report

CONTENTSInsights

3Introduction

4

Level of interest

5

Cryptocurrency preferences

6

Payment mediums

7

Industry segments

8

Settlement and custody9

Key takeaways

10

Source information

11

Customer and merchant profiles

12

About Worldpay from FIS and Crypto.com

14

Acknowledgment
Crypto.com and Worldpay from FIS are excited to co-issue the Crypto for Payments Report with bothcompanies owning joint editorial control over the following insights, methodology and data analysis.

2Crypto for Payments Report

INSIGHTS
3

Crypto for Payments Report

INTRODUCTION
The growth in cryptocurrency adoption is breath-taking no matter which
metric you look at! Total cryptocurrency market capitalization has grownover 15x from ~$190B in January 2020 to ~$3.0T in November 20211.
The sector now rivals the total liquid value creation of all other venture
capital-backed start-ups combined in just a decade2. The number ofcrypto users around the globe reached ~295 million in December 20213.
Regulation, talent, and capital has supported this rapid growth, resulting
in increased retail and institutional investment that has made the sector
all but mainstream. Countries that are exposed to high inflation rates andexpensive foreign exchange (e.g., Nigeria and El Salvador), have madeadvances in using crypto rails for payments. As more of society has interestin owning and using cryptocurrency, this report was commissioned tocompare consumer and merchant interest in using cryptocurrency as
a form of payment.
The findings in this report are based on a survey of over 110,000 Crypto.com
users across geographies, ages and income levels in addition to Worldpay
from FIS’ global base of 1.5M+ merchants. Surveys were administered in
Q4 2021.

1. Buchholz, K., 2021. Three Trillion Dollars Worth of Crypto.
2. Selkis, R., 2022. Crypto Theses for 2022.
3. https://crypto.com/research/2021-crypto-market-sizing-report-2022-forecast/

4

LEVEL OF INTEREST

Crypto for Payments Report

Despite a ~10x disparity between customers and merchants who transact in crypto today,~60% of both merchants and customers would like to transact in crypto in 2022

~40%

With only 4% of surveyed merchants accepting crypto
as a method of payment today, there is a significant gap
to fulfilling this customer demand. With limited-to-no
opportunity to conduct direct transfers from consumer
to merchant crypto wallets today, customers are typicallyforced to convert crypto to fiat before making purchases.

Benefit from real-time market prices~75%

Avoid costly crypto-to-fiat transactions

Customers

DRIVERS OF APPETITEInterest in paying
with Crypto

~60%

Total

~60%

~4%

Within 1 year

In an ideal world, Cryptocurrency holders would like to be able
to make purchases that take advantage of real-time market
prices while avoiding the hassle and cost of fiat conversions.
Where direct payments in cryptocurrency are not possible,
customers have turned to payment products that contributeto their crypto holdings. For example, prepaid cards that
auto-sell crypto holdings to fund fiat purchases – such as Crypto.
com’s Visa card and reward program are becoming increasingly
popular. With ~65% of Crypto.com customers using their Visacard, the consumer demand is clear. As the cryptocurrency
sector continues to become mainstream with ~16% of US
citizens holding crypto today1, creating avenues for payment
utility is becoming increasingly important.

Already using

75% of Crypto.com customers areinterested in purchasing goods orservices with cryptocurrency.

~60%

60% of Worldpay’s merchants are interested
in accepting cryptocurrency as payment forgoods or services.
Merchants have a clear opportunity to increase their
total addressable market, reduce dispute costs, and lower
transaction fees. Although merchant crypto acceptance islimited today, more than half of merchants surveyed would
like to accept crypto in 2022. The path to actualize themomentum and urgency in this fast-growing space, however,
may not be straightforward. Merchants are ready to meetcustomer demand but are challenged by a steep sector
learning curve and complex coordination amongst internalteams (e.g., treasury and operations) which can slow thepace of adoption.
Payment service providers and technology firms can playa critical role in simplifying the transition to crypto payment
acceptance at scale by offering embedded services withexisting integrations. Payment companies who are willingto take ownership of cost, complexity, and risk can play animportant role in increasing the utility of crypto for customers
and supporting new economic models for merchants.

AppetiteMerchantsInterest in accepting
payment in Crypto

DRIVERS OF APPETITE

Appeal to broader customer baseLower transaction fees and dispute costs

1. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/11/11/16-of-americans-say-they-have-ever-invested-in-traded-or-used-cryptocurrency/

5CRYPTOCURRENCY
PREFERENCES
Customers

Exchange-native tokens, Bitcoin, Ethereum,and Stablecoins are preferred currencies

1C

Crypto for Payments Report

ROET

Customers and merchants want to conduct commercewith largely the same set of cryptocurrencies.

USBTCDCMerchants
USDsHCETO t h e r co i nBTCLT C

her coiOtnsLH

TC

Benefits of transacting in cryptocurrencies with the highest market
capitalization (e.g., Bitcoin and Ethereum) include a trustworthy brandand security, and the ability to add features that can offset the typicalchallenges of speed and cost associated with each of these networks.
Stablecoins – USDC in particular – are also an unsurprisingly populartransaction currency with little volatility and provide the ability for
consumers and merchants to identify the transaction value without
conversion. Furthermore, exchange-native tokens with attractive staking
rewards and access to premium cards are also popular with customers.
CRO, for example, is the most ubiquitous payment currency preference
for Crypto.com consumers1.
While the ‘other coins’ category remains relatively small today, newlayer 1 blockchains and layer 2 scaling solutions could create a morediverse range of attractive coins that cater to specific merchant andconsumer needs across speed, security, cost and more. Bitpay, a leading
crypto payment service provider, reported a ~30% drop in transaction
volume from Bitcoin between 2020 and 20212 as consumers opted to pay
with other cryptocurrencies. As the trend toward a “multichain” futuredevelops, technology service providers, payment firms, and merchants
must be flexible to provide fit-for-purpose checkout experiences tocustomers that include a diverse range of cryptocurrencies at anaccelerating rate.

Coin size indicativeof preference
1. CRO is the native cryptocurrency for Crypto.com
2. Kharif, O., 2022. Bitcoin’s Dominance of Crypto Payments Is Starting to Erode.

6PAYMENT MEDIUMSCrypto for Payments Report

Customers want parity between online
and in-store payment options while
merchants appear to be prioritizing
the eCommerce experience.

Online*Both

In-store

23%

71%

6%

50%

29%

21%

Customers

Customers are optimizing for cryptocurrency utility
in both online and in-person purchases.
However, changes to in-store payment systems and infrastructurethat may be required to ensure compatibility with crypto paymentscould present a myriad of challenges that don’t exist in digital
realms. Exacerbating this challenge, there are fewer opportunities
and options to buy, build, and partner with third-party technology
companies for in-store solutions as the providers tend to be focusing
their efforts on eCommerce (especially after its rise in customer
utilization during the COVID-19 pandemic). Online crypto payment
channels will lead the way for mainstream adoption in Europe andNorth America with new in-store crypto payment channels likely
de-prioritized for the short to medium term.

Merchants* Includes mobile

7

INDUSTRY SEGMENTS

Crypto for Payments ReportIndustry appetite
25%

Travel64%

A note to retailers: customers are readywhen you are! Meanwhile the Travelindustry appears late to its own flight.

80%

Luxurygoods

Automotive

42%

Merchants

25%

Enthusiasm for cryptocurrency
payment acceptance frommerchants exists across theboard, although less so for thetravel, hospitality and automotiveindustries. Travel and hospitality
were hit particularly hard by
COVID-19 with management teams
likely prioritising impact recovery
and return to baseline financialperformance. The automotive
sector may be more concernedwith their own technology
paradigm shift to electric vehicles.

42%
80%

Retail &Grocery

52%
50%

Digital media

51%
25%

Hospitality

44%
50%

Gaming& NFTs

41%

Financial services& Healthcare

63%

Other

2%
Customers

Merchants

Industries that are not battlingfor survival or undergoing
independent technology upheavals
have a significant appetite forcrypto acceptance. Luxury goods
and retail are eager for a solution
with the former benefiting fromthe authenticity and providence
features offered by NFTs and thelatter keen to take advantage ofhigher average transaction valueof customers who spend in crypto.

Customers
Ironically, customers’ number 1 pick for crypto expenditures is for travel,
the sector that displays the least interest for accepting crypto. Airlines,
train operators and national transport systems have a massive opportunity
to capitalise on market demand for crypto payments. Once retailers arelive with crypto acceptance solutions, we expect significant uptick intransaction size and footfall.

8SETTLEMENT AND CUSTODY

Crypto for Payments Report

Education will be a key driver to informing future relationships between
acquirers, merchants, and crypto wallet providers
Settlement preferences
Fiat-only settlement is not
fit-for-purpose

29%

14%
FiatUnsure21%

Mix of both36%
CryptoToday, payment processors tend tosettle merchants only in fiat currency.
However, 36% of merchants would
be interested in receiving settlement
in Crypto! Crypto settlement may be
one of the easiest ways for merchants
to begin engaging with Crypto, as
they need not worry about expensive
conversions. Staking various crypto
assets – including Stablecoins – alsooffers lucrative returns relative totraditional bank deposits. A surprisingly
low percentage of merchants (~14%)
are interested in fiat-only payment
ecosystems which are under threatof being considered ‘old fashioned’.

~30-50% of merchants are still unclear on what an appropriate settlement and custody
strategy should entail in the age of blockchain powered payments. This signals thatin-house crypto talent may be scarce, sector education at scale is still in its nascency,
and that benefits and drawbacks of various approaches may be unclear.

Custody preferenceMerchants who understandcustody prefer it

46%

Unsure39%

Custody ofown assets

A crypto custodian holds and has accessto the ‘private keys’ (and therefore funds)
associated with a crypto wallet address.
With custody comes great responsibility.
If private keys are lost, no centralized
party can come to the rescue and recoverfunds. Self-custody is an attractive option
for merchants, with (~39%) interested insteering away from trusting third-parties
and taking ownership of the end-to-end
money management.

15%

Third party
custody
provider

Education will play a critical role in supporting effective merchant adoption ofcryptocurrency payment rails and in-turn affect the relationship merchants will havewith bank partners, payment processors, and crypto wallet providers in the future.

9Crypto for Payments Report

KEY TAKEAWAYS•

Significant interest exists for crypto payments with
~75% of consumers and ~60% merchants wanting
to transact in cryptocurrency•

Both merchants and customers prefer to transact
in Bitcoin, Ethereum and USDC•~70% of customers prefer both in-store and online
crypto payment mediums, though the majority ofmerchants appear to be focused on the eCommerce
experience only•

There is a bit of industry mismatch in terms ofadoption! Customers want to spend their crypto on
travel, retail and digital media, while merchants inluxury goods, retail, financial services and healthcare
are the ones who are innovating first in this space•

Merchants are looking at crypto settlement
opportunities in 2022 and appear to prefer self-custodyto third-party custody providers; however, crypto
education and the evolving regulatory landscape willplay a key role in shaping merchant preferences andkey stakeholder relationships in the future10Crypto for Payments Report

SOURCE INFORMATION
11

WHO WASSURVEYED?

Crypto for Payments Report

Customers
AgeMerchants

Annual incomeIndustry

Digital Media & Gaming

15%

12%

17%
14%

24%

40%

29%

Retail19%

24%

Government, Telco & Utilities

18%

19%

30%

17%

Airlines, Travel & Hospitality

18-25
18–25
36–40
36-40

26-30
26–30
41–50
41-50

31-35
31–35
> 50
> 50

<$30k
< $30k$60k–$100k$60k–$100k

15%$30–$59.9k$30k–$59.9k>$100k> $100kFinancial & Healthcare

7%
Crypto.com surveyed customers predominantly comprising of adults under
40 years old with ~60% of customers surveyed being millennials. 60% ofrespondents earn under ~$60K and may be looking at participation in crypto
as a means to grow their wealth.

1. Includes IT & Software businesses

The highest merchant response rate (~40%) was from the Digital Media& Gaming sector1 where many Web3 applications are emerging with
Play-to-Earn gaming (e.g. Axie Infinity) and NFT Marketplaces(e.g. NBA Top Shot).

12WHO WASSURVEYED?

Crypto for Payments Report

Customers/Merchants
EuropeNorth
America

67% 33%
26% 54%

Asia

7%7%South
America

Oceania
Africa0%0%

2%0%2%2%

Percentage of customer respondents
Percentage of merchant respondents

Respondents are heavily concentrated in North America and Europe.
Captured market sentiment for crypto acceptance is largely grounded in developed economy
principles in which infrastructure and education support merchant innovation and customer adoption.
13

Crypto for Payments Report

ABOUT

Worldpay from FIS
FIS is a leading provider of technology solutions for merchants, banks andcapital markets firms globally. Our employees are dedicated to advancing theway the world pays, banks and invests by applying our scale, deep expertiseand data-driven insights. We help our clients use technology in innovative
ways to solve business-critical challenges and deliver superior experiences
for their customers. Headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida, FIS ranks #241
on the 2021 Fortune 500 and is a member of Standard & Poor’s 500® Index.
To learn more, visit www.fisglobal.com
Follow FIS onFacebook, LinkedIn and Twitter (@FISGlobal)

Crypto.com
Founded in 2016, Crypto.com serves over 10 million customers with theworld’s fastest-growing cryptocurrency and financial services platform.
Crypto.com is built on a foundation of security, privacy and compliance andis the first cryptocurrency company in the world to have ISO/IEC 27701:2019,ISO27001:2013 and PCI:DSS 3.2.1, Level 1 compliance, and independently
assessed at Tier 4, the highest level for both NIST Cybersecurity and Privacy
Frameworks, as well as Service Organisation Control (SOC) 2 compliance.
With over 3,000 people in offices across the Americas, Europe and Asia,Crypto.com is accelerating the world’s transition to cryptocurrency.
Find out more: https://crypto.com14