Crypto gains traction with mobile wallets

While banks, businesses and regulators continue to grapple with issues around the future of cryptocurrencies, consumers, it seems, are more inclined to act. New research suggests a majority of consumers who own cryptocurrencies (67 percent) are willing to make mobile wallet purchases using their crypto assets.

Cryptocurrencies have emerged from the shadows the past few years, as the value of some cryptocurrencies, like Bitcoin and Ether, have skyrocketed. This has prompted consumers to take notice and join the wave.

A November 2021 survey by the Pew Research Center found that nine in 10 adult Americans had heard about cryptocurrency. About one in six adults (16 percent) have invested in, traded or otherwise used at least one cryptocurrency, Pew found. Back in 2015, when Pew conducted a similar survey, 48 percent of respondents said they had heard of Bitcoin (perhaps the most popular crypto) and just 1 percent had ever collected, traded or used Bitcoin.

Cryptocurrency is officially defined as a medium of exchange that is digital, encrypted and decentralized, with no central authority that manages and maintains its value. The decentralization and lack of oversight has prompted debate in government circles over the need for regulation. At least one country, El Salvador, has adopted a cryptocurrency (Bitcoin) as legal tender, while another, China has banned transactions using cryptocurrencies altogether. In the United States, many members of Congress, and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, have called for more regulation of cryptocurrencies.

Consumers eager to spend crypto

Meanwhile, a new study by CITE Research for digital payments company Cantaloupe Inc. found more than a third of consumers between the ages of 18 and 54 own cryptocurrency. Those most likely to own crypto are between the ages of 18 and 34 (37 percent). Likely users also skew toward males and those earning over $100,000 a year, the study found.

Among consumers participating in the study, two-thirds (67 percent) of those who own crypto would consider using it for purchases if their crypto assets were stored in a mobile wallet; an additional 19 percent said they would use crypto linked to a mobile wallet if it were easy.

The findings also point to growing interest in using mobile wallets. In fact, just 14 percent of those surveyed reported not using a mobile payment app in the past year.

Sean Feeney, CEO at Cantaloupe, said merchants should take note. "With the popularity and ownership of cryptocurrency growing, it is critical that retailers find ways to accept this new form of payment, and the easiest way may be through mobile wallets," Feeney said. "Our research shows that the needle is moving quickly. Consumers are more comfortable paying with mobile apps than ever before, and it's time for the retail industry to be ready to meet expectations of consumers who prefer crypto for payment—and begin to accept it."

Cantaloupe, formerly USA Technologies, provides a platform for digital payments in the unattended retail space, for example, vending machines.

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