Page 14 - GS211101

Views

$2.6 trillion in crypto at play
Insider’sreport The market cap for all cryptocurrencies exceeded $2.6

on payments trillion as of October, according to data compiled by
Statista. Bakkt conducted an online survey of 2,000 U.S.
consumers and found that 48 percent of respondents had
invested in cryptocurrencies during the first six months of
this year, while about a third of those who hadn't said they
were interested in purchasing cryptocurrencies by year-
end.
Bringing crypto Among those in Bakkt's study who had purchased crypto,
56 percent said they viewed it as a long-term investment; 43
to the masses percent said they planned to sell their crypto holdings for
short-term profits. However, the instability of digital assets
can be a drawback. Among consumers Bakkt surveyed, 32
By Patti Murphy percent cited volatility as their main hurdle to purchasing
crypto. In May, the value of a single Bitcoin plunged by
ProScribes Inc. 30 percent to just over $30,000. By late September it had
climbed back up to $41,522, and less than a month later it
ome big names in payments are partnering with reached an all-time high of $66,017.
leaders in the world of cryptocurrencies to bring
crypto-payments to the masses. Mastercard is Verifone said that to limit the impact of value volatility,
S partnering with crypto-wallet platform Bakkt funds from crypto transactions that it facilitates will be
Holdings Inc. to support issuance of crypto cards. Financial "settled promptly into the merchant's bank account" in the
institutions issuing Mastercard-branded credit and debit form of traditional currencies, like the U.S. dollar. "Our
cards will soon be able to issue cryptocurrency cards that merchant base is busy enabling several new advanced
can be used for payments, and to earn bitcoin rewards, payment methods (APMs), and the appetite for crypto
Mastercard stated. Other cryptocurrency assets are expect- payments has exploded this year," Jeremy Belostock, head
ed to join in the initiative in short order, the two companies of APMs at Verifone, stated.
said.
Under the Verifone-Bakkt arrangement, consumers will be
Meanwhile, during the annual Money20/20 USA able to pay using any of the major cryptocurrency wallets,
conference, held in Las Vegas in October 2021, Fiserv as well as stablecoins pegged to the U.S. dollar. They
and Bakkt disclosed plans to integrate Bakkt into Fiserv's simply select their preferred crypto wallets displayed on
Carat omnichannel ecosystem. Both announcements a Verifone device and scan an on-screen QR code using
swiftly followed news from Verifone of a partnership their crypto wallets to complete transactions. Once crypto
with BitPay, a Bitcoin payment services provider, to enable funds are verified, the merchant receives an approval
cryptocurrency payments on Verifone's in-store and message, and transactions are settled in U.S. dollars. There
ecommerce platforms. U.S. Merchants will be able to accept is no requirement that merchants maintain accounts with
a variety of cryptocurrency wallets and tokens this year, BitPay, the two companies noted.
the two companies said in a press release. The solution
requires one of Verifone's Engage or new Android line of "Verifone's merchant base includes many of the world's
devices connected to the Verifone cloud. largest and most well-known brands looking to tap into the
growing crypto market," said Stephen Pair, co-founder and
These three developments came on the heels of PayPal CEO of BitPay. "This partnership allows these businesses
rolling out a new service supporting consumer payments to easily and securely accept crypto payments, and benefit
using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. PayPal's CEO from pent-up demand to spend crypto."
and president, Dan Schulman, told Reuters at the time
that the move represented a "transitional point where The Verifone-BitPay partnership also provides Verifone
cryptocurrencies move from being predominantly an asset with an option to make a strategic investment in BitPay,
class that you buy, hold or sell to now becoming a legitimate the two companies stated. BitPay processes just over 61,000
funding source to make transactions in the real world at transactions a month, the company reported; 60 percent are
millions of merchants." Despite growing interest in crypto Bitcoin payments. By comparison, the American Express,
payments, to date it's primarily been large companies, Discover, Mastercard and Visa card networks, combined,
like Microsoft and Tesla, jumping into the waters. But that process 3.3 billion transactions a month, according to the
seems poised for change Federal Reserve.

14