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        consumers who own cryptocurrencies would consider       Verifone, said in a press statement.
        using them for purchases if their crypto assets were stored
        in a mobile (digital) wallet. Nearly one in five (19 percent)   Crypto-wallet giant BitPay offers a BitPay Mastercard and
        would pay with crypto from a mobile wallet if it were   app where crypto-holders can store cryptocurrencies and
        easy to do. Visa offers an even rosier outlook: 81 percent of   access the assets for spending.
        crypto owners it surveyed last year expressed interest in
        making payments with crypto-linked cards.               BitPay  is  also  partnering  with  Verifone  to  support
                                                                cryptocurrency acceptance  at  merchant  terminals  and
        According to the Pew Research Center about one in       for ecommerce/in-app payments. The solution, expected
        six (16 percent) of American adults own or have traded   to become available by this spring, requires a Verifone
        cryptocurrencies.                                       Engage terminal or an Android device connected to
                                                                Verifone cloud services.
        "With the popularity and ownership of cryptocurrency
        growing, it is critical that retailers find ways to accept this   At checkout, the consumer selects their preferred crypto
        new form of payment, and the easiest way may be through   wallet on the POS device, then scans an on-screen QR
        mobile wallets," said Sean Feeney, CEO at Cantaloupe.   code using that wallet to complete the transaction.
        "Our research shows that the needle is moving quickly,   The  cryptocurrency  is  directed  immediately  to  BitPay,
        consumers are more comfortable paying with mobile apps   whereupon the merchant gets an approval message. BitPay
        than ever before, and it's time for the retail industry to   immediately converts the crypto to dollars and funds get
        be ready to meet expectations of consumers who prefer   settled to the merchant account just like a card transaction.
        crypto for payment, and begin to accept it."
                                                                It's fair to say that we can expect more developments like
        To date, most crypto-payments activity has been at online   this in 2022.
        merchants, like Microsoft and Overstock. But major brick-  Patti  Murphy  is  senior  editor  at  The Green Sheet  and  self-described
        and-mortar merchants, like Home Depot, are accepting    payments maven of the fourth estate. Follow her on Twitter  @GS_
        crypto payments, too. "[T]he appetite for crypto payments
        has exploded," Jeremy Belostock, head of strategy at    PayMaven.
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