We want to thank Lorenzo Pellegrino ‒ CEO of Skrill Ltd., Neteller and Income Access ‒ for sending us the following insights on the current state of cryptocurrency acceptance and the potential impact of Facebook's upcoming launch of its own cyrptocurrency.
The news from Facebook regarding the launch of its own cryptocurrency is a major development for the industry. The general criticism around crypto has been that it is not a currency in the truest sense, because of the little practical use beyond being a store of wealth and an asset to trade. As Facebook has a number of ecommerce ambitions, including in-app checkouts via Instagram, we may see users have the ability to buy a variety of products through GlobalCoin and recognize the value of their cryptocurrency in the real world.
For cryptocurrencies to develop into a credible alternative to fiat currencies they need to make the leap from simply having value to being a widely accepted payment method, both online and on the high street. To adapt to this shift, retailers will need to ensure they have the processes in place which enable them to accept crypto at the checkout.
In one of our recent studies, Lost in Transaction 2018: The future of payments for SMBs, we asked small-to-medium-sized businesses in the U.S., U.K., Canada, Germany, and Austria about accepting cryptocurrencies through their online checkout. Six percent of online businesses currently accept cryptocurrencies (rising to 9 percent in the United States), but a further 15 percent have ambitions to accept them in the next two years. There's no doubt that developments such as the forthcoming Facebook launch may well act as a further catalyst for this adoption.
What is your take on the state of cryptocurrency acceptance today? What advantages and disadvantages do you see for cryptopayments online and at the physical POS? Are your merchants receiving requests from their customers to pay via cryptocurrency? If so, what steps are you taking to enable that to happen? Let us know at greensheet@greensheet.com. 
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