The crypto buzz has been around for over a decade now, that´s way too long for any passing fad. The first decentralized cryptocurrency -Bitcoin- was created in 2009, but it didn´t pick up until 2017. 

Do you think this is the fork in the road for crypto to finally take off? Or is it the beginning of the end? 

Since then, the market capitalization of the more than 8,000 cryptocurrencies has grown to almost US$ 3 trillion in November 2021 before retracting again in May 2022. A lot has been written and invested in favor and against this trend, but what are the implications for your business?

Should you jump on the crypto wave and start accepting crypto payments today? Wait until it becomes more mainstream? Or reduce/exit your crypto investments while you can? Some experts like the Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz are even calling for regulators to shut down crypto for good. 

Your answer probably depends on your company´s risk aversion level and your diversification strategy. For many players, including institutional players, the search for yield has been the main driver to invest in cryptocurrencies. While there are very few companies accepting cryptocurrency payments, the number is slowly increasing, and some public companies are starting to list bitcoins in their balance sheets, which means some market niches are appearing every day in different forms and sizes.

Should you start accepting crypto payments today? Probably not, particularly after the crash in May 2022. Many companies are now re-evaluating their strategy and the crypto-crash effect on the financial system is under scrutiny at this very moment. What we are probably witnessing is a big crypto reset that makes evident the flows that remain to be corrected if this is meant to become mainstream. 

Albeit volatility, there are other challenges digital currencies need to overcome to become mainstream, just to mention some:   

• Changing regulations and potential bans in some countries  
• More Companies accepting crypto as a payment method  
• Carbon footprint (it takes an enormous amount of energy to mine crypto)  
• Time to process crypto payments (40 minutes is too long for eCommerce)  

Even with all these challenges ahead, giants like Walmart, Amazon, Uber and Paypal are driving crypto currency acceptance, some implications of a higher crypto adoption are: 

• Easier and cheaper cross-border payments
• Fewer intermediation costs (for now, more intermediaries may appear in the future)
• If crypto currencies become a preferred payment method for new generations, we need to figure out how to accept them for B2C and B2B transactions

"As card fee frustrations rise and merchants search for alternatives, noncard crypto payments are providing competition that could threaten card networks" - eMarketer

To wrap it up, some companies and countries have been quick to adopt digital currencies. But the latest crypto crash exhibits the dimension of the digital currencies market and its impact on the financial system, as there is an increasing number of private crypto banks and even some central banks are piloting central digital currencies (CBDCs). Can you imagine a digital Euro? Well, China rolled out a form of digital yuan during the 2022 Winter Olympic games and Canada is flirting with a similar idea.

Now we need to wait to see what the market and regulatory adjustments are made after the May 2022 crypto crash. Do you think this is the fork in the road for crypto to finally take off? Or is it the beginning of the end? 

If you are not ready for crypto but want to introduce new or add more online payment methods or simply improve your payments success rate, get in touch we´d be happy to help.