Representations of virtual currency are seen in this illustration taken November 28, 2021. REUTERS Dado Ruvic Illustration
According to a survey by Visa Inc.V.N, almost a quarter of small businesses in nine countries plan to accept digital currency as a form of payment in 2022, while 13% of consumers in those countries believe that cryptocurrencies may be starting to go mainstream as a means of payment.
Visa also surveyed 1,000 adults in the United States, along with 500 adults from each of the nine countries.
According to Jeni Mundy, Visa's global head of merchant sales and acquisition, more people are feeling more confident in an interview.
In part because of their frequent fluctuations in value, cryptocurrencies are not widely used to pay for goods and services, despite their rising popularity among retail and professional investors.
On Monday, the price of digital currency fell more than 5% and fell below the $40,000 level for the first time since September.
Small businesses outside North America are more open to accepting digital currency, includingBitcoin, as forms of payment.
More than 30% of the small business merchants in the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil plan to offer customers the option to pay using cryptocurrencies in the coming months. Despite varying regulations, digital currencies have taken off in each of those countries.
In the United States, 19% of small businesses and just 8% in Canada expect to offer cryptocurrencies as a payment option in 2022.
Three-quarters of businesses surveyed in the world said accepting new forms of payments is essential to business growth. It's natural evolution for many small companies that are moving into new forms of digital payments, adopting cryptocurrencies may be a natural evolution, said Mundy.
What other forms of payment can we take? What other forms should we consider? She said something.
The other countries in the survey are Russia, Ireland and Germany.