US consumers warm to crypto holiday spending

A survey by NMI, a payments gateway and embedded-payment technology provider, found that 34% of U.S. consumers are more likely to use crypto for holiday shopping. The survey, conducted in October, queried 3,001 U.S. adults, including 602 who own cryptocurrency like bitcoin, ether, or ethereum.

According to the survey, some one-third told NMI they are likely to use crypto at some point in the next 12 months at a merchant they already know and have shopped with before.

Crypto Acceptance and Consumer Sentiment

The research also reveals that crypto acceptance may be starting to influence where consumers shop. Fully 30% of respondents said they would be more likely to choose a merchant that accepts crypto if confronted with two retailers selling the same products.

However, 26% said they would be less likely to choose a merchant that accepts crypto, and 35% indicated that it doesn’t make a difference.

Tiffany Johnson, chief product officer at NMI, notes that “consumers are telling us crypto has a place at the holiday checkout, but their interest is conditional.” They want crypto to offer clear pricing, simple refunds, and confidence that if something goes wrong, it can be made right.

Conditional Nature of Crypto Usage

The survey found that 62% of respondents want to know the U.S. dollar equivalent of what they’re spending, with fees included, when using crypto. Fifty-one percent want refunds to work the same way they do with dollar-related credit or debit cards.

Half of the respondents would feel more comfortable with the transaction if it were handled by a company they’re familiar with. This need for familiarity applies even to steady crypto spenders, with 76% of crypto owners insisting on knowing the precise dollar cost of a transaction, with any fees included. And 72% say they would feel more comfortable with the transaction if the merchant offered a simple refund policy.

Visa’s Support for Stablecoin Settlement

Monad Foundation announced that Visa has agreed to support the Monad network for card-backed stablecoin settlement. Visa reported that stablecoin settlement was totaling $25 billion annualized, up approximately by a factor of 10 year-over-year.

Visa maintains more than 225 live stablecoin-backed card programs worldwide, indicating a growing acceptance of crypto in the payment industry.