Crypto Payments in Retail: From Niche to Mass Phenomenon

Crypto Payments in Retail: From Niche to Mass Phenomenon

While paying with Bitcoin remains largely uncharted territory in Germany, a remarkable paradigm shift is taking place in the United States: nearly four out of ten merchants now accept cryptocurrencies directly at the point of sale. At the same time, European providers like OKX are bringing new products to market that systematically eliminate technical barriers. These developments mark a critical transition from experimental testing to actual everyday usability of digital assets—with potentially profound effects on Bitcoin adoption.

The Facts

A survey conducted in October by the National Cryptocurrency Association among 619 payment strategy decision-makers from various industries paints a clear picture: approximately 38 percent of US merchants now accept cryptocurrencies as a means of payment ^[1]. Even more revealing is that around nine out of ten surveyed companies have already received customer inquiries about crypto payments ^[1]. This suggests considerable latent demand that has not yet been fully served.

Particularly noteworthy is the distribution by company size: while large corporations already offer crypto payments to a significant extent, the acceptance rate among medium-sized firms stands at 32 percent and among small businesses at 34 percent ^[1]. Prominent US companies that accept digital currencies include Starbucks, Walmart, and Home Depot ^[1]. Across industries, the strongest adoption is seen in hospitality, travel, digital goods, and the gaming sector ^[1].

May Zabaneh, Vice President and General Manager at PayPal, contextualizes the development as follows: "What we're seeing in both this data and in conversations with our customers is that crypto payments are moving beyond the experimental phase and arriving in daily commerce" ^[1]. The numbers support this assessment: among merchants that accept cryptocurrencies, these payments account for an average of 26 percent of total revenue ^[1]. Additionally, 84 percent of respondents expect cryptocurrencies to become a common means of payment within the next five years ^[1].

Nevertheless, technical complexity remains the central obstacle: around 90 percent of merchants stated they would accept cryptocurrencies if the process were as simple as credit card payments ^[1]. This is precisely where new products come in. PayPal introduced a crypto checkout tool for US merchants in July that enables payments with over 100 different cryptocurrencies ^[1].

In Europe, the crypto exchange OKX is taking a similar approach: the newly launched OKX Card is designed to significantly simplify everyday crypto payments and eliminate hurdles such as manual conversions, pre-loading, or hidden fees ^[2]. What makes it special: unlike many existing crypto cards, digital assets remain in users' wallets until the moment of payment—conversion to euros occurs seamlessly at the point of sale ^[2]. According to OKX, there are no transaction or foreign currency fees, only a market spread of 0.4 percent ^[2].

The card is based on self-custody principles and is compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay, allowing it to be used at over 150 million merchants worldwide ^[2]. "With the OKX Card, we're making crypto truly practical for everyday use for the first time," explains Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe ^[2]. The card is issued through a licensed European payment partner and complies with applicable AML and KYC requirements in the European Economic Area ^[2].

Analysis & Context

The available data marks a turning point in Bitcoin and crypto adoption. While Bitcoin's payment function was in the foreground during the early years, focus has shifted strongly toward Bitcoin as a store of value over the past decade. Current developments suggest that both narratives can exist in parallel—and may even reinforce each other.

The fact that crypto payments already account for 26 percent of revenue at accepting merchants is remarkable and significantly exceeds earlier expectations. This suggests genuine user demand that goes beyond mere speculation. Strong adoption in industries such as hospitality, travel, and gaming corresponds to historical patterns: these sectors have traditionally been pioneers in accepting new payment technologies, as they serve international audiences and benefit from fast, cross-border transactions.

Technical advancements through products like the OKX Card or PayPal's checkout tool address the fundamental problem of user experience. The integration of self-custody with the simplicity of card payments could prove to be a decisive breakthrough. Historically, many crypto payment solutions failed due to poor user-friendliness or because users had to give up control of their assets. The new generation of products appears to overcome this compromise.

For Bitcoin itself, this development represents a potential strengthening of its network effects. The more people use Bitcoin for everyday transactions, the more valuable the network becomes—regardless of whether the majority of Bitcoin holdings continue to be held long-term. The parallel development of Layer-2 solutions like the Lightning Network could further accelerate this trend, even though the available sources provide no specific information about the technical infrastructures being used.

The geographical discrepancy deserves critical examination: while the US shows rapid development, Europe—and Germany in particular—lags significantly behind. This could have regulatory reasons or be attributable to cultural differences in payment behavior. In the long term, however, this gap is likely to shrink, especially as European providers like OKX are now making targeted infrastructure investments.

Conclusion

• Crypto payment integration in US retail has left the experimental phase and is evolving into a mainstream phenomenon—with nearly 40 percent merchant acceptance and a 26 percent revenue share at accepting businesses

• Technical complexity remains the main obstacle: 90 percent of merchants would accept crypto if integration were as simple as credit card payments—new products from PayPal and OKX address precisely this problem

• Self-custody solutions that keep assets in users' wallets until the moment of payment could provide the decisive breakthrough for mass-market crypto payments and significantly accelerate adoption

• Europe lags significantly behind in merchant acceptance, but targeted infrastructure investments like the OKX Card with acceptance at 150 million merchants worldwide should close this gap in the medium term

• The revival of Bitcoin as a means of payment strengthens network effects and could complement rather than compete with the store-of-value narrative—a development with potentially far-reaching implications for long-term adoption