- A study conducted by Ripple and the Faster Payments Council has found huge support for blockchain payments
- 97% of 300 finance professionals canvassed believe blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will play a significant role in enabling faster payments within the next three years
- Regulatory concerns remain the biggest hurdle to adoption
A study from Ripple and the Faster Payments Council has found that finance professionals believe overwhelmingly that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies will have a significant or very significant role in enabling faster payments within the next three years. The study, which formed the basis of a report published over the weekend, found huge support for “crypto-enabled solutions” being key to upgrading “sluggish” payments markets, but noted that regulatory clarity is needed before any major adoption can take place.
97% Say Crypto Payments Are Coming
The Faster Payments Council was founded in 2019 with the aim of ushering in “a world-class payment system where Americans can safely and securely pay anyone, anywhere, at any time and with near-immediate funds availability.” Given this remit it’s hardly a surprise to understand why it partnered with Ripple for the study, and the results have been positive for both.
The study canvassed the thoughts of 300 finance professionals across 45 countries from various sectors such as fintech, banking, media, consumer technology and retail. The headline statistic is that 97% of these respondents believe blockchain technology and cryptocurrency will have a “significant or very significant role in enabling faster payments
within the next three years.”
In addition to this, half of the respondents also believed that “most merchants will
accept crypto payments within one to three years.” To this end, it’s not a surprise to find that payment providers “intrinsically see value in blockchain technology,” according to the report. While “no respondents cited being unclear on what those are,” they did raise concerns over the regulatory environment surrounding the crypto sector:
Regulations Hurdles Need to be Cleared
For payment providers, regulatory clarity remains a primary hurdle to go-to-market efforts. When given the option for multiple responses, almost one-third of participants cited regulatory clarity exclusively—indicating no other perceived barriers to using blockchain for payments.
If the crypto sector can overcome these regulatory hurdles, there seems little to stop the seemingly inevitable integration of blockchain technology into payments systems.
