Crypto Adoption Rides on the Wings of Payments and Artificial Intelligence
Crypto adoption has two main drivers – Payments and Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to a comprehensive report released in partnership between Reown and YouGov. These dual progression points have transformed the way crypto functions in real-world applicability and utility.
Overview of the Comprehensive Study
The study, involving over 1,000 active crypto users in the United Kingdom and the United States, revealed that both payments and artificial intelligence were mentioned as pivotal drivers of crypto adoption by 37% of the participants. The spotlight on crypto payments has seen substantial year-on-year augmentation, with 34% of survey respondents acknowledging active engagement in this field.
The report noted that the surge in crypto payments eclipses traditional decentralized finance (DeFi) use cases such as farming and staking, albeit falling behind trading. Importantly, payments were indicated by 27% of the participants as a foremost onchain experience projected to dominate in the forthcoming three to five years, strengthening trust in the real-world utility of crypto.
In-depth Analysis by CEO of Reown
Reown’s CEO, Jess Houlgrave, shared her insights with Cointelegraph. She explained that payments and artificial intelligence resolve distinct layers of the crucial issue of making crypto trusted, intuitive, and valuable. While they are distinct in nature, their contribution to the crypto world is nevertheless complementary. Payments catalyze real-world demand while AI refines the experience, and one does not eclipse the other.
Houlgrave suggests that AI augments the user experience and boosts developer productivity. AI is effectively improving personalization, bolstering fraud detection, and enhancing support systems. On the developer’s side, it accelerates onboarding, auditing, and streamlining automation processes.
Adoption: Benefits and Real-World Uses
Furthermore, Houlgrave highlighted that adoption is gathering steam because payments are finally becoming usable. Real-world use cases such as gig payouts and remittances show that these are not just crypto demonstrations but are tangible real-life infrastructure. This sentiment was echoed by Mercuryo CEO Petr Kozyakov who disclosed an increasing number of companies using crypto assets to settle employee compensation. This trend is expanding, leading workers to explore ways of directly spending their crypto assets.
However, crypto trading still tops the chart as the most enjoyed onchain activity, as affirmed by 36% of the total respondents. Payments follow next as the second most popular onchain activity, enjoying the favor of 10% of the respondents. Interestingly, 14% of respondents cited payments as the onchain activity they were most interested in moving forward.
Fulfilling the Founding Vision
Houlgrave emphasized how the shift in onchain payments usage from being a fringe case to becoming a mainstream financial instrument signifies progress in the crypto domain. With the tools finally catching up to the use-case vision that many early adopters were motivated by, this aligns with the original Bitcoin white paper’s description of the asset as a peer-to-peer, electronic cash system. Borderless, global, and trustless payments were the founding vision, as Houlgrave reiterated.
A Deeper Dive into Crypto Ownership
Aside from payments and trading, the report also inspected crypto ownership. The research derived that 63% of respondents held Bitcoin, while 48% were Ether owners. Significantly, stablecoin ownership has soared to 38%, surpassing Solana, which stood at 37%.
Reown’s report highlighted that 51% of stablecoin holders are between the ages of 18 and 34, while the adoption rate among users above the age of 45 is significantly lower. This data underscored the need for a user-friendly, multichain UX as users desire to carry out transactions from their preferred crypto holding destinations, be it a wallet or an exchange. This vital information handled by Reown helps to better understand the current landscape of crypto adoption.
