A new merchant survey from PayPal and the National Cryptocurrency Association (NCA) found that 39% of US merchants now accept cryptocurrency payments, while 84% believe crypto payments will become common within the next five years. The report also said 85% of payment decision-makers expect broader adoption over that period, pointing to consumer demand as the main driver.
Adoption is strongest among the biggest companies
The figures are not evenly spread across the market. Merchants with more than $500 million in annual revenue showed an adoption rate of 50%, well ahead of midsize businesses at 32% and small businesses at 34%. By sector, travel led at 81%, followed by luxury retail at 76%. Businesses with high-ticket and cross-border transactions appear to be moving first.
May Zabaneh, PayPal’s vice president of cryptocurrency, said the company is seeing crypto payments move from the experimental stage into everyday commerce through both data and customer conversations. She said demand for faster and more flexible payment options is pushing adoption, and that merchants begin to see tangible value once they start accepting crypto.
Consumer questions are shaping merchant decisions
The survey found that 88% of merchants have been asked by customers whether they can pay with cryptocurrency. Within that group, 69% said those requests come in at least once a month. The report tied this demand to payment habits among millennials and Gen Z, suggesting that merchant adoption is being pulled by customers rather than pushed only by providers.
Data gaps remain, and setup friction is still a hurdle
The report’s 39% adoption figure also stands well above the 12% estimate from the Merchant Risk Council (MRC), highlighting how survey samples and methodology can produce very different pictures of the market. Another issue is merchant onboarding. According to the survey, 90% of merchants said they would only consider crypto acceptance if setup were as simple as taking card payments.
That helps explain the growing relevance of gateways such as Coinbase Commerce, Stripe, and SpicePay. These services can convert received crypto into fiat automatically, lowering exposure to price volatility for merchants.
Stablecoins are positioned as the practical payment rail
For day-to-day payments, the report pointed to stablecoins as the more workable option. Products such as USDC and PYUSD fit merchant needs more closely than highly volatile assets. In this market, the key issue is not whether customers talk about blockchain. It is whether crypto payments can become as easy to use and as invisible in the checkout flow as Visa or Mastercard.