According to a PayPal report from January 27, 2026, 39% of all US merchants accept crypto payments at checkout. Binance Pay estimates that over 30,000 businesses worldwide support this option. Numerous merchants have trialled or adopted crypto payments, from big corporations to gaming platforms featuring PayID pokies and other modern payment solutions.
At first glance, there is enough supply to make shopping for digital gold holders smooth and enjoyable. However, the demand side of the business equation is not as robust as it may seem. Today, we take a look at the industries with the highest acceptance rates, why businesses do and don’t adopt, and the bigger picture.
Industries With The Highest Acceptance Rates
The retail sector of the economy is among the most receptive to new payment methods. Platforms such as Shopify and BitPay allow users to purchase a wide array of products with crypto via gateways like BitPay, including electronics, luxury fashion items, and digital gift cards. That said, catering to this niche didn’t have the effect companies might have hoped for.
According to a report published by Statista on December 17, 2025, cryptocurrency payments accounted for less than 1% of retail sales that year. The rise of owners didn’t make a difference, as they preferred to save the money. Despite this, companies in several sectors are keen on adopting, with the most active being:
- iGaming. Some of the best crypto casino clubs, like Richard and CrownSlots, offer digital gold for lightning-fast deposits and withdrawals, with some even providing built-in conversion solutions.
- Travel & hospitality. Travala and airBaltic allow their customers to book hotels and flights with these wallets.
- Food & dining. People may purchase drinks and meals and leave tips via digital wallets at KFC, Burger King, and Starbucks locations.
- Software and IT services. Many companies in this segment, including Intel, NVIDIA, and Microsoft, accept various options for specific goods and services.
Despite some of the names on this list trusting these payment methods, not everybody is on board with using them for transactions. First, let’s look at the reasons companies integrate such wallets into their workflows.
Why Companies Work With Crypto
In many ways, businesses work more with these wallets, not just because they let customers pay. They also do so to make things easier for themselves. Here are just some of the B2B applications that crypto has in this environment:
- Improving the cash flow via reduced bank fees and international settlement delays.
- Lowering chargeback risks for retailers by implementing on-chain payments.
- Introducing smart contacts, programmable invoicing, and other types of automation.
- Accessing new untapped markets with limited traditional payment solutions.
At the operational level, it translates into more finely tuned liquidity management and lower technical barriers via APIs and plugins, but it also introduces new risks. In the grant scheme of things, working with crypto allows businesses to be more productive and mitigate downtime between payments, which is common with traditional options.
Why Businesses Are Reluctant
Of course, not everything is great about using digital gold. If it were, businesses would have universally adopted it by 2026. Let’s start with the fact that traditional cryptos are highly volatile, as evidenced by the rapid fluctuations in Bitcoin that occurred this year. The currency jumped from $64,000 to more than $75,000 in April.
In mid-May, it reached the $80,000 range, with a Mexc.com forecast published May 6, 2026, indicating it could exceed $90,000. This creates additional risks for companies and customers. For example, someone can end up with less than what they won from a site they consider the best crypto casino simply because the value of BTC suddenly dropped.
Businesses also have to worry about regulations governing the taxation of such transactions. Rules change rapidly, so working with crypto means remaining on high alert at all times. This is why companies that do wish to work with such wallets prefer stablecoins, such as USDT, PYUSD, and USDC. They are more predictable but have their own issues, such as the lack of transparency in reserve assets and issuer/counterparty risks.
The Elephant In The Room
While adoption rates are slowly climbing despite these concerns, the big question remains: are crypto owners interested in this? From what we’ve gathered, not particularly. In 2024, there were about 659 million digital gold owners, according to Crypto.com. That year, only around 11% reported using such currencies for goods and services.
Most of their purchases have been made in the luxury categories of travel and electronics. It’s too early to say what the data will tell by the end of 2026, but we can assume that such transactions will stay reserved for high-end items and services. It seems that, as things stand, most digital gold owners prefer to hold it rather than spend it.
So, why provide payment methods that people barely use? At this stage, they seem to cause more trouble for businesses than they generate sales and revenue. We believe B2B adoption has greater potential in this regard, but only time will tell how things play out.
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