How Merchants Accept Crypto in Different Countries?

Do you accept crypto payments? If not, then you are missing out on a big market. Why is it so? It is because a huge number of people are crypto users today. The United States is the largest economy in the world – You can tap millions of Bitcoin owners if you accept crypto payments in the United States. As per recent estimates, there are 7 million Americans who own bitcoin in USA.

The same goes for Brazil where e-commerce is booming and it is a leading country when it comes to crypto trading hubs. Accepting crypto payments in Brazil is a good idea, for the cryptocurrency market in Brazil is posting double-digit growth.

Of course, Australia, the land of the self-proclaimed BTC founder, is also interesting in terms of crypto regulations.

There are many crypto friendly countries all over the world. Let’s explore how merchants accept crypto in each of them.

Do Merchants Accept Crypto in the United States?

Accept Crypto in the United States

The United States is one of the biggest markets of digital currencies in the world. It is also one of the leading blockchain hubs and it hosts some of the largest blockchain companies globally. It proves that the United States has a pretty developed cryptocurrency ecosystem.

So what’s one of the main factors that will help us gauge the country’s acceptance of cryptocurrencies? It’s the number of businesses that accept bitcoin payments! A 2020 HSB survey found that one-third of small businesses accept cryptocurrencies in the US. It means a huge number of retailers accept Bitcoin and other digital currencies in the United States. Many kinds of businesses such as restaurants accept bitcoin in the country currently. 

California, Texas, Florida, and New York residents are most interested in buying from stores that put up the sign “Bitcoin Accepted Here.” Some of the popular keywords that crypto users in the US search are bitcoin store in California, bitcoin store in Texas, bitcoin store in Florida, and bitcoin store in New York while looking for stores accepting bitcoin payments. If you are from regions and don’t yet accept crypto payments then you should start accepting. 

Crypto Payments Landscape in Germany 

Crypto Payments in Germany – places that accept Bitcoins

Germany is the European economic powerhouse. It holds an astounding amount of influence over the global economy. It is one of the countries that ranks top when it comes to almost all cutting-edge technologies including blockchain. In 2018, 25000 online stores were accepting bitcoin in Germany. This is why the “Bitcoin store in Germany” is a popular Google search term.

In absence of recent data, we can safely assume that the number must have risen quite substantially. If you are planning to offer your products and services in Germany, you must start accepting crypto payments. 

Bitcoin Payments – UK

A 2020 report estimates that almost 2.6 million adults in the United Kingdom own cryptocurrencies including bitcoin. It means that a simple banner or a board mentioning “Bitcoin Accepted Here” can prove to be a  game changer for your business. There’s a sure-shot way of tapping into the crypto user market – Start accepting crypto payments for your business as well. Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin are among the most recognized cryptocurrencies in the United Kingdom. 

Crypto Payments in Canada 

Many people tend to neglect Canada because of its giant neighbour – The United States. But Canada is no pushover when it comes to economic power and innovation. Canada is one of the largest economies in the world with a huge landmass. It ranks in the list of most innovative countries. Canada has also established itself as a hub of crypto and blockchain research and development. 

The awareness about Bitcoin stood at 89% in 2018. That is a considerable rise as only 62% of Canadians knew about Bitcoin in 2016. As per a Finder survey, 16.55% of Canadians bought cryptocurrencies in 2018. It comes to around 4.8 million Canadians when you apply this statistics to the whole Canadian population. It correlates with the fact that Canadians are regularly searching for “Bitcoin Stores in Canada” on Google. 

If you want to accept crypto payments for your offline store in Canada or have an online store and want to target the Canadian market, then you should include a crypto payment method. It will benefit your business in the face of growth in the numbers of crypto users in Canada.

Australians are Increasingly Adopting Cryptocurrency Payments 

Do you know which is the most popular cryptocurrency when it comes to crypto payments in Australia? We are sure your answer is Bitcoin! That would be an incorrect answer. It is Bitcoin Cash which accounts for almost 97% of Australian crypto retail spending. The second most popular cryptocurrency for retail spending in Australia is Bitcoin. That is why “Accept Bitcoin Australia” and “Bitcoin Store in Australia” are one of the most popular search terms that Australian Crypto users currently search on Google. 

The Australian crypto merchant trading volume was $74000 in February this year. It has been growing at a steady rate for some time now. In 2019, only 1% of Australians bought consumers goods by paying in cryptocurrencies. This number may seem small but there is huge potential for high growth in the number of crypto spenders in Australia. This is a golden opportunity for Australian businesses to start accepting crypto payments.

Italy’s Affinity For Bitcoin

Bitcoin is becoming a popular form of alternative payments in Italy. The northern part of Italy hosts the highest number of businesses accepting payments in Bitcoin. Italy’s Lombardy region hosts 18% of all Italian businesses that accept payments in Bitcoin. In 2019, 350 Italian stores were accepting crypto payments. 

Any guesses for the most preferred payment method in Italy for shopping online? PayPal is the most preferred payment method among Italians while shopping online. But Bitcoin is following the lead and it may soon take over PayPal as well. The Italians opted for Bitcoin payments 368,000 times in June 2019. 

You can get lots of new customers in Italy if you accept bitcoin in store. If you are not offering bitcoin payments yet, then you are missing out on a huge customer segment in Italy. If you are running an online store in Italy then aim to rank on top of various search engines for search terms like “Bitcoin Store in Italy.”

Accepting Crypto in Latin America 

Accepting Crypto in Latin America
Pic Source: Dash News

The Brazilian crypto market is the biggest in the Latin American region. There are 0.9 million Brazilian crypto users. The most interesting aspect of accepting crypto payments in Brazil is that most of the crypto users in Brazil are from the poor segment. It means that you can target a large segment of Brazil’s population if you start accepting crypto in your store. 

With Brazil suffering from financial instability, many Brazilians have turned to cryptocurrencies. You should start accepting crypto in your shop to attract Brazilian crypto users. The number of searches for “Bitcoin Store in Brazil” is also going up in the country. With Covid-19 still impacting the Brazilian economy, more and more Brazilians are buying up cryptocurrencies.

There’s another leading Latin American economy that is also suffering from financial instability. Yes, we are talking about Argentina here. As per a recent survey, 73% of Argentinians said that digital currencies are the best instrument for saving in the country. Do you want to attract Argentinian crypto users to your store? You should accept crypto in Argentina as Argentinians have the most positive outlook regarding digital currencies. 

Does Japan Accept Bitcoin?

Does Japan companies Accept Bitcoin?
Pic Source: Global Coin Research

Satoshi Nakamoto is the creator of Bitcoin and he claims to be Japanese. So, is Satoshi’s creation popular among Japanese merchants or not? Well, it indeed is popular in Japan among shoppers as well as merchants! Bitcoin is a recognized form of money in Japan since 2016. 

There’s no recent data on the number of stores that accept Bitcoin in Japan. But a 2017 report states that there were 4500 stores in Japan that accepted Bitcoin payment. Due to the huge popularity of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Japan, we can safely assume that the number must have risen by multiple times today. Japan has 3.5 million crypto traders and this is a huge market that you are missing out on if you don’t yet accept crypto in Japan.

Conclusion 

There are 25 million bitcoin users worldwide today and they are increasingly looking for crypto payment while purchasing. They also  hold considerable purchasing power. The current trend is showing that crypto users prefer the stores that accept crypto payments. 

Do you want to offer crypto payments to your customers as well? Regardless of where you are located, you can sign up for NOWPayments’ crypto payment service. Currently, we support 53 cryptocurrencies for payment and some big brands are our customers. Reach out to us and start accepting crypto today.