JPMorgan: Desire Waning for Crypto as Payment Method

Demand for using cryptocurrencies as a payments method is falling off as the market has shed an estimated $2 trillion in value in under a year, volumes have declined on many exchanges, and digital asset firms collapsed. 

“We saw a lot of demand for our clients, let’s say up until six months ago,” Takis Georgakopoulos, global head of payments at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., said in a Bloomberg Television interview on Tuesday. “We see very little right now.”

He added that the bank is still offering the service for their clients who prefer to use crypto for payments. 

See also: The New Math of Crypto Payments

According to a recent PYMNTS study, 27% of crypto-owning consumers indicated they “probably” or “definitely” prefer shopping at merchants who accept crypto. People want the option even though the ease of use due to volatility — and even shoppers’ mindsets — is still in the making, PYMNTS reported earlier this month. 

Georgakopoulos pointed out that crypto is becoming a big presence in the traditional gaming space, as well as in the metaverse, where there are a variety of new opportunities, per the report. 

Jack Dorsey’s Block is a proponent of crypto’s promise as a means of payments despite the volatility in digital tokens. It’s also seen a downturn in crypto payments. Block collected $1.79 billion in bitcoin transactions in the latest quarter, down 34%, Bloomberg reported.

Read more: Restaurants Ill-Prepared to Meet Demand for Crypto Payments

Research from PYMNTS’ August study “Paying with Cryptocurrency: Can Crypto at Checkout Become a Profit Center for Merchants?,” created in collaboration with BitPay, shows that  56% of crypto owners are likely to use cryptocurrency to make purchases from restaurants or food delivery services. The problem is that most establishments are still not ready to meet this demand, PYMNTS reported Sept. 13.

Regardless of the current situation, J.P. Morgan is still continuing its years-long embrace of the digital assets space and recently became one of the central supporters of the startup Ownera. The world’s biggest bank also explored using blockchain for collateral settlements, Bloomberg reported.