Shopify taps Crypto.com to enable crypto acceptance for merchants despite recent volatility

The news: Shopify partnered with Crypto.com so merchants can accept cryptocurrency payments from customers through Crypto.com Pay, per a press release. Crypto.com will waive settlement fees (0.5% per transaction) for one month for Shopify merchants that integrate Crypto.com Pay into their checkout for a limited time.

More on this: Crypto.com Pay lets customers pay for purchases at partner merchants with more than 20 tokens, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Crypto.com’s Cronos token. Crypto.com Pay users who transact with Cronos can earn cash-back rewards—during the promotion period, they can get up to 10% cash back.

Why it’s worth watching: The recent crypto rout—the market has lost 40% of its value in 2022 as of mid-May—will likely affect crypto payments adoption in the short term. But buy-in from major companies like Shopify should support long-term growth.

• Cryptos are more commonly used as investments, not for payments: Seventy percent of US crypto owners said their primary motivation for purchasing cryptos involved using them as an investment, per a 2022 Paysafe report. For consumers with high risk tolerance, cryptos can offer attractive returns on investments.
• Crypto payments are less developed, but regulation could support long-term growth. The number of US crypto payment users will hit 3.6 million in 2022—accounting for only 10.7% of US crypto owners, per Insider Intelligence forecasts. However, if US lawmakers can develop a regulatory framework that makes areas of the crypto economy safer for everyday consumers to participate in, crypto payments could come out on the other side of the current downturn with even stronger growth prospects. We expect the value of global crypto transactions to hit $16.16 billion next year—up from $10.40 billion in 2022, per our forecasts.

Shopify’s opportunity: Integrating Crypto.com Pay helps Shopify improve the customer experience and its ties with merchants.

• Offering Crypto.com Pay can help Shopify merchants shore up customer loyalty and potentially increase spending, which can bolster Shopify’s revenues. Twenty-five percent of US consumers said they prefer to shop with merchants that accept cryptos, per a 2022 Bitpay and PYMNTS survey.
• Letting merchants offer alternative payment solutions that help increase sales volume can also improve Shopify’s client relationships. The Crypto.com integration builds on similar tie-ups, like Shopify’s partnership with buy now, pay later provider Affirm. These integrations let Shopify stand out from competitors.

Crypto.com Pay lets Shopify capitalize on the emerging crypto payments space—and we expect the value of global crypto transactions will grow 70.5% year over year in 2022, per our forecasts.