Cryptocurrency use cases in the U.S. 2023, by age, gender, income, race

American adults with a relatively high income were more likely than adults with lower incomes to hold cryptocurrency as an investment tool. This is according to an annual household survey in the United States, that asked about how and why consumers would be using the digital asset. Seven percent of American adults used crypto solely for investment purposes, while only two percent utilized it for payment transaction. The market share of cryptocurrency as a dedicated payment method was relatively low in the U.S., like in other countries.

A low market size in e-commerce

The impression from this survey - most consumers viewing crypto primarily as an investment vehicle, not a day-to-day payments tool - is backed up elsewhere. A 2023 ranking of the most used payment methods in global e-commerce, based on transaction value, predicted cryptocurrency was used in about 17.5 billion U.S. dollars' worth of online shopping, or 0.2 percent of the total market in 2023. A forecast on the value of crypto payments in e-commerce predicted a 0.5 percent market share by 2026.

Uncertainty in the industry

Central banks had a clear opinion on whether blockchain has a future part to play in the global payments industry: Nearly two-thirds of central banks worldwide were "unsure".  15 percent of the respondents imagined domestic use cases for blockchain payments, against 13 percent who pictured cross-border solutions. Interestingly, payment industry professionals believed blockchain and cryptocurrency a less important payment tech trends in 2024 than real-time payments or tokenization.