Payment methods used for direct or indirect purchases in a metaverse in the U.S. 2022

Published by Statista Research Department, Mar 27, 2024

PayPal was said to be the most used metaverse payment method in the United States, ahead of debit cards and cryptocurrency. This is according to a survey held by PayPal itself in late 2022, asking adult respondents on how they preferred to pay in the metaverse. The resulting figures include both direct item purchases - using PayPal to buy virtual clothing - or the conversion of real-world money into in-game currency such as Robux (Roblox), V-Bucks (Fortnite) or MANA (the cryptocurrency for Decentraland) that can then be used for in-game purchases. The source interpreted "metaverse" broadly, mostly associating it with virtual reality (VR) and online gaming. This has been common ever since Facebook rebranded itself into "Meta". Originally, though, "metaverse" stood for a new decentralized type of internet - called Web3 - that would be without company or government oversight. Cryptocurrency (such as Bitcoin, itself a protest against central banks and governments), decentralized services (such as Decentralized Finance) and digital products (such as NFTs) would make up the brunt of this. This is relatively different from Roblux, Fortnite and VR - which all focus on creating new consumer experiences in a virtual gaming world.

Preferred metaverse payment methods in the United States as of December 2022, based on direct item purchases as well as in-game/world currency conversions

Characteristic	Share of respondents
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Release date

June 2023

More information

Region

United States

Survey time period

November 2022 to December 2022

Number of respondents

10,000 (across 10 countries, the results shown only concern U.S. results)

Age group

18 years and older

Special properties

The source used a wide definition of "metaverse", and includes the likes of Roblox - with its Robux currency - and Fortnite - V-Bucks - or two (centralized) online games with a virtual world. "Metaverse", here, does not just concern the decentralized metaverse. This broader definition is relatively common in the U.S., especially

Method of interview

Questionnaire

Supplementary notes

The sample included adults who either use, have used, or are interested in using any or all of cryptocurrency, stablecoins, metaverse, VR and/or AR. The source adds that a respondent is considered a metaverse user if they identified themselves as such.

The source did not clarify how many respondents were exactly from the United States. It also did not provide figures for the nine other countries that were surveyed.

The source did not provide the original wording from the survey, and did not clarify whether multiple answers were possible.

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