If you took a look recently at Bitcoin’s price, you would presume that the cryptocurrency sector took major leaps in mainstream acceptance in 2024.
Whilst this is true – as Bitcoin has surpassed the heralded $100k mark for the first-time ever this year – crypto’s performance this year is not solely down to Bitcoins’ newfound popularity.
Crypto payments have begun to grow amongst both customers and financial companies, uncovering new opportunities to help accelerate the transaction process to speeds unheard of in traditional finance.
Writing for Payment Expert, Bitpace – a crypto payment platform – CEO Anil Oncu reviews and analyses crypto’s growth throughout the year. Oncu highlights increasing acceptance amongst major financial institutions, the impact of the Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) has already had in Europe and what to expect in 2025.
2024: A Year of Maturity and Integration
2024 has been a huge year for crypto, largely due to an unprecedented shift toward widespread institutional acceptance. The US government’s more recent decision to seriously consider Bitcoin as a strategic asset reserve is telling enough on its own.
Yet this shift has been ever-present throughout the year.
Heavy investment from the likes of Blackrock and Franklin Templeton in tokenising real-world assets solidified a serious connection between Web3 and the financial world. The willingness of these institutions to embrace such an emerging market brought a sense of legitimacy to the crypto ecosystem. Recognising, and trusting, the tangible benefits of tokenisation – such as increased liquidity and greater transparency – reinforced crypto’s utility outside of Web3 environments.
This trend sent strong signals that the blockchain was no longer considered a speculative tool, but a robust framework for transforming traditional finance.
This set the stage for a huge transformation to occur in the payments industry. As payments giants such as Visa and Mastercard welcomed new hybrid solutions, driven by the need to improve cross-border transactions. This emerging trend demonstrates further the institutional acceptance of blockchain’s potential to bridge financial gaps with instantaneous, low-cost transactions without compromising security.
Alongside this, the progressive integration of stablecoins, CBDCs, and digital wallets continue to fuel a move toward total convergence of blockchain and mainstream financial systems. Driven by huge regulatory developments, most notably the ensuing implementation of Europe’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) legislation, this has provided a clear path toward mitigating the issue of crypto-volatility in the payments space.
“It will be no surprise seeing stablecoins and CBDCs become a prominent aspect in the day-to-day transactions”
Data from Chainanalysis shows that stablecoins accounted for 52.36% of all crypto-related transactions in Central, Northern, and Western Europe between July 2022 and June 2024. It was also reported that 94% of the world’s central banks are actively working on CBDCs, while 19 of the G20 nations are in advanced stages of CBDC development.
What was at first an air of skepticism from both traditional finance and the crypto community, has turned into a serious momentum of growing confidence in 2024.
As MiCA is implemented, and other global regions also accelerate regulatory developments, it will be no surprise seeing stablecoins and CBDCs become a prominent aspect in the day-to-day transactions of the average consumer.
On the infrastructure front, the rise of scalable Layer 2 solutions—including the Lightning Network and zk-rollups—reduced transaction costs and improved processing speeds. These innovations unlocked new use cases, particularly for micro-transactions in retail and peer-to-peer payments.
Looking Ahead to 2025: Key Trends to Watch
Next year will see even more dynamic and assertive developments unfold. At the core, crypto’s influence on the payments industry demands greater emphasis on improved security, convenience, and inclusivity, bringing consumer needs to the forefront.
As this momentum continues, Research and Markets predicts that the global payments market will reach nearly $5trn by 2029.
The stage is set particularly well for the rise of Web3 commerce. Statistics indicate that the global Web3 in e-commerce and retail market will grow at a CAGR of 45.80% from 2023 to 2030. As advancements in payment infrastructure emerge, including more intuitive gateways and POS systems, it’s going to be easier for merchants and consumers to integrate crypto into everyday trade.
With a projected annual growth rate of 17% through 2030, crypto payment gateways will continue to become an essential feature of businesses aiming to diversify their services to customers. 2025 will see their influence increase across all global commerce, enabling a seamless payment experience that will be pivotal to the continued expansion of the industry.
Another potential expansion within this infrastructure next year could be the integration of AI with blockchain-based payment systems. AI’s ability to optimise processes, detect fraud, and enable smart contract automation has huge potential to enhance both the efficiency and security of payments. This synergy will likely drive innovation across the sector, creating smarter, more user-friendly solutions.
From Niche to Mainstream
Overall, next year will see the boundary between traditional finance and crypto become increasingly indistinguishable. More collaborations between banks, payment aggregators, and e-commerce platforms will evolve, making crypto transactions as seamless as traditional ones. These partnerships will be instrumental in reducing the perceived complexities of crypto payments, fostering broader acceptance.
As crypto payments go from a niche luxury to a mainstream necessity, the relationship between businesses and consumers will transform on a global level. Borderless, instantaneous, cost-effective commerce is set to be the foundation of a new transactional landscape.
New horizons will come thick and fast in 2025. The key to it all is collaborative, adaptable acceptance.
