PayPal finds 39% US merchants accept crypto

TLDR

PayPal reports that about 39% of US merchants now accept cryptocurrency at checkout, with adoption led by larger businesses.

1. A PayPal and National Cryptocurrency Association survey of 619 US payment decision makers found 39 to 40% of merchants already accept crypto, especially big enterprises.
2. Customer demand is the main driver, and where offered, crypto already accounts for roughly a quarter of sales in some sectors like travel, digital goods, gaming, and luxury retail.
3. The biggest bottleneck is usability, since about 90% of merchants say they would accept crypto if it were as simple as taking card payments, so infrastructure and regulation will shape what happens next.

Deep Dive

1. Survey Details And Who Accepts

The headline figure comes from a Harris Poll survey commissioned by PayPal and the National Cryptocurrency Association in October, covering 619 US payment strategy decision makers across retail, ecommerce, hospitality, luxury, and digital gaming sectors. Reports from outlets like Cointelegraph and Bitcoin Magazine place current penetration at about 39% of US merchants, sometimes rounded to 40%.

Adoption is skewed toward large firms. Around 50% of merchants with more than 500 million dollars in annual revenue accept crypto, versus roughly one third of small and midsize businesses. A CoinsKid community recap breaks out similar numbers and highlights that 84% of respondents think crypto payments will be mainstream within five years.

2. Drivers And Practical Impact

The survey shows crypto is being used as a payment tool rather than only a speculative asset. Merchants that accept it say crypto accounts for about 26% of their sales on average in relevant verticals such as hospitality, travel, digital goods, gaming, and high end retail.

Demand is clearly shopper led. Around 88 to 90% of merchants have had customers ask to pay with crypto, and about 69% say those requests come at least once a month. Millennials and Gen Z dominate these inquiries, reinforcing crypto as a younger demographic spending channel.

3. What Could Accelerate Or Slow Adoption

Despite the growth, most US merchants still do not take crypto, and many of those that do rely on processors that instantly convert to stablecoins or fiat, so they avoid price volatility. PayPals own tools, such as its crypto checkout features that settle into fiat or PYUSD, aim to hide complexity from merchants.

The survey repeatedly flags user experience as the main bottleneck. Roughly 90% of merchants say they would consider accepting crypto if setup and checkout were as simple as credit cards, which is echoed in PayPal focused coverage. Regulatory clarity and better integration into existing point of sale and ecommerce systems are likely to decide how quickly adoption moves from 40% toward a true majority.

Conclusion

Crypto payments in the US have moved from niche experiments to a meaningful share of merchant checkout options, especially among large businesses and younger facing sectors. The next phase is less about convincing merchants that customers want crypto and more about making acceptance as easy and low risk as taking card payments.