ECB: Crypto payments remain negligible among euro-area merchants

Crypto assets are still effectively absent from everyday commerce across the euro area, according to a new European Central Bank (ECB) survey of how businesses accept different payment methods. Even as digital payments expand, the ECB finds that only a small fraction of merchants take crypto—whether directly or via payment arrangements they describe as accepting crypto assets or stablecoins.

The ECB reports that just 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets. For in-person payments, cash remains dominant: 92% of companies with physical points of sale accept it, while crypto and stablecoins together remain under 1% acceptance in both 2024 and 2026.

Key takeaways

• Crypto acceptance is minimal: the ECB survey shows 0.2% of euro area businesses accept crypto for online sales.
• Stablecoins are not catching on at physical checkout: crypto assets and stablecoins remain below 1% acceptance at physical points of sale in 2024 and 2026.
• Mobile payments are the main growth area: acceptance of mobile payment methods at physical locations rises to 68% in 2026 from 36% in 2024.
• Merchants prioritize customer demand and security: consumer preference is the top decision factor, while merchants that reject cash most often cite weak demand and cash handling frictions.
• Survey design leaves room for interpretation: the ECB does not clarify whether payments settled in traditional currency via crypto payment services should count as “crypto acceptance.”

Digital payments advance, but crypto stays sidelined

While crypto remains a marginal payment option, the ECB’s broader findings show a clear shift toward cashless methods at physical locations. Mobile payments recorded the biggest change: acceptance jumped to 68% in 2026 from 36% in 2024.

Among the mobile methods most commonly accepted are instant payments and digital wallets, including services such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. This matters because it suggests the euro area’s payment digitization is progressing through mainstream rails that consumers and merchants already understand—rather than through direct crypto settlement.

Cash’s position also changes only slightly over time. The ECB reports cash acceptance at physical points of sale edging up to 92% in 2026 from 90% in 2024. Physical card acceptance rises to 88% from 87% over the same period, reinforcing the idea that the “cashless” transition is largely coming from cards and mobile wallets rather than from crypto.

Online sales show crypto acceptance at near-zero levels

The ECB’s survey highlights an even starker picture for online payments. Across the euro area, only 0.2% of companies selling goods and services online accept crypto assets, indicating that merchants are not treating crypto as a mainstream ecommerce payment choice.

These results come from a survey of 8,205 businesses across the 21 euro area countries. The telephone interviews were carried out by Ipsos from Feb. 23 to April 10, covering merchants in categories including retail, restaurants and cafes, hotels, and arts, entertainment and recreation.

At the same time, the ECB’s findings include evidence that other payment instruments are not uniformly gaining ground. For example, bank check acceptance fell to 27% in 2026 from 36% in 2024—underscoring that “digital progress” does not simply lift every alternative method, but rather changes acceptance patterns unevenly.

Why merchants choose—or refuse—specific payment methods

The survey also sheds light on the decision criteria merchants use when selecting which payment instruments to accept. Consumer preference is cited as the most important factor, named by 26% of respondents. Security comes next at 22%, while ease of handling is third at 15%.

For businesses that do not accept cash, demand and logistics are central concerns. Weak customer demand is cited by 36%, difficulties depositing or withdrawing cash by 35%, and security risks by 29%.

Importantly, the data points to sharp country-level differences in attitudes about cash. The ECB reports that 51% of cash-accepting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Cyprus say they may stop accepting cash, compared with 23% in Greece and 18% in Bulgaria. That divergence suggests that merchants’ expectations about payment preferences vary widely across the region, even when broad trends—like rising mobile usage—move in a similar direction.

What “accepting crypto” means—and what remains unclear

The ECB survey asked companies whether they accept crypto assets or stablecoins, using examples including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether’s USDt (USDT). However, the report’s description leaves a key practical question open for interpretation.

Some crypto payment services allow merchants to receive settlement in traditional currency even when customers pay with crypto. The survey, as presented in the article, does not specify whether merchants should count such transactions as “crypto acceptance.” That matters because it affects how comparable merchant responses are: a business might technically participate in crypto payments while experiencing those payments as fiat settlement rather than as direct crypto receipt.

According to the conversation captured in the source coverage, Cointelegraph asked the ECB whether converted crypto payments could go unreported by merchants and whether regulatory uncertainty could influence how businesses answer. The ECB responded that it “prefer[s] not to speculate.”

On the regulatory question—whether euro area merchants are permitted to accept crypto under EU rules—the ECB did not take on the role of rule-maker. The ECB instead pointed to the European Commission and national lawmakers, noting that it does not set payment regulation.

Digital euro work continues as ECB studies payment behavior

The release arrives while the ECB is also advancing work on a digital euro, a central bank digital currency intended to complement cash and preserve the euro’s role. In that context, the new findings offer a useful baseline for policymakers: even as digital payments accelerate, merchants are not pivoting toward crypto or stablecoin acceptance at the checkout.

For investors and builders watching the payment sector, the main signal is not just that crypto adoption is low today—it’s that the merchant channel for payments appears to be consolidating around mainstream digital instruments (cards and mobile wallets) rather than crypto settlement. What changes next will likely depend on how payment providers improve merchant onboarding, how regulators clarify rules, and whether consumer demand grows for crypto payments in ways merchants can reliably monetize.