Key stat: Only 12% of North American merchants accept cryptocurrency at checkout, trailing even cash on delivery, according to a March report from the Merchant Risk Council.

Beyond the chart:

• Consumer demand isn't there either. Only 2.5% of the US population will make a crypto payment in 2026, representing just 18.1% of crypto owners, according to EMARKETER's August 2025 forecast.
• Consumers under high financial stress are increasingly turning to digital wallets for retail purchases, according to a January report from PYMNTS.com.

Use this chart: Drop this into your next payments strategy discussion to ground crypto conversations in reality. Show stakeholders why traditional methods still dominate merchant adoption, and use it to benchmark your checkout options against industry norms before investing in new payment integrations.

Related EMARKETER reports:

• Payments Trends to Watch in 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)
• Point-of-Sale Hardware and Software Trends 2026 (EMARKETER subscription required)

Methodology: Data is from the March 2025 Merchant Risk Council (MRC) "2025 Global eCommerce Payments and Fraud Report: 26th Edition." 1,082 merchant professionals worldwide involved in ecommerce payment and fraud management were surveyed during October-November 2024. Respondents were based in 38 countries.