Fakoyejo Olalekan
Bank of America says more people want to use bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a payment method, other than the central bank-back paper currency being used across the world, according to its survey.
The United States financial institution, on Monday, disclosed that it surveyed 1,000 cryptocurrency holders and prospective investors, including digital currency exchanges in the country to reach the conclusion.
It was gathered that of the total respondents, those that use cryptocurrency for online payment account for 39%, and individuals who use the digital currency as an in-person payments are 34% of the responders.
Commenting on the crypto user behaviour, Bank of America analyst Jason Kupferberg told CNBC on Monday, that, “Using it as a payment method is interesting for sure, and we think what that’s highlighting is the increased use of what we call crypto-to-fiat type products.”
The crypto usage for payment is likely to rise, as the survey showed that in the next six months, 91% of the respondents said they plan to buy cryptocurrency, while in the previous six months, 91% responders disclosed they purchased cryptoassets.
According to the firm, the responders are largely short-term investors, although 30% of the respondents don’t plan to sell their crypto holdings in the next six months, while 77% have held their cryptoasset for less than a year.
Already, countries like El Salvador and Central Africa Republic have officially announced bitcoin as one of their legal tender to trade or conduct business transactions.
Although, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against making such policy, saying the use of BTC or other cryptocurrencies as national currency could spell doom for such nation, suggesting Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as a better option.
Nigeria has already launched it’s own CBDC, and restricted the usage of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies within the country’s financial system, with banks ordered to close accounts linked to cryptoassets.
