Coinbase: crypto to save $74 billion in credit card fees

Coinbase has published a report revealing that, in 2022 alone, Americans could have saved $74 billion if they had paid with crypto instead of credit cards. 

Coinbase and the report on crypto vs. credit cards

The latest State of Crypto Report by Coinbase focuses on the traditional financial system vs. the use of blockchain and crypto.

What emerged is that only in 2022, Americans could have saved 74 billion dollars in credit card transaction fees by using blockchain technology. 

“Only in 2022, Americans could have saved $74 billion in credit card transaction fees by using blockchain, which is $600 per family. But it’s not just about saving money. It’s about giving everyone control and ownership of their own money.”

This figure of $74 billion, is equivalent to an average of $600 per family, used therefore to maintain the traditional financial system that involves intermediaries in payments. Not only that, merchants have also spent over $126 billion in fees to process credit card transactions.

By using blockchain technology, and therefore cryptocurrencies, all these expenses would have been saved. 

The crypto-exchange also relied on the collaboration of The Block, to describe in more detail how the problem is not only about “wasted” money. It is indeed a discontent also about transaction waiting times and the difficulty of accessing, for example, traditional financial applications. 

Here’s how Coinbase describes the current traditional financial situation:

“System users, both consumers and small businesses, have to pay, then wait, then pay again while their money goes through intermediaries who add fees and time to the process”

Coinbase: at least 3 out of 5 Americans feel more satisfied with cryptocurrencies than with credit cards

A new survey, then, has revealed that at least three out of five Americans would like updates to the current system, making it cheaper, faster, and easier to access. 

For this reason, these people are in line with the use of crypto,  thanks to their ease of use, economic accessibility, and lean, completely digital and legacy-free nature. 

Also to consider, there is the generational issue. Consumers who have grown up with the Internet, for example, expect to be able to make transactions at Internet speed, globally and at any time. No access obstacles or delays due to working hours or cross-border times. 

Even here, therefore, Americans aged between 18 and 40 are much more likely to own cryptocurrencies, compared to older Americans.

In Coinbase’s Q3 2023 Report on crypto adoption, it emerged that over 50% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 40 do not use or only occasionally use the traditional financial system. 

Not only that, in the Q2 2023 Report on business adoption, it is shown that more than half of Fortune 100 companies are developing blockchain initiatives to remain competitive. 

The situation in Singapore

Unlike the USA, it seems that in Singapore the consideration for cryptocurrencies is of stronger interest. 

And indeed, recently, Coinbase together with Seedly, conducted a new survey in Singapore, which reveals that 57% of the interviewed citizens are crypto holders.

Out of 2006 adults interviewed, of all ages and income levels, it seems that 46% are optimistic about cryptocurrencies for 2024, while 56% believe that cryptocurrencies are the future of finance. 

The trust in cryptocurrencies by Singaporeans, then, has also been confirmed by their holdings. In practice, 56% of the 2006 respondents stated that they own from $1000 to $24,999 in cryptocurrencies.