Crypto Adoption in the EU Stalls: ECB Finds Only 0.2% of Online Payments Use It

A recent survey by the European Central Bank (ECB) on cash usage among companies in the euro area has shed light on the low level of cryptocurrency adoption in the region.

The survey, which included 8,205 companies from all eurozone countries, aimed to determine the position of cash among other, more modern payment methods. The results show that cash remains the most widely accepted payment method in Europe: it is accepted by 92% of companies selling goods and services at physical points of sale.

Cash even surpassed bank cards, which came in second with an acceptance rate of 88%, while the share of mobile payments grew from 36% in 2024 to 68% in 2026.

The growing popularity of digital payments and their integration into automated purchasing systems, such as self-service terminals, were cited as factors that could reduce the convenience of cash payments.

"For widespread cash acceptance to be maintained, it is crucial to avoid a situation where growing payment automation inadvertently impedes or undermines cash as a viable payment method," the bank emphasized.

Digital currencies appeared in the survey merely as a rounding error: the bank showed that only 0.2% of surveyed businesses accept cryptocurrency or stablecoins as payment methods for online purchases. This figure rises to 1% among companies with physical points of sale, still significantly lower than their adoption levels in emerging markets.

This indicates that, while most financial institutions acknowledge the economic rationale for digital assets—removing intermediaries and reducing transaction fees—they are slow to implement digital asset systems to leverage their benefits.

As a result, European payment operators have failed to capitalize on the favorable regulatory momentum that followed the full enactment of the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.

Mark Aruliah, Head of Policy and Regulatory Affairs for the EMEA region at Elliptic, stressed that with MiCA in force, payment operators "can confidently develop compliant crypto payment solutions tailored to the European market," even with limitations that will be addressed in the future.