The latest major technology that has seen an adoption surge unlike anything before is ChatGPT Since its launch in November 2022, ChatGPT gained one million users within 5 days! This makes ChatGPT the fastest-growing user base in history for a consumer application.

I've observed that as time goes on, the adoption rates of new technologies generally accelerates. Tik Tok saw itself reaching a billion users faster than $META saw a billion users with Facebook and Instagram. There are many other examples similar to this. But for the use of crypto as a method of payment, I can't help but notice how slow adoption of it has been. $PYPL launched "checkout with crypto" in March 2021 and since then, I've never heard of it gaining significant traction. $COIN launched something similar called Coinbase Commerce in February 2018 and made $50 million in transaction volume 2019. Blockdata notes that despite "crypto winter," there's growth in the number of merchants accepting crypto as a form of payment. It's probably a reason why $MA and $V have become serious about cryptocurrencies lately.

There are other factors that hinder the adoption of crypto as a method of payment. First is economic uncertainty. People become risk averse as economic conditions incentivizes people to manage their money conservatively. They're less willing to dabble with crypo and other speculative technologies that could become the things powering the economy of the future. Even if crypto can be seen as a "store of value", the volatility of the crypto markets challenges the idea that crypto is a "store of value" and people are less willing to gamble with $BTC.X as a way to pay for groceries. Stablecoins may seem like the ideal cryptocurrencies that would boost crypto payment adoption however, the fall of Terra Luna and public skepticism over the integrity and solvency of Tether and USDC gives people another reason to stick to fiat money.

Additionally, regulatory uncertainty has become the biggest hinderance to crypto payment adoption out of all. Regulators are still figuring out how to estimate and collect on sales tax from transactions made in crypto. Coinbase and other crypto firms are waging a war with the SEC over preventing the government from labeling cryptocurrencies as securities. Laws on all levels of government create a high level of uncertainty on whether adopting crypto as a form of payment is legal. The safest thing merchants can do is to not accept crypto as a method of payment and stick to transacting in fiat. Add in economic uncertainty and merchants are less willing to deal with the value volatility of cryptocurrencies.

While the world waits for "checkout with crypto" to grow in adoption, for now, anyone can dabble with Web 3 by buying NFTs with fiat money directly on Nfty Gateway, an NFT marketplace known for letting people buy NFTs with USD. $SBUX Odyssey, the NFT customer loyalty program created by Starbucks, uses Nifty Gateway to sell their NFTs. As someone who has bought an NFT on that platform, I like that I don't need to go through the hassle of converting my dollars to a cryptocurrency and having to connect my wallet to the NFT platform and then buy the NFT. I'm not purchasing NFTs with Polygon, Ethereum, etc. but my purchases do go through the Polygon blockchain. From that experience, I can see the world adopting Web 3 faster by adopting the technologies that power it and leaving out the currencies. It's easier for people to adopt Web 3 that way on a practical level.

In conclusion, despite economic and regulatory uncertainties hindering the adoption of crypto as a method of payment, the interest from payment giants and growth in the number of merchants accepting crypto suggest potential for wider adoption. In the meantime, people can still engage with Web 3 technologies using fiat money on platforms like Nifty Gateway. As comfort with the underlying technology of crypto grows and regulatory landscape stabilizes, wider adoption of crypto as a payment method may become a reality.