3.6M Americans to use crypto to make a purchase in 2022, research firm predicts

The number of adults in the United States who will use crypto to make purchases in 2022 will increase to 3.6 million, according to a research firm.

A report published by Insider Intelligence shows that crypto's value as a means of payment will go up by 70% this year. The firm predicts that by the end of the year, 3.6 million U.S. adults will have used crypto to make purchases. 

According to the company's principal analyst David Morris, crypto's volatility is being alleviated by the growth of stablecoin usage. As CBDCs are being developed, more focus will be brought to crypto becoming a means of payment. 

"We also expect that more crypto options will be layered into how people pay, like cards and digital wallets. These factors should spur high crypto payment growth rates over the next few years.”

The firm also predicts that by the end of 2022, U.S adults who are crypto users will increase to 33.7 million. In 2023, the company expects that number to grow even further to 37.2 million. These numbers are significantly lower than previous claims of crypto ownership in the U.S. reaching 46 million in 2021. 

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Gemini exchange showed that new crypto investors nearly doubled in India, Brazil and Hong Kong last year. More than half of the survey participants within these countries mentioned that they started investing in crypto in 2021. 

Related: Survey: More than a quarter of U.S. millennials plan to use crypto to fund retirement

A poll conducted by Arcane Research and Ernst & Young found that crypto ownership among Norwegian women also doubled, going from 3% in 2021 to 6% this year. On the other hand, the study also noted that male ownership had increased from 6% in 2019 to 14% in 2022.