74% of Latin Americans Prefer Businesses That Accept Crypto

Latin America and the Asia Pacific region are bullish on crypto, according to a new report from Ripple.

The regions agree that digital currency will impact society, the survey found, but the data showed two distinctions in the regions’ support.

Latin Americans are more interested in using crypto for business transactions, while respondents from the Asia Pacific region are most likely to buy virtual items for “emotional benefits.”

The report, released Thursday, found that 74% of Latin Americans are more likely to transact with businesses that accept crypto, compared with just 41% in Europeans. This demand is increasingly being met by businesses in Latin America — in a separate survey, more than half of Latin American respondents reported having already paid for goods and services using crypto.

While Latin Americans most strongly favored crypto’s economic benefits, Asian respondents had more interest in emotional benefits from virtual assets. According to the report, Asian consumers were up to three times more likely to purchase an NFT to commemorate an important moment than respondents from other regions.

Hong Kong, Singapore, China and Taiwan lead the world in overall NFT (non-fungible token) interest, and the Philippines dominated Axie Infinity’s user base during its 2021 bull run, according to data from Statista.

Fifty percent of Latin American respondents said crypto will have a “massive impact” on finance and society, compared with 35% in Europe. The study showed the Middle East and North Africa generally falling between bullish Latin America and bearish Europe on crypto sentiment.

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