IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jfinte/v4y2025i2p15-d1627501.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the Use of Crypto-Assets for Payments

Author

Listed:
  • Eleni Koutrouli

    (Bank of Greece, 10250 Athens, Greece)

  • Polychronis Manousopoulos

    (Bank of Greece, 10250 Athens, Greece)

Abstract

This paper explores the current use of crypto-assets for payments, focusing mostly on unbacked crypto-assets, while selectively referring to stablecoins. Although some specific characteristics of crypto-assets, such as their price volatility and unclear legal settlement, render them unsuitable for payments, the rapid technological and regulatory developments in the area of crypto-assets-based payments justify monitoring developments in this area. We therefore try to answer the research questions of which/why/how/where/by whom crypto-assets are used for (retail) payments. We analyse and describe a variety of ways in which crypto-assets are used for making payments, focusing on the period from 2019 to 2023 in Europe and worldwide, based on the publicly available statistical data and literature. We identify and exemplify the main use cases, payment methods, DeFi protocols, and payment gateways, and analyse payments with crypto-assets based on location and market participants. In addition, we describe and analyse the integration of crypto-assets into existing commercial payment services. Our work contributes to understanding the shifting domain of crypto-assets-based payments and provides insights into the monitoring of relevant developments via various dimensions that need to keep being explored, with the objective of contributing to the maintenance of the integrity and stability of the financial ecosystem.

Suggested Citation

  • Eleni Koutrouli & Polychronis Manousopoulos, 2025. "Exploring the Use of Crypto-Assets for Payments," FinTech, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-30, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jfinte:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:15-:d:1627501
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1032/4/2/15/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2674-1032/4/2/15/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tobias Adrian & Tommaso Mancini-Griffoli, 2021. "The Rise of Digital Money," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 13(1), pages 57-77, November.
    2. Umar Kayani & Fakhrul Hasan, 2024. "Unveiling Cryptocurrency Impact on Financial Markets and Traditional Banking Systems: Lessons for Sustainable Blockchain and Interdisciplinary Collaborations," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-15, February.
    3. Anneke Kosse & Marc Glowka & Ilaria Mattei & Tara Rice, 2023. "Will the real stablecoin please stand up?," BIS Papers, Bank for International Settlements, number 141.
    4. Adachi, Mitsu & Da Silva, Pedro Bento Pereira & Born, Alexandra & Cappuccio, Massimo & Czák-Ludwig, Stephanie & Gschossmann, Isabella & Pellicani, Antonella & Philipps, Sarah-Maria & Plooij, Mirjam & , 2022. "Stablecoins’ role in crypto and beyond: functions, risks and policy," Macroprudential Bulletin, European Central Bank, vol. 18.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Coste, Charles-Enguerrand, 2024. "Toss a stablecoin to your banker - Stablecoins’ impact on banks’ balance sheets and prudential ratios," Occasional Paper Series 353, European Central Bank.
    2. Jabbar, Abdul & Geebren, Ahmed & Hussain, Zahid & Dani, Samir & Ul-Durar, Shajara, 2023. "Investigating individual privacy within CBDC: A privacy calculus perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    3. Todd Keister & Daniel Sanches, 2023. "Should Central Banks Issue Digital Currency?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(1), pages 404-431.
    4. Djogbenou, Antoine & Inan, Emre & Jasiak, Joann, 2023. "Time-varying coefficient DAR model and stability measures for stablecoin prices: An application to Tether," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    5. Kreuzer, Christian & Laschinger, Ralf & Priberny, Christopher & Benninghoff, Sven, 2024. "Cryptocurrencies as a vehicle for capital exodus: Evidence from the Russian–Ukrainian crisis," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 69(PB).
    6. Hwang, Jen-Te & Wen, Min, 2024. "Electronic payments and money demand in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 47-64.
    7. Dionysopoulos, Lambis & Marra, Miriam & Urquhart, Andrew, 2024. "Central bank digital currencies: A critical review," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Ilia Chapyshev & Ansel Shaidullin, 2024. "Study of the Problem of Interoperability of the Bank of Russia's Digital Currency," Russian Journal of Money and Finance, Bank of Russia, vol. 83(1), pages 104-126, March.
    9. Drăgan, George Bogdan & Ben Arfi, Wissal & Tiberius, Victor & Ammari, Aymen & Khvatova, Tatiana, 2025. "Navigating the green wave: Understanding behavioral antecedents of sustainable cryptocurrency investment," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    10. Xiang, Lijin & Feng, Chao & Xiao, Zumian & Liu, Jianjian, 2024. "The impact of central bank digital currency on macroeconomic dynamics: A DSGE analysis," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    11. Carlos Cantú & Cecilia Franco & Jon Frost, 2024. "The Economic Implications of Services in the Metaverse," Springer Books, in: Hung-Yi Chen & Pawee Jenweeranon & Nafis Alam (ed.), Global Perspectives in the Metaverse, chapter 0, pages 83-118, Springer.
    12. Nauris Jūrmalis & Anželika Berķe-Berga & Marta Urbāne, 2025. "Advancing Asset Tokenization in the European Union and Latvia: A Regulatory and Policy Perspective," Laws, MDPI, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, January.
    13. Kenichi Ueda & Chanthol Hay, 2024. "Design of a CBDC in a Highly Dollarized Emerging Market Economy: The Case of Cambodia," Asian Economic Policy Review, Japan Center for Economic Research, vol. 19(2), pages 272-290, July.
    14. Arto Kovanen, 2022. "Second Thoughts About Central Bank Digital Currencies," Applied Economics and Finance, Redfame publishing, vol. 9(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. John E. Marthinsen & Steven R. Gordon, 2024. "Synthetic Central Bank Digital Currencies and Systemic Liquidity Risks," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, February.
    16. Yuxin Zhang & Rajiv Garg & Linda L. Golden & Patrick L. Brockett & Ajit Sharma, 2024. "Segmenting Bitcoin Transactions for Price Movement Prediction," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-17, March.
    17. Saeedi, Ali & Al-Fattal, Anas, 2025. "Examining trust in cryptocurrency investment: Insights from the structural equation modeling," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 210(C).
    18. Abayomi Baiyere & Varun Grover & Kalle J. Lyytinen & Stephanie Woerner & Alok Gupta, 2023. "Digital “x”—Charting a Path for Digital-Themed Research," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 34(2), pages 463-486, June.
    19. Kees van Hee & Anneke Kosse & Peter Wierts & Jacob Wijngaard, 2025. "Let's speak the same language: a formally defined model to describe and compare payment system architectures," BIS Working Papers 1259, Bank for International Settlements.
    20. Philippe Bergault & Louis Bertucci & David Bouba & Olivier Gu'eant & Julien Guilbert, 2024. "Automated Market Making: the case of Pegged Assets," Papers 2411.08145, arXiv.org.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jfinte:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:15-:d:1627501. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.