Business · Markets · 2 days ago
More Spanish businesses accept cryptocurrency payments
Cryptocurrency payments are becoming more common in Spain, though they remain a small part of everyday business.
The European Central Bank says 9% of Spaniards own cryptocurrency, double the share in 2022, and one in five crypto owners use it to pay.
A Statista survey found that 33% of Spanish online stores accept crypto, compared with 27% in the United States and 30% in Hong Kong.
Some Spanish sellers, including a cactus vendor at Madrid’s El Rastro market, accept direct transfers from customers’ digital wallets.
Businesses can also use payment services that convert crypto into euros, so they do not have to hold the digital currency or face its price swings.
A payment industry executive says crypto may help international businesses reduce the costs and delays involved in currency exchange.
The figures suggest growing acceptance, but the sources give no forecast for how widely crypto payments will spread next.
One in five Spanish people who own cryptocurrencies uses them to pay, according to figures cited from the European Central Bank.
Nine percent of people in Spain own cryptocurrencies, up from 4% in 2022.
Thirty-three percent of Spanish online businesses accept cryptocurrency payments, more than in the United States and Hong Kong.
A Madrid cactus seller has accepted cryptocurrency since 2017, though he says its use in his business remains anecdotal.
Payment companies say cryptocurrency can help international businesses reduce currency-conversion costs and settlement delays.
- Who
- One in five Spanish cryptocurrency owners uses crypto to pay.
- What
- The article reports on cryptocurrency use for payments and acceptance by Spanish businesses.
- When
- The figures are reported in an article published on 9 October 2026. The article says Julio Martínez has accepted crypto since 2017.
- Where
- Spain, including a cactus stall in Madrid.
- Why
- Some businesses see crypto payments as a way to reduce currency-conversion costs and settlement delays.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The reason has less to do with crypto fashion and more with the bottom line.
to experiment
We had been seeing for some time that merchants wanted to offer this option to their customers, but the technical complexity and fear of volatility were holding them back.
The share of people in Spain who own cryptocurrencies was 4%, according to the European Central Bank figures cited in the article.
Madrid cactus seller Julio Martínez began accepting cryptocurrency at his stall.
Shift4 launched Pay with Crypto, a service for businesses to accept bitcoin or ethereum without directly managing the assets.
Expansión published the report on cryptocurrency ownership and payments in Spain.
- Crypto owners using it to pay
- 20% of Spanish crypto owners
- Crypto ownership in Spain
- 9%, up from 4% in 2022
- Spanish online businesses accepting crypto
- 33%
- United States online businesses accepting crypto
- 27%
- Hong Kong online businesses accepting crypto
- 30%
Sources
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