In their landmark 2018 Delphi Report, The Future of Loyalty Marketing, Chapter 4 discussed the Crypto Craze as a potential future trend to watch. While the panel was split on predictions and leaning slightly to the negative side, the prevailing attitude of these global loyalty experts was “wait and see.” The strongest support at that time was for blockchain technology itself, not the actual use of cryptocurrency in a rewards context. Results today are quite different.
Blockchain researcher Chainalysis has recently reported there are over 320 million crypto users worldwide, with global crypto adoption rising by over 880% last year. According to PYMNTS data, nearly one in four Americans had owned cryptocurrencies at some point by Jan. 2022. Regarding crypto payments, 42% of Gen Z globally plan to make purchases using crypto in 2022 and Deloitte has found that 75% of U.S. retailers plan to accept crypto payments within the next two years. Throw in Web 3.0, the Metaverse and all blockchain technology discussions and we have the potential for an explosion.
In collaboration with Bakkt, an Atlanta-based loyalty and crypto solutions thought leader who has established capabilities in crypto rewards solutions, the Loyalty Academy re-convened a panel of experts in the late Summer of 2022 to tackle the delicate and often dangerous task of prediction.
We hope you find this year’s Delphi Report helpful as you are planning for added fluidity in your customers’ experiences in 2023 and beyond.
