Report Suggests Rise In Cryptocurrencies’ Use As Remittances From U.S

Millions across the globe live far away from their home in order to support themselves and their families back home. Such individuals highly depend on remittances made available by a number of companies to send aid to their loved ones. While the use case of cryptocurrency is relatively new in the field, it is steadily gaining much attraction as an alternative.

Remittances is a well-developed industry, in 2017 alone, nearly $150 billion was sent out of the United States to individuals in other countries. An estimated $30 billion of the aforementioned amount was sent from the United States to Mexico and almost double the amount was sent to China via remittances.

Recent research conducted on cryptocurrency company, Clovr, reports that the use of cryptocurrency in remittances across the globe has observed a major spike. The report adds:

“Over half of the people surveyed have used online services, such as PayPal, and traditional money transfer companies, like Western Union, to help deliver their funds to recipients in a different country.”

Around half of the participants,  indicate that they use PayPal and money transfer services like Western Union, whereas 25.7 % employ traditional bank wire transfers or credit union and 15.8% use cryptocurrency.

The report further notes that nearly 85 % of participants who have used cryptocurrencies were satisfied with the sending method. Furthermore, men are more inclined towards adopting digital assets as compared to women. While it notes that Bitcoin (BTC) has gained much traction, it does not imply that all those willing to use the token, clearly understand the fundamentals of cryptocurrencies. The report reads:

“Roughly 1 in 3 men and more than half of women were either not at all or only slightly familiar with it. They were even less comfortable with the notion of the blockchain, a pivotal part of understanding the technology behind digital currency.”

Cryptocurrencies is not just entering the payment and remittances landscape but have started to gain participants interest as well. Just this week a Reddit user, a merchant based out of  Switzerland urged for Cryptocurrency Payments, as PayPal’s 8% fee is quite expensive. Notably, a big player like Facebook.inc is reportedly developing a cryptocurrency for Whatsapp transfers, targeting the Indian remittances markets.

Read more: “We Would Be Ready” For Crypto, Claims Western Union Bullishly