Just 0.2% of euro area companies that sell goods and services online accept cryptocurrency, the European Central Bank(ECB) reported on August 13. The finding comes from a survey of 8,205 businesses across all 21 euro area countries, covering retail, restaurants, hotels, and entertainment sectors.
Cash Leads At 92% While Crypto Stays Below 1%
Market research firm Ipsos conducted telephone interviews between February 23 and April 10, 2026. Cash remained the most widely accepted payment method at physical points of sale, rising to 92% from 90% in 2024. Card acceptance held broadly steady at 88%, up from 87%.
Crypto assets and stablecoins showed virtually no movement at physical locations, remaining below 1% acceptance in both survey cycles, according to CoinTelegraph. Online crypto acceptance registered at just 0.2%. The survey cited Bitcoin, Ether, and Tether’s USDT as examples when asking merchants about crypto acceptance, CoinTelegraph reported.
Mobile payments recorded the largest shift of any method. Acceptance at physical locations jumped to 68% in 2026 from 36% in 2024, a near-doubling driven by instant payments, Apple Pay, and Google Pay. That pace of adoption contrasts sharply with crypto’s stagnation over the same period.
Merchants Follow Consumer Demand, Not Technology Availability
Consumer preference was the single largest factor companies cited when choosing which payment methods to accept, at 26% of respondents. Security followed at 22% and ease of handling at 15%, the ECB report noted.
That ranking matters for crypto’s retail prospects. If merchants accept what customers ask for, crypto’s near-zero acceptance rate reflects near-zero consumer demand for paying in digital assets at the point of sale. The pattern held across 21 countries and four industry sectors.
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CoinTelegraph asked the ECB whether converted crypto payments, where merchants receive settlement in traditional currency, could go unreported by respondents. The ECB said it “prefers not to speculate,” the outlet reported. The survey does not specify whether merchants should count such transactions as crypto acceptance.
Digital Euro Looms as The ECB’s Own Alternative
The survey lands as the ECB continues work on a digital euro, a central bank digital currency designed to complement cash and preserve the euro’s role as a payment instrument. A quarter of surveyed companies said they had already taken steps to promote digital payments, including investing in cashless tills. Some 13% had introduced self-checkout terminals.
Acceptance of bank checks, meanwhile, fell to 27% from 36%, according to CoinTelegraph, suggesting European merchants are willing to drop payment methods when usage declines. Crypto’s sub-1% adoption rate puts it closer to checks on the relevance curve than to mobile wallets.
The country-level data adds one more complication. Some 51% of cash-accepting small and medium enterprises in Cyprus said they may stop accepting cash entirely, compared with 23% in Greece and 18% in Bulgaria.
Payment preferences across the euro area are fragmenting, but crypto is not the beneficiary. The 2026 survey provides a pre-transition baseline, with fieldwork conducted while MiCA grandfathering was still available. The next survey will provide the first post-MiCA read on whether the regulation changes the trajectory.