From this study, we can see that, even in Latin America, where much of Bitcoin + Lightning’s opportunity is seen to rest, we’re up against the improving feature set and UX of none other than card payments. If we include Lightning as part of “digital payments” (no mention of Bitcoin or crypto in this report), this means we have a rising tide, but also a great deal of competition.
A few highlights that caught my attention:
• Where digital payments are prevalent, it’s a result of ease of use and promotions (read: less than first-rate UX is a non-starter)
• A preference for digital payments is negatively correlated with a preference for tap and pay (read: cards are good enough and getting better for most)
• Where digital payments are not common, respondents expect wider merchant acceptance in order to change their payment preference (read: adoption continues to be two-sided market problem)
