Pioneer Explains Why Crypto Has Not Achieved Its Potential in the Payments Sector

Wei Dai, a cryptocurrency pioneer known for designing the b-money system, a precursor to bitcoin, criticized the current level of crypto adoption for payments. Dai highlighted that even with the shortcomings of fiat payments, crypto has not managed to make a significant impact in this field.

B-Money Pioneer Wei Dai Laments State of Crypto Adoption for Payments

One of the use cases of crypto, retail payments, has failed to develop, and analysts are now examining the reasons behind this. Wei Dai, a well-known crypto pioneer, has heavily criticized the performance of crypto in this field, stressing that even with the current inefficiencies, it has failed to gain traction.

Dai, who designed b-money, a crypto-like system that preceded Bitcoin, expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of crypto adoption in the payments sector.

On social media, he stated:

It’s wild that merchants are still paying ~2-3% from each sale to banks & credit card companies. How come crypto has not won yet in C2B payments?

Dai then described the elements necessary for this to happen from the views of the two relevant parties in a payment. For consumers, he mentioned token incentives, payment app, tradfi-grade account statements, on-ramp from banks, and stablecoin savings with yield as key developments that must be addressed for adoption to explode.

In the same way, for businesses, Dai estimated that the relevant developments would encompass point-of-sale apps on phones and iPads, stablecoin accounts with yield, and off-ramps to banks.

“Banks & credit card companies bootstrapped this in the 60s/70s, why can’t crypto companies do this today?” he concluded.

Many of the problem areas Dai mentioned can be solved by issuing clear regulations for using stablecoins. This subject is currently being discussed in Congress as part of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation in U.S. Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act, which was introduced in February by Republican Senator Bill Hagerty and is expected to be passed by the U.S. Senate next week.

Nonetheless, social media users pointed out that stablecoin adoption doesn’t solve the credit issue, an area where the fiat world excels.

Read more: Crypto’s Historic Moment: Senate Expected to Pass GENIUS Act This Week