35 percent of Hong Kong citizens said they are open to use cryptocurrencies or central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as a payment method in the next five years, according to new research from FIS.

More than 1,000 Hong Kong consumers aged 18 and above were surveyed in September 2021, and the research found that cryptocurrencies are set to become a viable option across Hong Kong, despite being a relatively new payment method which is not offered by many merchants yet.

The research found that 23 percent of them plan to use these digital currencies to pay for a select few goods and services, while 12 percent expect this to become their main payment method.

CBDCs emerged as the preferred type of digital currency for Hong Kongers to use as a form of payment, even though it has yet to be formally developed in the market.

Consumers who preferred CBDCs perceive it to be more secure (72 percent) and stable (64 percent) as it would be backed by a government.

Additionally, 33 percent also preferred CBDCs because they think that cryptocurrency wallets are more vulnerable.

15 percent of the respondents indicated they prefer the use of CBDCs while 8 percent leaned towards cryptocurrencies and another 5 percent would opt for stablecoins instead.

The desire to avoid creating a taxable event when selling cryptocurrency for liquidity (53 percent) is the top reason why consumers prefer cryptocurrencies.

Also, 46 percent of those who preferred cryptocurrencies were keen to use cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments while another 41 percent want to make transactions without the involvement of a central authority, leading them to choose cryptocurrencies.

Meanwhile, another 19 percent said that they have no preference and will be open to using all types of digital currencies.

Phil Pomford, APAC General Manager for Global eCommerce, Worldpay from FIS said,

“However, considering this is still a relatively new payment method and not offered by many merchants yet in Hong Kong, it is promising for the crypto and CBDC space that 35 percent of consumers plan to use either cryptocurrencies or CBDCs to pay for purchases in the short to mid-term.

 

We are also seeing demand for crypto rising in certain sectors such as non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces which are built on distributed ledger technology and require the usage of cryptocurrencies.”

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