Cryptocurrencies are increasingly becoming incorporated into our daily lives, from the introduction of Bitcoin ETFs in the U.S. to El Salvador’s adoption of BTC as an accepted currency. As such, there has been a huge demand for crypto holding solutions through the use of cryptocurrency wallets, causing a surge in the crypto wallet market.
According to a report published in July 2023, there were over 300 million crypto users globally — meaning over 300 million crypto wallet users — including over 38 million in Europe and 28 million in the U.S.
With a current market capitalization of $2.48 trillion and a daily volume of $100 billion, the crypto market’s annual transfer of wealth exceeds $26.5 trillion, projected across a period of 365 days.
In light of BTC price breaching the $70,000 mark in March this year prior to the expected BTC April halving, it’s fair to speculate that these numbers would now be significantly higher. The resulting demographic represents a huge market for tourism destinations, particularly for countries, like Japan, where tourists encounter barriers when converting crypto to traditional currencies.
Considering regulatory bottlenecks, heavy taxation, and technical difficulties, platforms like Slash that embrace cryptocurrency payments could boost the tourism market — tearing down modern currency conversion hurdles that tourists currently face.
Crypto Payments: Remedying The Tourist Trap
Cryptocurrencies offer accessible and impartial means of transacting and managing finances across borders, often without intermediaries and traditional banking limitations. Attesting to the decentralized nature of crypto, users are now able to move their finances freely via cryptocurrencies unhindered in regions that would otherwise slow or inhibit that process.
Tourism destinations that encourage the use of crypto, particularly for everyday business transactions, open avenues for increased demographic attraction of the huge volume of wealth in the current crypto market. Not only does this make the destination more attractive due to smoother payment processes around regulatory and taxation headaches, it also fosters inclusivity and innovation within the crypto and tourism sectors.
Take a moment to consider Japan’s partnership with Slash, a crypto payment platform which has onboarded over 3000 shops across prime tourist destinations, with more set for the future. This strategic partnership both broadcasts Japan’s stance on cryptocurrency payments and creates a seamless payment process for tourists to the location.
These kinds of partnerships function to remove transactional hindrances that tourists face when seeking to travel, funded by crypto wealth, as opposed to traditional fiat wealth. Removing the barriers to global crypto adoption, platforms like Slash are laying safe routes for crypto nomads to see the world, one token-based transaction at a time.
Business Boom: Solving The Credit Card Crunch
The adoption of crypto payments doesn’t just benefit the general tourist, it also directly impacts businesses and how they function in popular tourist destinations prone to financial hurdles. Where tourists enjoy the removal of currency exchange frustrations, businesses find revenue generation directly impacted in a positive way through the freedom of crypto payments.
Businesses, unbound by location via cryptocurrencies, quickly find a global customer base that would have otherwise been unreachable. This removes the inertia from local payment processes, enhances modern appeal through the innovation of crypto, and entices tourists from across the world due to the ease of transactional process.
The Slash-Japan collaboration highlights this business-enhancing practicality that crypto-friendly payments offer. The elimination of traditional credit card transaction fees — often costing as much as 5% per transaction — allows businesses the luxury of cheaper transactional processes, and improved profit
Not just a novelty but the next step for global financial inclusion, cryptocurrencies and tourism are becoming the cornerstone of the future digital economy. With countries like Japan successfully working with platforms like Slash to integrate themselves into this digital future, the option for crypto payments will be crucial for the tourism of tomorrow.
