The European Central Bank has published a study according to which cryptocurrencies and stablecoins are accepted for payment by only two tenths of a percent of Internet companies operating in Europe. The survey was conducted by Ipsos European Public Affairs in the period from February twenty-third to April tenth, 2000. Eight thousand two hundred and five enterprises from all twenty-one eurozone countries took part in it. The sample covered retail, restaurants and cafes, hotels, as well as the field of art, entertainment and leisure. The cryptocurrency part of the questionnaire was limited to just three assets: bitcoin, Ethereum and USDT.

As for traditional payment instruments, payment cards are available from eighty-two percent of online merchants, and bank transfers from seventy-four percent. Ninety-two percent of companies accept cash, whereas in 2000 this figure was ninety percent. The share of businesses accepting the cards increased from eighty-seven to eighty-eight percent. However, the most noticeable jump was demonstrated by mobile payments: their share soared from thirty-six to sixty-eight percent in just two years. We are mainly talking about instant transfers and digital wallets.

The main criterion for choosing a payment instrument was the preferences of the participating companies, which were indicated by twenty-six percent of the respondents. This is followed by security with twenty-two percent and ease of handling with fifteen percent. When comparing cash and digital payments, there was not a single parameter where electronic methods would definitely look more advantageous. Moreover, the business rated cash higher in terms of privacy and reliability. One in four companies in the eurozone said they actively promoted cashless payments during the year, and thirteen percent of enterprises installed self-service terminals, almost half of which operate exclusively in cashless mode.

Ninety-two percent of companies that already accept cash intend to continue doing so in the next five years. The only exceptions are three countries: in Cyprus, fifty–one percent of small and medium-sized enterprises announced their possible withdrawal from cash, in Greece - twenty-three percent, and in Bulgaria – eighteen percent. The study appeared against the background of Europe's preparations for the launch of the digital euro, the debut of which the European Central Bank focuses on the two thousand twenty-ninth year. In June, the relevant committee of the European Parliament supported the draft law on CBDC, which provides for online and offline payments, free basic services and the mandatory acceptance of a new form of money by most companies. In July, the regulator selected banks to test the digital euro, which included Deutsche Bank, Revolut, Stripe, UniCredit, Adyen, SumUp and Worldline.