Crypto payments get real, but how mainstream can it go?

One night’s stay at the luxurious Capella Singapore hotel – famous for hosting a summit between former US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in 2018 – will set one back by at least S$1,020 (US$774).

Starting October, guests in Singapore and the group’s resort in the Maldives, can pay using various digital assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, as well as stablecoins like USDT.

Capella Singapore / Photo credit: Capella Hotel Group

For the world’s estimated 560 million crypto holders, paying with digital assets is getting easier.

As an increasing number of them seek an outlet to spend these assets in the real world, more merchants are choosing to accept payments with the currency, aided by enablers like Dtcpay and Triple-A.

Many of these people are high net worth individuals, customers in emerging markets, and merchants who transact across borders. Compared to fiat payments, transacting with digital assets is also typically faster, cheaper to process than card payments, and face fewer restrictions.

For luxury hotel Capella, enabling payments via digital assets was a direct response to its “guests’ preferences,” many of whom are “embracing technological advances that enhance their travel journey,” Cristiano Rinaldi, president of Capella Hotel Group, tells Tech in Asia.

Between January to August this year, Singapore-based Dtcpay, whose solutions enable both consumers and merchants to pay and receive payments in digital currencies, saw a 400% increase in transaction volume.

The firm has processed US$2 billion worth of transactions in the first eight months of the year, with revenue for the period hitting US$10 million. Merchants using its point-of-sale and checkout solutions include private jet rental firms, dealers for second-hand cars, aesthetic clinics, and prestigious country clubs in Singapore.

An in-store Dtcpay payment terminal / Photo credit: Dtcpay

Aside from high net worth individuals, businesses like Web3 companies that need fiat currency to pay suppliers, employee salaries, and other operational expenses also use Dtcpay’s services.

According to Andy Sze Toh, Dtcpay’s head of payments, employees in the Web3 space use the company’s swap services to convert their salaries and bonuses into fiat currency as well.

“Don’t want to hold crypto”

Dtcpay is not the only digital payments operator experiencing a surge in transactions.

Cheaper, faster, more flexible

Looking to the future