Three-quarters of institutions to use crypto in the three years: Ripple

A whopping 76% of surveyed financial institutions plan on using crypto within the next three years, according to the report. Ripple's new report highlights trends in the adoption and utilization of emerging technologies like crypto and blockchain in enterprise and financial institutions.

Both financial institutions and enterprises are understanding the benefits of internal crypto usage. The most common reason is that crypto gives more people access to more financial services, says 42% of financial institutions and 41% of enterprises.

According to the survey, portfolio management and payments come forward as the most valuable additions to the enterprise world. Portfolio management is detailed as hedging against inflation, hedging against other asset types and asset appreciation. Participants said data security and quality are two major benefits of blockchain and crypto usage for payments.

Related: A mandate for blockchain businesses is to rebuild global trust

Nonetheless, as this is an emerging technology, adoption is still an uphill battle for large institutions. According to the report, enterprises and financial institutions both find that a general lack of understanding is one of the biggest challenges.

However, the report also stressed that the slow-moving process of regulations surrounding the industry stirs up hesitation from potential users. Regulations from countries across the globe have been in constant flux as officials rush to keep up with the fast-paced crypto scene.

Recently, regulators in the United States came under scrutiny from the U.S. Congress for their “non-judicial actions” against crypto companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the U.S. is in the throes of implementing effective crypto regulations for one of the industry’s most active regions.

Related: Tech trade group calls for regulatory clarity, claiming crypto job losses threaten US interests

Despite setbacks in crypto-ed and murky regulations, the report still reveals the active interest of global institutions and central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). 34% of surveyed institutions say CBDCs will help with the “acceleration of digitization of finance” and give “greater access to credit for consumers and businesses.”

From a global perspective the report analyzed regional nonfungible token (NFT) interest based on emotional vs functional benefits. Respondents in the Asia-Pacific region were three times more likely to purchase an NFT for sentimental or emotional reasons compared to other reasons. Of the eight NFT genres listed 55% said music-related NFT are of the most interest.

Sustainability was also assessed, as it remains a hot topic both in and outside of the industry. According to Ripple’s data, over 75% of surveyed consumers prefer to buy sustainable cryptocurrencies. More than 20% claim they would only purchase "sustainable" crypto.