Brendan Berry: With Growing Crypto And Commerce Crossover, Digital Payments Are The New Frontier

Our global financial system moves trillions of dollars a day and serves billions of people, but the movement of money internationally remains complex, costly, fragmented, and archaic. The fact that it would be faster to fly a bag of cash across borders than to wire funds via a bank is confounding. The reality is that our system is rife with inefficiencies, adding cost through fees and delays and creating friction through redundant processes that make transacting a logistical nightmare. 

Fortunately, cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies are ushering in a new era of digital payment innovation poised to revolutionize the very nature of how we move and manage money – the early stages of which are now underway. 

While some headlines illustrate doom and gloom, the relentless focus on cryptocurrency trading prices cloaks an important trend: crypto payment adoption is on the rise, with a forecasted 5.5 million crypto payment users in 2023 (a 350% increase from three years ago). Moreover, mainstream brands and established financial institutions alike are crowding into the digital currency space with new crypto-enabled tools and services that make for faster, more secure, and cost-effective financial transactions. 

Within the past six months, mainstay companies like PayPal, Shopify, and even the U.S. Federal Reserve, have rolled out new blockchain-powered digital payments tools – stoking new confidence in the sector from both consumers and businesses. With over 15,000 businesses accepting crypto payments worldwide today, it’s no longer a question of whether crypto is here to stay, but how much longer until crypto-powered technologies seamlessly facilitate the movement of data and value in our daily lives. 

While frictionless mass adoption in the tech and commerce sector may be in the early innings, other mature use cases with compelling real-world utility, like cross-border payments, have already gained traction – with B2B cross-border transactions on blockchain projected to reach as high as 745 million transactions by 2025.

With their inherent flexibility, utility, and 24/7/365 availability, cryptocurrencies are increasingly being used to enable instantaneous cross-border transactions, allowing for real-time funds settlement. This bypasses the pain and costs for end-users and businesses associated with traditional correspondent banking. By 2030, blockchain technology for cross-border settlement alone could drive an estimated $10 billion in savings for banks.

The practicality and accessibility of crypto-based payments in the real world are unmistakably on the rise – but hurdles to mass adoption persist. Realizing the true potential of this industry’s impact on payments comes down to strengthening the underlying infrastructure in ways that are less visible – but arguably far more important. 

Some of these fundamental components include the provision of reliable cross-border payment rails between crypto and fiat. Realistically speaking, most companies – let alone consumers – are not going to sit solely within crypto’s borders. Instead, there needs to be an option to seamlessly move in and out of a variety of digital and physical assets.

The on/off ramps that exist today are largely built for retail users or large institutional investors, but not enterprises, which makes them challenging for last-mile payments, point-of-sale experiences, or large enterprise payments. Making this a focus on future payments infrastructure will be crucial to its differentiation and success. In addition to ensuring reliable on/off ramps, strict adherence to Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) measures are critical to building credibility, authority, and trust via the blockchain as well.  

While market and industry challenges over the past year have revealed flaws and pain points in the business models and practices of crypto ventures, they do not reflect bedrock weaknesses in blockchain’s underlying technology or its ability to usher in transformative payment opportunities. Appetite for new, fast, and flexible digital payment methods endures, as the industry continues to advance the frontiers of this technology in exciting ways.
All this and more was explored in the Practical Blockchain Applications panel at Benzinga’s Future of Digital Assets conference. To dismiss this technology would be tantamount to discounting the internet 30 years ago – a gaffe that The New York Times famously epitomized in 2001 when it declared: “dot-com is dot-gone, and the dream with it.” The early days of the internet were similarly burdened with growing pains and littered with hype cycles and speculation that were the precursor to its boom. Crypto is no different – we’re just moving past the dial-up phase.

Brendan is the Head of Payments Products at Ripple, leading the development of Ripple’s enterprise products that use crypto and blockchain technology to enable cross-border payments. As Payments Products Lead at Ripple, Brendan drives the strategic and product development of RippleNet, Ripple’s flagship product, empowering financial institutions and corporations to send money faster, cheaper, and more efficiently around the world. Under Brendan’s leadership, RippleNet has experienced dramatic growth, processing nearly 20M transactions worth $30B and launching into new markets globally. RippleNet now has hundreds of customers in over 55 countries and six continents with payout capabilities in 70 countries. Prior to Ripple, Brendan served in a variety of product leadership roles at leading technology companies such as Amazon and Slack. Brendan’s background in technical product management and strategy operations equips him with both a technical and business-driven perspective on fintech innovation. Brendan lives in San Francisco and holds a BA from Colorado College, and an MBA from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.