Crypto adoption in Europe has moved past the buy-and-hold phase. For years, the conversation was about acquiring assets and watching prices move.
Now people want to actually spend what they’re holding, on subscriptions, travel, everyday purchases, without bouncing between exchanges and bank transfers to get there.
The numbers back this up: platforms are quoting that their crypto card orders across Europe have risen by 15% in the first half of 2025. That’s not a massive jump, but it points to real demand for spending tools, not just trading ones. It’s part of what’s fueling the rise of PayFi, the corner of the industry focused on connecting digital assets to real-world payments.
At the same time, ConfidoPay, a new PayFi platform is changing the way people spend their crypto directly without having to go through crypto-to-fiat exchanges.
Ownership Is Growing Faster Than Spending
Crypto ownership in the Europe climbed from 4% in 2022 to 9% in 2024. That’s meaningful growth. But owning crypto and spending it are different habits, and most people haven’t made that switch yet, only 16% of holders report using crypto for payments. The rest still treat it mainly as an investment, something to check on rather than something to use.
Closing that gap comes down to making digital assets simpler to use day to day.
What the Current Spending Data Tells Us
It’s easy to assume crypto payments are mostly for big transfers, moving large sums between accounts. The transaction data says otherwise.
Around 45% of crypto card purchases in Europe are under €10, a category cash and debit cards have owned for decades. About 70% of crypto payment activity happens in retail, food, and beverage spending.
In other words: people are buying coffee and groceries with crypto, not just settling large invoices.
Why PayFi Is Getting Attention
PayFi is about making crypto usable in actual transactions, not just tradeable on an exchange. Earlier waves of crypto innovation were built around trading platforms and DeFi protocols. PayFi is aimed at the “last mile” problem instead: people can buy and hold crypto easily now, but spending it on everyday things is still clunky.
That’s the gap PayFi companies are trying to close.
ConfidoPay: Offering Zero-Fees, Physical Cards, & More
Part of the reason crypto spending has lagged is friction, moving funds between wallets, exchanges, and banks takes time and several steps most people don’t want to deal with.
ConfidoPay cuts most of that out.
It gives EEA users virtual and physical cards linked directly to their crypto holdings, so spending looks and feels like using a regular debit card.
The fees sit close to zero, and the card plugs into Apple Pay and Google Pay without much setup on the user’s end, you connect your holdings and start spending, rather than routing funds through a chain of intermediaries first. That kind of seamless integration is what actually separates crypto that sits idle in a wallet from crypto that gets used.
Instead of nudging users toward more trading, ConfidoPay is built around one thing: making the crypto people already hold usable in daily life.
What’s Ahead
Even with this progress, real friction remains. 55% of crypto holders say they rarely or never spend their assets. Limited merchant acceptance, transaction costs, and volatility worries are still holding people back.
Still, the growth in crypto card use is a sign of real momentum. As payment infrastructure matures and stablecoins see wider use, the space between owning crypto and spending it will likely keep narrowing.
Consumers want more than price exposure to crypto, they want to actually use what they hold. Rising card activity, growing online transaction volume, and demand for stablecoin spending all point toward a more payment-focused future.
PayFi platforms are pushing that shift forward by making digital assets easier to use for ordinary purchases. As the barriers keep falling, crypto payments could become a normal part of how Europeans pay for things.
Disclaimer: This is a sponsored article and is for informational purposes only. It does not reflect the views of Crypto Daily, nor is it intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, or financial advice.
