Middle Market Firms Limit Crypto Use to Payments, Not Treasury

Middle market firms have spent the past several years widening their use of faster payments, embedded finance tools and data-driven treasury systems, yet digital assets remain outside that progression rather than part of it.

The latest findings from PYMNTS Intelligence, as part of the Certainty Project, make clear that cryptocurrencies and stablecoins occupy an unusual position. They are visible across the financial ecosystem, discussed in boardrooms and tested by banks and payment providers, but they have not become part of the operational fabric that governs how firms move, manage and safeguard cash.

Adoption Without Integration

Among the core findings is a gap between awareness and use. Only 13% of middle market firms use stablecoins, and just 5% use cryptocurrencies. Interest has not accelerated meaningfully, and in many cases has softened over the past year as firms reassess priorities.

Even among those that have adopted digital assets, usage remains tightly bounded. Stablecoins are most often used for specific payment functions, such as paying domestic suppliers or receiving cross-border funds. Cryptocurrencies are even less embedded, with usage largely confined to isolated transactions rather than recurring workflows.

The notable absence of recurring usage indicates that digital assets have entered the conversation, but they have not entered the systems that CFOs rely on to run the business.

A Treasury Mismatch

It would be convenient to attribute this hesitation to volatility alone. Price swings are part of the discussion, particularly with cryptocurrencies, where bitcoin, for example, can move double-digit percentage points in a single day. However, the data suggests a more structural explanation.

Middle market CFOs are not rejecting crypto because simply because, untethered to a backing structure (such as fiat or assets), they might be viewed as unstable. They are setting “cryptos writ large” aside because the holdings do not align with the mechanics of treasury management. Liquidity planning, reconciliation, audit trails and cash visibility remain the central concerns of finance teams. Digital assets, in their current form, do not consistently support those priorities.

Even stablecoins, which are designed to maintain parity with the dollar, do not fully resolve these issues, though they are arguably entering the mainstream due in part to a regulatory picture that is evolving. Questions around accounting treatment, integration with enterprise systems and the reliability of counterparties introduce friction into processes that CFOs have spent years refining.

Roughly 4 in 10 firms cite integration with existing financial systems as a barrier. That is not a marginal concern. It speaks directly to whether a payment method can be incorporated into the daily routines of accounts payable, receivable and treasury operations.

This is evident in how firms behave when they do transact using crypto. The report shows that 100% of cryptocurrency payments received are converted immediately into U.S. dollars. For stablecoins, 88% of incoming payments are converted right away.

Firms are willing to use digital assets as a conduit for moving money, particularly in cross-border contexts. They are not willing to hold them as part of working capital or liquidity management.  In effect, digital assets are being used as a rail, but not necessarily as a reserve.

Trust Still Runs Through Banks

Where adoption does occur, it tends to follow familiar channels. Firms prefer to access stablecoins through bank-integrated solutions rather than through standalone crypto platforms or self-custody wallets.

This preference underscores a broader point. The path to wider usage runs through institutions and infrastructure that CFOs already trust.

Crypto firms gaining access to core payment systems, and banks expanding custody and settlement services, point toward a gradual convergence of digital assets and traditional finance. Yet that convergence is still unfolding, and for many firms it remains incomplete. PYMNTS Intelligence respondents point to regulatory clarity and integration with major banking partners as the conditions that would make digital assets more relevant.