CryptoProcessing by CoinsPaid is rolling out a closed pilot for point-of-sale crypto payments in Estonia, with the first installation scheduled at Kuldan, a local jewellery brand. The pilot is now being tested with a select group of merchants using Flowgate, described as a bundle of POS payment solutions designed to accept crypto in-store.
Crypto payments are not new in the shopping experience, particularly at online checkouts. However, physical retail is where adoption has stalled. Here, checkout systems are less flexible and commercial demand is harder to predict. This pilot is intended to test whether in-store crypto payments can be deployed without disrupting daily retail operations, and whether customer demand shows up at the counter as smoothly as it does in online checkout data.
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“Crypto payments are ready to become a practical retail tool, not just an online feature,”
According to Vadzim Nikifarau, POS Business Manager at CoinsPaid.
He added that, in the company’s view, “85% of merchants explore crypto to attract new customers.”
The U.S. sets the high mark on adoption
The most widely cited recent benchmark for merchant acceptance comes from a study by PayPal and the National Cryptocurrency Association, conducted by The Harris Poll in late October 2025, that surveyed 619 U.S. payment decision-makers across the retail, hospitality, and luxury sectors. It found that 39% of merchants already accept crypto at checkout, and 84% expect crypto to become a common payment option within five years.
The same study also highlights customer demand as the primary driver: It reports that 88% of merchants report receiving customer inquiries about paying with crypto, and 69% say customers want to use crypto at least monthly. Among merchants already accepting crypto, the average reported share of crypto in total sales reached 26%, with 72% saying crypto sales increased over the past year.
Adoption varies significantly by scale and sector. Large enterprises with revenue exceeding $500 million show the highest acceptance rate at 50%, compared with 34% for small businesses. By industry, hospitality and travel lead at 81%, followed by digital goods, gaming, luxury and speciality retail at 76%. The most-cited benefits include faster transaction speed (45%), access to new customers (45%), enhanced security (41%), and greater privacy for customers (40%).
The primary barrier, according to 90% of respondents, is complexity around operations and structures. Merchants say they would be likely to accept crypto if the integration experience matched the ease and simplicity of accepting credit cards.
In Europe, payments remain secondary
Europe’s adoption is slower than that of its neighbor across the ocean. The European Central Bank’s 2024 SPACE study reports that 9% of respondents owned crypto-assets in 2024, up from 4% in 2022. However, ownership, as the authors argue, does not translate directly into payment usage.
Among crypto holders, the ECB data points to a strong preference for investment over payments. In Germany, 82% of holders reported using crypto exclusively for investment versus 6% for payments only. In the Netherlands, the split was 90% investment-only versus 2% payment-only. France showed more payment-oriented behavior, with 57% investment-only and 25% payment-only among holders.
This divergence explains why retail crypto payments in Europe remain an emerging behavior rather than a mainstream one. Payments are not yet the dominant use case, but this could be as a result of the regulatory environment, which has only recently set clearer guidelines around adoption and licensing. The Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCA) entered into force in 2023, with stablecoin-related provisions applying from 30 June 2024 and the wider framework from 30 December 2024. MiCA provides a harmonized licensing and supervision framework for crypto-asset service providers across the EU, though compliance obligations tend to make rollout more deliberate, particularly for smaller merchants.
Post-MiCA, euro-stablecoin activity shows early signs of acceleration. DECTA’s analysis of euro stablecoin trends reports that the euro stablecoin market cap doubled over a year, and monthly euro-stablecoin volume rose nearly ninefold after MiCA’s implementation, reaching approximately $3.83 billion in monthly volume. Circle reported EURC in circulation of €310 million at year-end 2025, up 284% year-over-year.
Institutional initiatives are becoming more visible as well. Reuters reported that a consortium of major European banks formed a company to launch a euro-denominated stablecoin, with a debut expected in the second half of 2026.
What the Estonia pilot is testing
CryptoProcessing by CoinsPaid is positioning the Estonia pilot as a test of in-store crypto acceptance that fits into day-to-day retail operations. The pilot is built around settlement flexibility. The setup uses Flowgate’s technology, described as a bundle of point-of-sale payment solutions for accepting crypto in-store.
The flow is designed around a split between how the customer pays and how the merchant settles. Customers pay in crypto at checkout, while merchants choose whether the transaction settles as fiat to a bank account through SEPA or SWIFT, or as crypto to a wallet. CoinsPaid presents this as a way to support in-store crypto acceptance without overwhelming existing checkout processes, with instant conversion and euro settlement available for merchants that prefer fiat.
The pilot has been developed in a way as to accommodate different store setups. Merchants can deploy the solution through POS terminals, SoftPOS, QR payments, or API integration, with the same stack pitched as suitable for single-store trials and multi-location rollouts. Flowgate’s own description adds terminals, SoftPOS, QR solutions, and kiosk or API integrations that are designed to connect to existing checkout systems, with straightforward reconciliation and rollouts that merchants can complete in days. As a side note, Flowgate is being pitched for a range of sectors, from retail and food and beverage to travel and hospitality, wellness and beauty, and luxury goods and services.
In terms of operations, the company highlights transaction finality and availability, which are the pain points for many physical retailers.
“We process crypto payments in-store with fast confirmations and 24/7 settlements, with transactions that are final, verified and traceable, and with zero chargebacks. The POS terminals can accept multiple cryptocurrencies on one device. As an Estonia-licensed provider, we handle AML and KYC at onboarding and apply ongoing transaction risk scoring. Pricing is volume-based, with low transaction fees,”
said Martin Petukhov, General Manager at Kuldan.
He added that: “Luxury industries have always been pioneers in adopting crypto payments. With this pilot, we expect no chargebacks, fast transactions, and full compliance.”
Outlook on the Future
CoinsPaid describes CryptoProcessing as “Europe’s leading crypto payment gateway” and says it has processed more than $29 billion in payments. The company says it provides crypto payment processing for businesses, supporting crypto payments, conversions, and settlement.
So, what is the pilot’s real test? Usage and merchant follow-through. The pilot should indicate whether customers actually choose crypto at a physical counter, and whether merchants see enough repeat demand to keep it alongside cards and bank transfers.
If the uptake remains consistent and the rollout is low-friction, pilots like this are likely to alter how crypto moves from a niche checkout option to a default line item in retail payment menus.
