Crypto in the Wild: How Real People Are Using Digital Assets Beyond NFTs and Trading in 2025

Forget the hype—crypto's breaking free from JPEGs and leverage trading. Here's where it's actually gaining traction.

Remittance revolution: Cross-border payments now move at WhatsApp speed for 1/10th the cost of Western Union. Workers from Manila to Lagos are voting with their wallets.

DeFi's stealth invasion: Small businesses in emerging markets are collateralizing inventory with stablecoin loans—no bank paperwork, just yield.

The tipping point: Content creators from Twitch to OnlyFans report 37% higher tip volumes when fans pay in crypto. (Turns out 'hodl culture' applies to parasocial relationships too.)

Wall Street still thinks this is all about speculative trading—meanwhile, the real adoption story is happening where financial systems fail fastest. The irony? Traditional finance's 2% APY savings accounts might be crypto's best marketing tool.

Usually, when we hear about trends relating to crypto, media organizations tie it to topics like trading and NFTs. These topics are certainly relevant in the crypto industry. Yet, they neglect to look at how people use crypto for everyday transactions. If you’re wondering where regular people are actually using crypto, you’ll find the answer in this article. Moreover, it will start with a surprising and significant use: remittances and borderless transactions.

Remittances and Borderless Transactions

Remittances are vital to individuals, households, and entire economies in low-income countries. Usually, people working abroad send remittances to their families in their home country. They can take days to process, especially if people send them over a weekend, and they are often subject to high transfer fees, usually ranging from 5-10% per transfer. Using crypto for these cross-border transfers can significantly speed up and reduce the costs of transferring money while providing other benefits.

The use of crypto as a remittance increases the speed and reduces the costs of transferring funds by leveraging blockchain technology, which has low fees and instant processing times. With a crypto remittance, the recipient can hold onto the crypto and only exchange the amounts needed for daily transactions. Often, a stablecoin, like USDC, is used to reduce the volatility and retain the value of the remittance. This helps individuals in financially unstable regions preserve the value of their assets since stablecoins are typically tied to a stable currency, like the US dollar. 

A significant benefit of using crypto for remittances is that it’s more accessible than traditional banking systems. All that’s needed to accept and use crypto is a stable internet connection and device—there’s no need for a bank account or physical banking infrastructure. This makes money more accessible to people in areas underserved by banks by reducing financial barriers.

Small Businesses and Everyday Payments

The speed and low fees associated with crypto payments don’t just benefit those sending money across borders; they also benefit small businesses ranging from freelancers to local merchants. This may be surprising since discussions often focus on major organizations. We often hear about it in relation to a multinational brand like Starbucks, but rarely about the small shop down the street. However, there’s also been a quiet, growing trend of entrepreneurs embracing crypto as a payment option.

The most notable entrepreneurs involved in this trend are freelancers. Crypto presents an opportunity to improve cash FLOW and offer flexibility to clients. Since crypto payments are completed in minutes rather than days, freelancers gain access to their earnings more quickly, giving them the cash they need to support their business and themselves. These transactions also make it easier to navigate payments from clients in another country who are using a different currency. It eliminates concerns about:

• Exchange fees, 
• fluctuations in currency value, and 
• navigating banking systems that support multiple currencies. 

Merchants, like freelancers, are leveraging crypto payments to reduce fees and provide flexibility to their customers. Crypto payment processors like BitPay, CoinGate, and CoinPayments enable businesses to accept crypto, both online and in person. These services also offer conversion to fiat currency if desired. This removes the difficulties that crypto can come with, such as tax reporting challenges. 

While crypto payment processors charge fees, these are often much lower than credit card processing fees, which can cost 3-5% per transaction. Crypto payment processing is usually 1% per transaction. For small businesses, this can significantly reduce costs and improve profits.

Travel and Tourism Transactions

In the travel and tourism sector, reduced fees and flexible payment options are just two benefits of adopting crypto transactions. The industry is seeing increased adoption of this payment method for booking flights, hotels, and rentals. In 2024, just over 11% of travel agencies were accepting crypto, with online travel agencies—unsurprisingly—leading the way. Sites like Travala and Destinia have added crypto payment options, enhancing flexibility for both businesses and customers. 

For customers:

• The ability to use crypto means faster transactions and better booking security. 
• It also reduces the need for conversions and conversion fees for those travelling abroad.
• With crypto payments, paying for travel expenses is far more streamlined.

For travel agencies and businesses:

• Accepting crypto also includes improved approval times for bookings and reduced concerns like chargebacks and fraud. 
• Crypto transactions can’t be reversed once they’re made, which offers security to travel agencies. 

Within the industry, NFTs hold the potential for streamlining check-in processes and proof of ownership for things like event tickets and hotel bookings, reducing opportunities for fraud. Travala is already experimenting with NFT solutions for their bookings.

Accessing Digital Entertainment and the Rise of the Crypto Casino

Another area where crypto payments are rising is the digital entertainment industry, particularly when it comes to online gaming. This has led to the rise of decentralized gambling platforms, most notably crypto casinos, an online gambling platform that caters to crypto users. A crypto casino enables users to deposit funds and facilitate gameplay with crypto. Through these casinos, players can engage in classic casino games, such as slots and table and live dealer games like blackjack and poker, using crypto as payment. Crypto casinos are rapidly growing in popularity for the benefits they offer players, such as increased privacy and security, faster deposits and withdrawals, and accessibility.

Blockchain-based crypto casinos offer greater security and privacy than traditional online casinos. Because all data is encrypted on blockchains, it is incredibly difficult for hackers or malicious actors to compromise information. Blockchains create an Immutable record of activities, giving both casino operators and players peace of mind that all transactions have a traceable, unalterable record. Once players connect their crypto wallet, they don’t need to worry about sharing other sensitive information.

Players and operators also benefit from the speed with which payments can be made:

• Neither party experiences delays in payment processing, streamlining player experiences, and the casino’s business operations. 
• With the instant nature of blockchain transactions, players can enjoy an uninterrupted gaming experience as 
• Their deposits will be accepted quickly, and they’ll get instant access to their wins. For traditional online casinos, withdrawals often take days to process.

Crypto casinos expand accessibility to online gambling, though regulations vary by region. However, this quality is a double-edged sword, as it delivers greater access but also comes with greater regulatory concerns. Because of this, players should carefully assess a crypto gambling platform before they make any payments. Ensure the site has features such as clear terms and conditions, security features, and problem gambling tools. Ideally, it should also be licensed, though depending on the region, not all crypto casinos are.

What’s Driving the Increased Adoption of Crypto Payments?

Analyzing these diverse crypto uses provides insight into the key drivers behind crypto adoption for daily transactions, and it boils down to these five reasons:

Conclusion

Crypto offers users many benefits outside of trading and NFTs. Besides, people are using it to share their resources with their families, make purchases from small businesses, book their travel arrangements, and access gaming and entertainment. Diving into the world of crypto isn’t just about turning a profit—its significance in people’s lives is so much more than that.