As a venture capitalist (VC) that invests and manages portfolios in the crypto space, I’ve noticed that, in the rush to develop enterprise crypto wallets and Defi solutions, small and medium enterprises (SMEs)are being left behind.
Why does the SME crypto market matter?
SME demand for cryptocurrencies has skyrocketed in the past 12 months. INC recently reported that one third of US small businesses now accept payment in cryptocurrency. Also, there is an uptick in Millennials and Zoomers being open to payment in cryptocurrency.
Some quick stats:
- “36% of those born between 1980 and 1996; and 51% of those born 1997 and 2012, would welcome their jobs to pay in digital currencies.” DeVere Group (quoted in nasdac.com)
- 32% of U.S. small business owners surveyed currently accept cryptocurrency payments Skynova
- “1 out of 4 small businesses owners and top-level executives that don’t accept cryptocurrencies would like to” but don’t know where to start Skynova
- A Bankrate survey recently found that nearly 50% of millennials are comfortable investing in cryptocurrencies (vs 37% for Gen X and 22% for Boomers).
Why most enterprise crypto wallets don’t meet the needs of SMEs
For a small business to use most of the enterprise crypto self-custody tools currently on the market, they need millions in crypto holdings and a willingness to make a significant investment in set up and engineering. This effectively rules out SMEs from using these tools and yet they are a growing and significant market segment.
With this growing SME interest in Web3, Defi, Metaverse and NFTs, in the past 12 months, we’ve seen a huge influx of non-crypto-native SMEs entering the space for the first time, but their everyday financial needs are just not being met.
Retail crypto wallets don’t have the level of security and inbuilt compliance functionality businesses need and third-party custody solutions are expensive and cumbersome. So, what are the viable options for SMEs?
What SMEs need from an enterprise crypto wallet
SMEs want an everyday banking solution for crypto that is tailored for compliance, corporate governance and liquidity/ high availability.
What SMEs really want is a plug and play solution — minimal set up costs, minimal onboarding costs, just set up your wallet, customize it for your organization and start using it for enterprise-level crypto transactions. And that’s why Unido have developed a new enterprise crypto wallet, Unido EP, which is currently in beta.
We aim to take the headache out of crypto self-custody and transactions for both SMEs and larger institutions. Over the next few months, we’ll be adding more functionality to Unido EP. Updates will include an array of customization and best-in-class security tools that simplify business crypto transactions like paying staff, paying for goods and services and investing in Defi.
The Future of SME self-custody
I’m excited about the future for SMEs diving into the crypto asset class. And as more SMEs adopt digital assets, it will force the finance industry and governments to keep up. My prediction is that in the next 2 years, being paid in crypto won’t be an anomaly but common practice.
About Unido EP
Unido EP takes the complexity and expense out of digital asset management for organizations with sophisticated corporate governance needs. Our patented, end-to-end platform seamlessly automates corporate governance and self-custody of crypto assets so you can securely store, manage and invest in crypto without massive overheads.
Unido EP comes with a web-based dashboard and a decentralized application (dApp) featuring a robust set of DeFi tools, easy-to-set-up authority regimes and iron-clad security. All of this is inside a complete digital asset management platform, built with financial institutions in mind but tailor-made for any organization or individual’s needs.
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