Bitpay CEO Stephan Pair has gone on record to say that he believes that mass crypto adoption is only 3 to 5 years away. He talked about the possibility of wider adoption when recently chatting to the American news network CNBC.

One year ago when Bitcoin prices scaled the heights of $20,000, crypto adoption seemed to be even closer than ever before and only a matter of time. However, calmer heads believed that ten years was closer to the real number.

Is Crypto Adoption Closer than we Think?

The Bitpay head honcho believes mass crypto adoption is closer than we think. In the interview with CNBC, Stephan Pair talked about the potential of the BTC ETF and the possibilities of mass crypto adoption.

When asked if the BTC ETF would speed up wider adoption, Pair said that the ETF is not the be all or end all of the crypto industry. He pointed out that wider adoption will push prices higher if history is a guide.

When talking about the timeline of mass crypto adoption, the Bitpay boss was quoted as telling CNBC that:

“I used to say 10 years, but now I think it’s more like 3-5 years until you can go into a restaurant, a retail establishment, and just everybody’s going to expect that that store will be able to accept a blockchain payment.”

There has been greater adoption by businesses in the past 12-months to use crypto as a form of payment, but the recent price crashes might negatively affect adoption in the meantime.

Crypto Prices Driven by Speculation, Not Utility

CCN recently discussed Stephan Pair’s statement that speculation drives crypto prices more than utility. In the same interview with CNBC, Pair told the news outlet his opinion on speculation versus utility by saying:

“A very big component of the price is certainly speculation. It’s investors speculating on the future usage and adoption of this technology. A small component of the price is actual utility, and that’s what BitPay is focused on — using the platform and delivering products to our customers that they find valuable.”

It’s interesting to point out that the speculation is based on future usage, which is basically another phrase to explain mass crypto adoption. If mass crypto adoption depends on whether or not businesses will use and accept crypto as payment for services, a 3 to 5-year window seems like a sensible prediction and something that is very possible.