40% of consumers plan to use cryptocurrencies in the next year and millennials are leading the way, according to a Mastercard survey

• 40% of respondents to Mastercard's New Payment Index survey said they plan to use cryptocurrencies in the next year.
• The popularity of cryptocurrencies is especially growing amongst millennials, the report showed.
• Cryptocurrency Bitcoin led the crypto-mania of the past year, but other currencies are growing stronger.

40% people are planning to use cryptocurrencies in the next year, according to Mastercard's New Payments Index. Millennials are especially interested in cryptocurrencies and are keen to learn more about it.

67% of millennials said they were more likely to use cryptocurrency now compared to a year ago, and 75% said they would use crypto coins if they had a better understanding of them. 77% were keen to learn more about cryptocurrencies, Mastercard's survey showed on Tuesday.

"While consumer interest in cryptocurrency - especially floating digital currencies such as bitcoin - is high, work is still required to ensure consumer choice, protection, and their regulatory compliance." the survey said.

It also found that the popularity of cash alternatives was generally growing and that the COVID-19 pandemic led to consumers using new payment methods that they would not have engaged with otherwise.

Mastercard's New Payment Index is based on over 15,000 online responses from North America, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Middle East and Africa and the Asia Pacific region.

Over the past year, crypto coin bitcoin has been leading the crypto-frenzy, but other cryptocurrencies have been gaining strength over recent weeks.

Ethereum's ether, the second-most traded digital coin after bitcoin, has been reaching new highs consistently over the last few weeks. On Tuesday it broke its record once again and traded near $3,500. It was last trading at $3,392. Analysts said it may continue its rally and breach the $5,000 mark before slowing down.

Dogecoin, which started as a joke currency, has also been gaining momentum and is increasingly being accepted as a payment method. The Oakland A's announced they would be selling baseball game tickets in exchange for the coin and Mark Cuban's basketball team, the Dallas Mavericks, have already started making merchandise and ticket sales through Dogecoin.

Bitcoin itself has declined in value over the past month. After hitting a record high of over $64,000 in March, the cryptocurrency fell sharply to as low as around $49,000 within weeks. It has since recovered somewhat and on Tuesday was last trading at $56,465.