Spar supermarket in Switzerland starts accepting Bitcoin payments

Global grocery giant Spar has rolled out Bitcoin-based payments in a Swiss city, marking another step in the growing adoption of cryptocurrency for everyday transactions.

A Spar supermarket in Zug, Switzerland, has implemented Bitcoin (BTC) payments via the Lightning Network.

The store’s Bitcoin payments went live on BTC Mao, a community-driven project highlighting stores that accept BTC payments, DFX Swiss, a crypto-to-fiat payment solution firm, announced in an April 17 LinkedIn post.

“This SPAR location is among the first supermarkets in Switzerland where you can pay directly at the checkout using Bitcoin (via LNURL), thanks to our new hashtag#OpenCryptoPay solution – an open P2P standard for in-person crypto payments,” DFX said.

Spar supermarket in Switzerland starts accepting Bitcoin payments

Spar in Zug adopts Bitcoin payment, announcement. Source: DFX Swiss

Switzerland has long been regarded as one of the more crypto-friendly European jurisdictions with some of the earliest crypto-adoption initiatives.

In 2023, the Swiss city of Lugano adopted Bitcoin and Tether USDt (USDT) payments for all municipal fees, one of the world’s first city administrations to do so.

There are currently 1,013 stores and businesses accepting Bitcoin payments in Switzerland, according to BTCmap data.

Businesses accepting Bitcoin payment in Switzerland, Europe. Source: BTCmap

Bitcoin adoption among retail giants with a global presence may increase mainstream trust in cryptocurrency payments.

Spar operates over 13,900 stores across 48 countries, with over 14.7 million daily shoppers and 450,000 employees worldwide.

Spar in Zug enables seamless Bitcoin payment via QR code

Friction points and complicated user experience are often criticized as some of the biggest hurdles limiting mainstream blockchain adoption.

However, Spar’s Bitcoin implementation enables easy payments by scanning a simple quick-response (QR) code, according to Rahim Taghizadegan, a university lecturer and director of Bitcoin Association Switzerland.

In an April 16 LinkedIn post, he outlined how simple it is to pay using BTC in Spar:

“Just scan a static QR code, send sats, immediate and easy registration by the cashier. If enough people use it, it may be rolled out in the whole country. “

“I used Phoenix Wallet for [the Lightning Network], but pretty much anything works,” he added.

Bitcoin payment in Spar, Zug, Switzerland. Source: Rahim Taghizadegan

Increasingly more companies are adopting cryptocurrency in the country. Switzerland-based blockchain ecosystem Crypto Valley surpassed $593 billion in valuation in 2024 after a 55% yearly increase, Cointelegraph reported on Jan. 21.

Crypto Valley Unicorns. Source: CvVc.com

Among the 50 entities, 17 have reached unicorn status, with a $1 billion or more valuation.

“A Swiss industry where the Top 50 entities share a valuation of $593 billion and whose funding medians exceed global medians reflects vision and resilience,” Mathias Ruch, founder and CEO of CV VC, told Cointelegraph.