Major Supermarket Chain Spar to Launch Bitcoin Payments Across Switzerland

Spar stores in Switzerland are preparing to move out Bitcoin payment nationwide after a successful pilot backed by the bitcoin payments business DFX Swiss, in a move that could produce crypto a cornerstone of everyday living.

Earlier this month, Spar’s Zug site began accepting Bitcoin via the Lightning Network, using DFX Swiss’s OpenCryptoPay system, an empty, peer-to-peer regular designed for in-person bitcoin purchases.  

A minute Spar shop in Kreuzlingen followed a few days afterwards. “Zug was just the design site — we will soon be rolling it out throughout Switzerland, ” OpenCryptoPay confirmed on X, previously Online.  

The implementation, now accessible on BTC Map, a community-driven file of Bitcoin-accepting companies, makes Spar one of the first major supermarket chains in Switzerland to integrate direct Bitcoin payment.

“ Just scan a static QR code, send sats, immediate and easy registration by the cashier, ” Rahim Taghizadegan, director of Bitcoin Association Switzerland, said on LinkedIn after testing the payment process. ” If sufficient people use it, it may be rolled out in the entire state. “

Despite its reputation as an earlier bitcoin hub, Switzerland is progressively divided over Bitcoin’s eligibility for national resources and broader economic integration.

At the Swiss National Bank’s monthly shareholder meeting next month, Swiss National Bank Chairman Martin Schlegel dismissed Crypto as too dangerous for supply investments, saying, “Cryptocurrency cannot now fulfil the needs for our currency reserves, ” as per a report.  

However, a separate citizen-led effort is pushing to alter the Swiss Constitution to demand the central bank to keep Bitcoin alongside gold, a proposal that may advance to a national referendum if it garners 100,000 signatures.

Spar’s expansion fits into a growing global trend of governments and businesses experimenting with real-world Bitcoin integration.

In Switzerland alone, over 600 businesses now accept Bitcoin, according to BTC Map data.  

The self-proclaimed ‘crypto valley’ Zug’s acceptance of Bitcoin for tax payments since 2020 and Lugano’s rollout of Bitcoin and Tether ( USDT ) for municipal services in 2022 have made Switzerland one of Europe’s leading hubs of real-world crypto adoption.

Meanwhile, Panama City ’s council recently passed new legislation permitting residents to pay taxes, permits, fines, and other municipal fees using Bitcoin, Ethereum ( ETH), and major stablecoins such as USDC and Tether.