Global grocery giant Spar has enabled Bitcoin payments at one of its supermarkets in Zug, Switzerland. The move highlights the increasing mainstream adoption of digital currencies for everyday transactions.
The Spar outlet in Zug has integrated Bitcoin payments through the Lightning Network, a layer-2 scaling solution designed for faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions. The implementation was announced on LinkedIn by DFX Swiss, a firm specializing in crypto-to-fiat payment solutions, and BTC Mao, a community project tracking businesses that accept Bitcoin.
According to the LinkedIn post, this Spar location is among the first supermarkets in Switzerland to allow direct Bitcoin payments at the checkout using the open P2P standard, OpenCryptoPay.
Switzerland has long been considered a crypto-friendly nation in Europe, fostering early adoption initiatives. In 2023, the city of Lugano made headlines by accepting Bitcoin and Tether for all municipal fees, marking a global first for a city administration. Current data from BTCmap indicates that over 1,000 businesses in Switzerland now accept Bitcoin payments.
Industry experts suggest that the adoption of Bitcoin by major global retailers like Spar, which operates over 13,900 stores across 48 countries, could significantly boost mainstream trust and usage of cryptocurrency payments.
Rahim Taghizadegan, a university lecturer and director at Bitcoin Association Switzerland, demonstrated the simplicity of the new payment system in a LinkedIn post. He explained that customers simply scan a static QR code, send the Bitcoin (referred to as “sats”), and the transaction is immediately registered by the cashier. Taghizadegan expressed optimism that wider adoption by consumers could lead to a nationwide rollout within Spar.
