Swiss Spar Supermarket Expands Bitcoin Payments Nationwide After Successful Pilot
After a successful pilot program, Switzerland’s Spar supermarket chain has announced plans to promote Bitcoin payments across its national stores. Spar is part of an international supermarket group with nearly 14,000 branches worldwide.
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Key Step in Cryptocurrencies for Spar Supermarket
Spar, a major chain with over 200 stores in Switzerland, is taking a critical step into cryptocurrencies. Following a successful pilot in Zug, the supermarket chain has announced plans to expand Bitcoin (BTC) payments to all its branches in Switzerland, potentially becoming an important example of global retail acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
Spar Embraces Bitcoin: From Pilot to Nationwide Promotion
The Bitcoin payment service at Spar is based on the OpenCryptoPay platform developed by DFX Swiss, with the core technology being the Bitcoin Lightning Network. The Lightning Network, as a second-layer payment protocol, effectively addresses the issues of slow transaction speeds and high costs of the Bitcoin main chain, making it suitable for small, high-frequency retail payments. This technological application is key to Spar’s nationwide rollout.
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Currently, the in-store payment process is designed to be very simple: customers scan a static QR code and can complete their payment using a wallet that supports the Lightning Network. According to their published user experience, the process is easy and efficient, achieving near-instant credit card transaction speeds.
Bitcoin at the checkout? It’s happening.
SPAR supermarket in Zug, Switzerland is now accepting Bitcoin via Lightning Network.
✅ Scan QR
✅ Pay in seconds
✅ No card, no cash
If this clicks, 13,900+ SPAR stores in 48 countries could follow.
Retail just got a crypto upgrade.
— efiletax (@efile_tax) April 18, 2025
Future Plans for Bitcoin Payment Expansion
Following the successful pilot, Spar plans to gradually promote Bitcoin payments across all its stores in Switzerland. Considering Spar’s large scale globally (with over 13,900 stores in 48 countries), the Swiss experience could lay the groundwork for cryptocurrency payments in its global branches.
Can Switzerland Maintain Its Lead in Cryptocurrency?
Switzerland has long been a pioneer in cryptocurrency adoption, with Zug, known as “Crypto Valley,” accepting Bitcoin for tax payments since 2020. Cities like Lugano are also actively promoting everyday use. According to data, over 600 companies across the country accept Bitcoin, and Spar’s participation further strengthens Switzerland’s leading position in application.
Despite the expansion of retail payment applications, there have been differing attitudes at the national level in Switzerland. The Swiss National Bank has previously stated that Bitcoin is “too volatile” to be suitable as a reserve currency, while there have been citizen initiatives calling for the central bank to hold Bitcoin.
