In Switzerland, consumers can now pay for their groceries with Cardano (ADA) at 137 Spar supermarkets. Payment is made via Open Crypto Pay, a system from the Swiss fintech company DFX.swiss. Customers pay directly from their own crypto wallet, without the intervention of an exchange.
Cheaper than paying by credit card
The system processes payments in real time. According to the parties involved, transaction costs are approximately two-thirds lower than with traditional payment cards. That makes it interesting not only for consumers but also for retailers.
Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, sees the integration as an important step. According to him, the sector is developing from an experimental phase to practical applications in daily payment transactions.
Spar has been experimenting with crypto for some time
The collaboration is not Spar’s first step towards crypto payments. In August 2025, the supermarket chain introduced payments with crypto and stablecoins in approximately 100 Swiss stores via Binance Pay and DFX.swiss. The company indicated at the time that it wanted to eventually expand the network to around 300 stores.
Switzerland is building its position as a crypto hub
The developments fit into a broader Swiss strategy. Tether and the city of Lugano recently announced an investment of 5 million Swiss francs for the Plan B initiative, a project that aims to develop Lugano into an international center for digital infrastructure by 2030.
In Lugano, residents can already pay certain municipal taxes with Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoin USDT. With the expansion to supermarkets, the daily use of crypto comes one step closer.
Source: https://newsbit.nl/cardano-ada-nu-te-gebruiken-voor-betalingen-bij-137-spar-supermarkten-in-zwitserland/
