Supermarket chain Spar now accepts ADA payments at 137 stores in Switzerland as crypto payment options expand in the country.
Switzerland’s push to position itself as a crypto‑friendly hub is expanding into retail payments, with Cardano’s ADA token now usable at Spar stores across the country. Cardano (ADA) users can start paying for groceries in 137 Spar supermarkets after the latest Open Crypto Pay integration from Swiss fintech firm DFX.swiss, the Cardano Foundation said.
The system processes transactions in real time and lets customers pay directly from ADA wallets without routing through a centralized exchange. For merchants, Open Crypto Pay cuts transaction costs by about two‑thirds compared with traditional cards, the announcement said.
Frederik Gregaard, CEO of the Cardano Foundation, described the rollout as “the beginning of a fundamental shift in how value moves through society,” signaling a move from experimental use cases toward “genuine financial transformation.”
Spar first rolled out nationwide crypto and stablecoin payments in Switzerland in August 2025 for 100 stores via Binance Pay and DFX.swiss, with plans at the time to expand to 300 stores.
Separately, Tether and the city of Lugano committed 5 million Swiss francs (about $6.4 million) to a second phase of the city’s Plan B forum between 2026 and 2030, aiming to position Lugano as a global hub for digital asset infrastructure. Lugano has already allowed residents to pay certain municipal fees in Bitcoin (BTC) and USDt (USDT) as part of efforts to integrate digital assets into the local economy.
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