The Spar retail chain is rolling out cryptocurrency payments in its Swiss stores. Thanks to Binance Pay and fintech company DFX, customers can now pay for their groceries in Bitcoin, stablecoins, and around 100 other cryptocurrencies. This is a national first that illustrates the rise of cryptocurrency use in retail.
Cryptocurrencies arrive at Spar in Switzerland
The Dutch retailer Spar, which operates in 49 countries, now accepts cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in around 100 of its stores in Switzerland.
Binance Pay + SPAR + DFX = Crypto Payments for Everyone @SPARInt customers can pay in over 100 stores with Bitcoin, Stablecoins, and many other cryptocurrencies – thanks to our new partnership with @binance Pay, which is now integrated into our open payment standard,… pic.twitter.com/yCcCiMdkMU
— DFX (@DFX_swiss) August 14, 2025
The initiative has been made possible thanks to a partnership between Spar, Binance Pay, and DFX, a Swiss fintech acting as a conversion intermediary that allows stores to be paid in fiat. It is expected that all 300 Spar stores in Switzerland will accept all cryptocurrencies within a few months, but no specific timeline has been set yet.
According to the DFX map, some Spar stores are already preparing to offer this type of payment very soon, while others are still in the preliminary stages.
This initiative follows a pilot program launched in a Spar store in Zug last April, which allowed customers to pay for their groceries in Bitcoin via the Lightning Network. The test appears to have been successful, which can be explained in part by the savings realized by stores when their customers use this solution: commission fees are reduced by up to two-thirds, according to André Scherrer, CEO of Spar Switzerland.
This is also advantageous for customers, as these crypto payments are offered “gas free,” meaning there are no transaction fees.
In practical terms, to pay with cryptocurrencies, simply scan a QR code, open the Binance Pay app, choose one of the 100 cryptocurrencies offered, and confirm the transaction. On Spar’s side, cryptocurrencies are directly converted into fiat currency, in particular to limit volatility. This initiative confirms Switzerland’s favorable shift towards cryptocurrencies, now considered one of the best places to live if you own cryptocurrencies. However, the Swiss Central Bank still needs to be convinced.
