Cardano’s ADA cryptocurrency is now accepted as payment at 137 Spar supermarket locations across Switzerland. The integration, facilitated by Swiss fintech firm DFX.swiss, allows for direct wallet payments and reportedly cuts merchant transaction costs significantly. This retail expansion coincides with a separate $6.4 million commitment from Tether and the city of Lugano to further Switzerland’s ambitions as a global digital asset hub.
The Cardano Foundation announced that ADA holders can use the token for groceries through an integration by DFX.swiss. The Open Crypto Pay system processes transactions in real time directly from user wallets.
Cardano Foundation CEO Frederik Gregaard called the development the “beginning of a fundamental shift in how value moves through society.” The foundation stated the system reduces transaction costs for merchants by about two-thirds compared to traditional card payments.
Spar initially enabled nationwide crypto payments in Swiss stores via Binance Pay and DFX.swiss in August 2025. The supermarket chain had plans at that time to expand the service to 300 locations across the country.
In a separate development, Tether and the city of Lugano committed 5 million Swiss francs ($6.4 million) to the second phase of the city’s Plan B forum. The funding aims to advance Lugano’s goal of becoming a global hub for digital asset infrastructure between 2026 and 2030.
Lugano has previously allowed residents to pay certain municipal fees in Bitcoin (BTC) and USDt (USDT). This effort is part of a broader push to embed digital assets directly into the local Swiss economy.
