In a big milestone for Bitcoin adoption, the Swiss, Digitec-Galaxus is now accepting Bitcoin and other select cryptocurrencies as a means of payment for its customer base.
For those that don’t know, Digitec-Galaxus is often seen as the Amazon of Switzerland and is one of the biggest online retailers in the nation. The firm was founded in 2001 and operates the Digitec and Galaxus online shops as well as ten stores in other parts of Switzerland.
Swiss customers of Digitec and Galaxus will now be able to pay with Bitcoin when shopping online. As well as Bitcoin, other altcoins will be accepted on the online retailer such as Ethereum, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, Binance Coin, TRON, Litecoin, NEO and OmiseGo.
The Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder at Digitec, Oliver Herren has spoken on the matter saying, “Cryptocurrencies are fascinating and could become a relevant means of payment in e-commerce. We would like to support this development. We wanted to do that for a long time, but the effort was too long for a long time.”
Herren was asked why his firm is getting involved in the crypto space and using digital currency as an alternative form of payment. He explained that “because you have some and you want to use them. Or because you cannot turn them into real money because your bank does not accept it. Or maybe just because your can and like to try new things.”
The company has admitted that it is mainly doing this in order to get some praise from there younger audience and the tech-savvy crowd.
Simultaneously, the volatility of price won’t be a problem as the firm states. All transactions will be processed through a third party payment processor Coinify and immediately converted to Swiss francs.
Nevertheless, the new payment option will only be available for Swiss customers in its initial stages but if the new plan turns out to be successful then German customers will be able to jump on the bandwagon.
This is a brave step by the leader of the online retail market in the country. It is likely that rivals of the Digitec-Galaxus will start doing the same thing and bring in crypto payments as an option to the users.
It seems that Switzerland has been a hot place when it comes to crypto adoption. It regularly hosts cryptocurrency events and its stock exchange has rolled out cryptocurrency-tied products like a Bitcoin ETP.
