Bitcoin might soon be competing with your loyalty card at the grocery counter—at least in Switzerland. Retail heavyweight SPAR, known for its global footprint of nearly 14,000 stores, is trialling Bitcoin payments at its Swiss outlets. It’s not just Bitcoin, either—it’s the Lightning Network in action, and early signs suggest customers are warming up to the idea of using crypto for their milk and bread. The news has picked up pace on X, especially after a post from The Bitcoin Historian, Pete Rizzo, caught the attention of Bitcoiners and sceptics alike.
The system behind this test is OpenCryptoPay, which works in tandem with Cake Wallet to make the experience smooth and fast. One demo showed a user grabbing a drink with Monero, no stress, no lag. If a pilot like this sticks, it could well turn supermarket checkouts into crypto battlegrounds. While Lightning is enjoying the spotlight now, there’s chatter about another contender—ckBTC, a different kind of Bitcoin solution that’s been quietly building up steam.
This isn’t SPAR’s first brush with Bitcoin. Dig through Reddit and you’ll find a post from 2019 about a Dutch SPAR store accepting Lightning Network payments. A user there recalled buying something with 129,100 satoshis, which at the time cost about €13.50. That tiny test seems like a warm-up to what’s happening in Switzerland now. But this time, there’s more structure and support behind the rollout. OpenCryptoPay handles the backend, Cake Wallet provides the frontend, and the Lightning Network does what it does best—keeping things fast and cheap.
The reactions have been varied. Enthusiasts like @pocket_crypto_ are already talking about how this could snowball across Europe. Others, like @sethforprivacy, are giving kudos to the payment interface, calling it a dream to use. But as with most things crypto, there’s always a bit of pushback. @wfraley682xrp was quick to throw cold water on the idea, calling it bad for Bitcoin—though stopping short of explaining why.
There’s clearly something brewing in the way everyday purchases might get handled in the near future. And while SPAR’s Lightning Network pilot is leading the current charge, ckBTC is raising some eyebrows in the wings. Developed by DFINITY and running on the Internet Computer, ckBTC isn’t another Lightning clone. It’s a tokenised version of Bitcoin that lives directly on a blockchain, bringing smart contracts and decentralised app features into the mix.
The differences between Lightning and ckBTC aren’t just technical jargon. Where Lightning cuts costs and increases speed by moving Bitcoin payments off-chain, ckBTC stays on-chain but operates with comparable speed. Finality takes just a second or two. Plus, ckBTC can interact directly with smart contracts, something the Lightning Network doesn’t offer as neatly. That opens doors for things like programmable loyalty discounts, auto-checkout subscriptions, or fancy point systems that go beyond “Buy 5, get 1 free.”
All this could tempt SPAR into considering ckBTC, especially if the initial pilot goes well and they’re ready to take things a step further. The ability to plug payments into more sophisticated retail systems—without involving multiple platforms—might prove too attractive to ignore. They could even experiment with subscription-based grocery deliveries, or token reward schemes that stack up as customers spend.
Still, ckBTC has hurdles to clear before it becomes supermarket-friendly. The Lightning Network has been knocking around for longer, with existing integrations across several payment providers. There’s a kind of trust and familiarity it brings, especially in a setting where any disruption at checkout can create real headaches. SPAR also recently had to deal with a cyber attack that interrupted EC card payments. That event might make the retailer cautious when trying out shiny new tech, especially if it means adding more layers to their already sensitive payment systems.
The infrastructure is another issue. Right now, OpenCryptoPay and Cake Wallet make Lightning transactions look easy, and that’s a big win when it comes to customer adoption. ckBTC would need equivalent tools—just as polished, just as intuitive—for anyone to seriously consider it as a mainstream alternative. Without that, SPAR may stick to what’s working.
Meanwhile, the bigger picture is unfolding around them. Major retailers in other parts of the world are already dabbling with crypto. Starbucks in the U.S., for instance, has let customers pay with digital assets through apps like SPEDN, while BitPay’s crypto cards have been swiped across counters accepting MasterCard. SPAR isn’t leaping into the unknown—it’s more like cautiously stepping into a stream that’s already been waded through by others.
Should this pilot prove successful in Switzerland, it might signal a larger shift. Crypto payments have long lingered on the fringe of retail, but this kind of test—quiet, practical, and relatively under-hyped—could be the exact format needed to make it stick. No buzzwords. Just a drink, a sandwich, and a QR code.
As for ckBTC, it’s got the tech edge in several areas. Its smart contract compatibility and low-cost on-chain speed are hard to ignore. But new tools need time to gain trust, especially in retail. If developers can build user-friendly frontends and partnerships to match the Lightning Network’s seamless feel, ckBTC might yet carve a space for itself at the till.
Of course, there’s the customer side to think about too. SPAR isn’t just trialling tech—they’re testing whether people even want this. Will customers bother scanning a QR code to pay in Bitcoin? Will they accept the volatility risk? Will the average shopper even care? Early adopters will always be loud, but the silent majority will decide whether this makes it past the pilot stage.
Meanwhile, it’s worth keeping an eye on what gets added next. If SPAR introduces ckBTC support in a future update, it would say a lot about how open retailers are to new blockchain-based tools. It would also show whether there’s real appetite for alternatives to the Lightning Network, especially when they come packaged with extra features.
For now, SPAR is keeping things simple: one coin, one layer, one network. It makes sense—start small, get it right, then maybe explore the edges. The fact that a global grocery chain is even testing Bitcoin shows how far things have come. The next step might not be about swapping Lightning for ckBTC—it could be about adding ckBTC to the basket, alongside everything else.
What’s certain is that change is creeping in. Quietly. QR code by QR code.
