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Major Swiss Online Retailer Now Takes Crypto Payments

| 21-Th3-2019
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Digitec Galaxus, arguably the largest online retailer in Switzerland, has started accepting cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for purchases made on its portal.

For checkout totals over CHF 200 (about $202), online shoppers now have the added option of paying in Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), Ethereum (ETH), Ripple (XRP), Binance Coin (BNB), Litecoin (LTC), Tron (TRX), NEO (NEO), or OmiseGO (OMG).

The new payment option is the result of an initial pilot project between Digitec Galaxus, Swiss payment platform Datatrans, and Danish crypto payment processor Coinify. Customers who choose this payment method are given a crypto exchange rate held for 15 minutes within which to complete their purchase.

Digitec Galaxus itself does not charge any fees for paying in crypto, but Coinify will charge a shopper 1.5% of an item’s price tag for converting a crypto payment into fiat for the Swiss retailer. As such, this also means Digitec Galaxus does not directly receive customer payments in crypto although it allows a shopper to pay in crypto.

Digitec Galaxus sells some 2.7 million products from shoehorns to wheat beer and gaming PCs. According to online data resource ecommerceDB, it chalked up over $261 million in net sales last year and presently ranks as the 341st largest online retailer.

“Cryptocurrencies are fascinating and likely to become a relevant means of payment in e-commerce – we want to support this development,” said Oliver Herren, CIO, and co-founder of Digitec Galaxus.

This is not the first time an online retailer has made the move toward crypto use. One of the best examples to date is Overstock from the US, which started accepting Bitcoin in 2014. Last year, Japan’s Rakuten announced plans to launch its own crypto.

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