The Swiss voice in the world since 1935

Swiss vending machines to accept cryptocurrencies

Vending machine
Crypto for chocolate - courtesy of vending machines. Keystone / Alexandra Wey

Chocolate bars from the vending machine without change, bank card or payment app? Selecta wants to make it possible. The company is making its machines crypto-enabled and wants to offer another payment option in the future.

In order to be able to pay with Bitcoin & Co, the first smart machines have now been equipped with the Solana Pay payment infrastructure, Selecta announced on Tuesday. 

You can already try out the first machines at the Solana Breakpoint conference, which is taking place in Amsterdam for blockchain and technology enthusiasts until November 3.

When asked by AWP, Selecta was unable to say exactly when the first crypto-enabled machine would actually be installed. It also depends on how the new payment method is received and accepted by potential buyers, said a spokeswoman.

“Our goal is to reach the next level for the consumer shopping experience,” explains Roland Ludwig, operational and technical director of Selecta. The introduction of cryptocurrencies as a payment option opens up a new dimension for shopping. 

Buyers could use an NFC-enabled device such as a smartphone or smartwatch for the payment process, and Solana Pay wristbands would also be issued during the conference.

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.

External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Daily news

Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox.

Daily

The SBC Privacy Policy provides additional information on how your data is processed.


Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Lufthansa abolishes in-flight sales - Swiss sticks to it

More

Lufthansa set to abolish in-flight sales, SWISS to keep them

This content was published on Perfumes, cigarettes, sunglasses: The German airline Lufthansa will no longer sell these products on long-haul flights in future. Lufthansa subsidiary Swiss is sticking to in-flight sales for the time being.

Read more: Lufthansa set to abolish in-flight sales, SWISS to keep them
Karaoke tram runs through Basel during the ESC

More

Karaoke tram to run through Basel during Eurovision

This content was published on A karaoke tram will be doing the rounds in Basel during the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). During a 90-minute journey, guests can sing and dance for free in a vintage car.

Read more: Karaoke tram to run through Basel during Eurovision

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR