Swiss online retail giant Galaxus becomes first to accept payments in digital Swiss francs

The cryptocurrency bank Sygnum announced the first transaction using the digital version of the Swiss franc in online commerce. The recipient of the payment was the country’s leading player in the sector, Galaxus.

📣Announcement: @coinify & @Galaxus enable world’s first e-commerce payment using Sygnum Bank #DCHF stablecoin. The Sygnum Digital Swiss Franc (DCHF), pegged 1:1 with the Swiss Franc, eliminates the need for card systems, reduces costs & fraud, & processes real-time transactions.

— Sygnum Bank (@sygnumofficial) August 27, 2020

The transaction was initiated by Coinify, a cryptocurrency payments provider.

The 1:1 pegged DCHF stablecoin was issued this spring. It was expected to become a payment instrument on the SIX Group’s trading blockchain platform SDX, which is planned to launch by the end of the year.

Sygnum noted the potential for applying DCHF in the e-commerce market, whose global annual volume is $3.5 trillion. Switzerland accounts for $11 billion.

The bank’s team believes that adopting the stablecoin will help online shops reduce costs, speed up payments, and protect against fraud.

Galaxus’ Chief Financial Officer Thomas Fugmann is confident that the ability to shop with stablecoins like DCHF will improve convenience for online-store users in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Galaxus added cryptocurrency payment support last year. Initially these included Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and a few other coins.

Back in 2019, Sygnum and SEBA became the first blockchain startups in Switzerland to obtain a banking licence.

Sygnum later received approval from the Singapore regulator to operate in capital markets.

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