October 12, 2025, 1:57 pm | Read time: 6 minutes
Cryptocurrencies enable transactions on the internet and in physical stores. TECHBOOK explains how to find businesses that accept crypto payments, how to exchange euros for crypto and back.
Can you pay with cryptocurrency? Absolutely. In regular street stores? Yes, and for quite some time. During the pandemic, a legendary institution in Berlin closed that had been accepting Bitcoin since 2011: the pub Room 77. It was recently featured in the Netflix documentary “Cryptopia.” But Room 77 was just the beginning of something that is increasingly becoming normal. Bars, shops, and even law firms offer their goods and services not only for euros but also for crypto. Bitcoin is particularly popular. However, some providers alternatively accept other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, or Dash.
Overview
How to find businesses that allow crypto payments
Businesses, restaurants, or venues that accept crypto as a payment method can often be identified by symbols visible to customers on windows or doors. The orange Bitcoin symbol with the tilted B to the right should not be confused with the green Bitcoin Cash symbol with the tilted B to the left. Bitcoin Cash is different from Bitcoin. It costs less, has a smaller market share, but still has a following and is, of course, a legitimate cryptocurrency. Especially in big cities, you’ll frequently find opportunities to pay with crypto. If you want to know where crypto payments are possible in Berlin, for example, the website Coinpages provides guidance.
On the internet, the number of shops and websites accepting crypto payments is almost overwhelmingly large. Some blogs offer an overview, at least of the most important and largest online providers. In the realm of social media, Crypto Tipping, or tipping with crypto, has been common for some time, for example on X, the former Twitter.
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How to pay with crypto
The simplest and most widespread method in everyday life is probably paying via Lightning app and Bitcoin. Lightning wallets–such as Zeus, Bluewallet, or others–can be downloaded for free from the internet onto your smartphone. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are most safely purchased through BaFin-licensed crypto exchanges like Bitpanda or Bison. Here, you go through a so-called KYC procedure (know your customer), where you register with your ID. This is required by law.
From the exchange, you can transfer the purchased cryptocurrencies, for example, to a browser extension wallet on your own laptop, from where you manage Bitcoin & Co. yourself. If you want more security, you have to spend money. Particularly secure hardware wallets are available from about 50 euros. Whether hardware or software, once you manage the digital keys yourself, it’s called a self-custodial wallet. From there, the Bitcoins can then be sent to a Lightning app.
Paying by phone and QR code is quick and secure. This is how you settle your bill in stores and cafes that accept crypto. One thing to know: Apps and wallets never contain the Bitcoins themselves, only the digital access. The cryptocurrencies themselves are on the blockchain. And the blockchain, or rather the many blockchains, are global, decentralized networks. They are, so to speak, everywhere and nowhere.
In neighboring countries, you will usually find similar opportunities to pay with cryptocurrency. However, crypto-friendly Switzerland offers some highlights in terms of crypto payment options. The city of Lugano has reached a new dimension of crypto acceptance with its Plan B. In a popular social media video, the mayor is seen shopping with crypto in the city. Naturally, he pays for his espresso, haircut, and book gift with his smartphone app in crypto. Lugano aims to create new opportunities for the blockchain industry with this type of development plan to solve the region’s structural problems. You can even pay taxes in cryptocurrencies.
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Using cryptocurrencies abroad
Not only can you find the mayor’s video from Lugano on YouTube, but also channels from crypto influencers who manage to travel around the world and pay exclusively with crypto. Some travel companies have specialized in crypto-only traveling.
Traveling to a specific Central American country should pose few obstacles for tourists: El Salvador. Under the presidency of crypto-enthusiast Nayib Bukele, the country became the first in the world to make Bitcoin, alongside the U.S. dollar, its official currency in 2021. Bukele hopes to finance the Bitcoin City project with the profits from Bitcoin-backed bonds. There, in the east of the country, a volcano is supposed to provide sustainable geothermal energy for Bitcoin mining. A truly innovative idea to improve Bitcoin’s environmental footprint and make El Salvador a mecca for Bitcoin enthusiasts worldwide.
Overall, especially on long-distance trips, you’ll find how far other countries are ahead of us in terms of paying with cryptocurrency and crypto in everyday life. The highest percentage values for general crypto adoption are not found in Switzerland, the U.S., or Germany, but in countries like Nigeria or Vietnam. In Ethiopia, blockchain and crypto are even part of the school curriculum.
The founder of the Cardano blockchain, Charles Hoskinson, signed a corresponding cooperation with the Ministry of Education under the slogan “Cardano Africa” back in 2021. Over 5 million Ethiopian students are to be familiarized with the Cardano platform and also receive blockchain-based digital IDs.
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Donating in crypto
Recently, the topic of donating in cryptocurrencies has made headlines. Whether in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic or the Ukraine war, donations in crypto are increasingly accepted. Most NGOs (non-governmental organizations) already offer crypto addresses on their websites as a standard.
Exchanging crypto for euros
Exchanging cryptocurrencies for so-called fiat currencies, such as dollars, euros & co., is usually straightforward. It is particularly easy on reputable crypto exchanges, which simply transfer the desired euro amount to the user’s specified checking account after the exchange.
If the cryptocurrency has been exchanged multiple times, or if profits have been made through price increases and sales, taxes must be considered in any case. Each country has its own regulations. The new MiCA regulation of the EU will change a lot in the future. How exactly and when is not yet clear.
Crypto in everyday life requires one thing above all: simplicity. If paying with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin becomes as easy as paying with a credit card, it will become commonplace. Visa and Mastercard are already working on it.