A new smartphone application developed in the Swiss «crypto valley» makes payments with cryptocurrencies simpler. Two firms active in the luxury industry have already committed themselves to the solution.
The announcement of a new cryptocurrency solution came even before today’s CV Summit Crypto Valley, a conference for Swiss blockchain geeks held on Wednesday.
Guests at a VIP event in the run-up to the conference were told that they soon would be able to pay their bills in bitcoin or ether at Zurich's top-notch Hotel Dolder.
The announcement came after the hotel adopted the Inapay smartphone application, according to information obtained by finews.com. The app enables payments in bitcoin and further cryptocurrencies will follow in a next phase. The payment is booked at the going exchange rate with the Swiss franc.
Starting in May
The service was jointly developed by Inacta, a Zug-based fintech, and crypto-specialist Bity. The second firm to accept the app is a car dealership called Kessel. The company sells oldtimer, luxury, and sports cars and has showrooms in Lugano and Zug. Inapay will go live at Dolder and Kessel in May and is slated to reach further clients later this year.
Payments in bitcoin have been possible at various places and outlets across Switzerland for years. The city of Zug, the epicenter of the fintech cluster dubbed «crypto valley», has pioneered the acceptance of cryptocurrencies.
Helping You to Spend Money
The payments, however, were far from straightforward, because of the key management and audit requirements. And given the massive swings in valuation, the currencies were hardly an easy means for everyday payments.
People holding large sums in cryptocurrencies, therefore, face the problem of how to spend their money. Inapay is going to help them do so. Dolder and Kessel have committed to sticking to rules governing the use of cash in a bid to avoid money laundering issues.
