How to buy Tether (USDT) in Switzerland

USDT is the most traded cryptocurrency in the world, yet few people know exactly what they are buying: a digital dollar issued by a company now based in El Salvador. Among expats in Switzerland it comes up for familiar reasons – parking money between trades, sending funds to family abroad, or being paid by a foreign client in stablecoins. And if you live in or visit Lugano, you can even pay city bills with it.

Since summer 2026 things have become messier. Revolut, the app many newcomers open first, has removed USDT for Swiss customers, even though Switzerland is outside the EU rules that triggered the move. This page explains where you can still buy Tether with Swiss francs, what it costs, how to send it without losing it, and what to know about tax and risk.

What USDT is – and what it is not

USDT is a stablecoinA cryptocurrency whose value is pegged to an official currency, usually the US dollar. The issuer promises to redeem each unit 1:1.: one USDT is meant to be worth one US dollar at all times. It is issued by Tether Limited, part of the iFinex group, which also owns the Bitfinex exchange. The project launched in 2014 under the name "Realcoin". In January 2025 Tether moved its headquarters to El Salvador.

For every USDT in circulation Tether holds reserves, today mostly short-term US Treasury bills, plus gold and bitcoin. With well over 100 billion USDT in circulation, Tether is one of the largest cryptocurrencies by market value; CoinGecko shows the current figures.

The track record is not spotless. In 2021 Tether paid USD 18.5 million to settle a case brought by the New York Attorney General, and about USD 41 million to the US derivatives regulator CFTC over misleading claims about its backing. Since 2022 it has published quarterly attestations from the audit firm BDO. In August 2026 KPMG reportedly issued an unqualified audit opinion on Tether's 2025 financial statements; Tether did not publish the report itself.

The key point for anyone living here: USDT is not a franc balance. Holding USDT is economically the same as holding dollars, with all the exchange-rate swings against the franc.

Where to buy USDT in Switzerland

We checked the offers of the main providers available to Swiss residents. Four providers that accept francs list USDT, plus international exchanges.

A few details that do not fit in a table:

• CEX.IO has been operating since 2013; group entities are registered in the US (FinCEN) and the UK (FCA). Swiss residents, however, contract with CEX OVRS LLC in Nevis, which names no regulator, and there is no FINMA licence or Swiss SRO membership. USDT trades against dollars, euros or pounds; francs are not offered. Spot fees start at 0.15% maker and 0.25% taker (CEX.IO review).
• Swissquote is a Swiss bank and lists USDT among roughly 50 cryptocurrencies. Trading fees start at 1% and fall with volume; sending USDT to an external wallet costs USD 15 (Swissquote review).
• Lucerne Cantonal Bank (LUKB) holds nine cryptocurrencies in its own custody set-up, including USDT and USDC. You can buy from CHF 50 in e-banking; custody costs 0.60% a year, and transfers out are possible from CHF 1’000 for CHF 80.
• SwissBorg is a Lausanne brand, but Swiss customers contract with the French company BlockNodes SAS, which holds a MiCA licence. USDT is on its list of supported assets. The exchange fee is a flat 0.99% according to the current price list. Francs can only be deposited by SWIFT – your bank may charge for that – and card top-ups cost Swiss residents 4.5% (SwissBorg review).
• Mt Pelerin (Geneva) delivers USDT straight into its self-custody Bridge Wallet. Without ID checks you can buy up to CHF 999 in 30 days, including with cash by paying a QR bill at a Swiss Post counter (Mt Pelerin review).
• Kraken accepts francs by SIC transfer via Bank Frick free of charge and lists USDT on several networks. Customers outside the EEA and UK contract with a British Virgin Islands company. Kraken has restricted USDT for EEA customers because of MiCA; whether Swiss residents can buy it, we could not confirm – check in the app (Kraken review).

USDT is not available at PostFinance (which has offered USDC since February 2026), at Yuh or at Ticino's cantonal bank BancaStato. If your salary lands in a UBS or Raiffeisen account, you will need one of the providers above.

Step by step: buying USDT with Swiss francs

1. 1

   Choose by purpose

   If you only want to hold USDT, a bank such as Swissquote or LUKB is enough. To send it or pay in Lugano, you need a provider that allows withdrawals to your own wallet.

2. 2

   Open an account and verify

   Have your passport or Swiss residence permit ready. Swiss financial intermediaries must identify you at the latest once your crypto purchases reach CHF 1’000 within 30 days.

3. 3

   Deposit francs

   A SIC transfer from a Swiss account is usually cheapest. Card payments add 2.5 to 4.5% depending on the provider.

4. 4

   Buy USDT

   You are effectively swapping francs for dollars. Check the rate as well as the fee: the franc value of one USDT moves with the USD/CHF exchange rate.

5. 5

   Check network and address

   Before sending, pick the network, for example Tron or Ethereum. The destination address must belong to exactly that network.

A worked example: CHF 1’000 buys you roughly 1,200 USDT at a rate of CHF 0.83. The purchase costs CHF 10 at Swissquote and CHF 18 at LUKB. The franc–dollar rate your provider applies can add a few tenths of a percent, so compare the final amount shown, not just the fee.

Tron, Ethereum and co.: the most expensive mistake

USDT exists on many blockchains at once. Kraken, for instance, supports it on Ethereum (ERC-20), Tron (TRC-20) and Solana, among others. Each version is the "same" dollar claim, but technically a different token. A Tron address starts with "T", an Ethereum address with "0x".

If you send USDT over Ethereum to an address the recipient only set up for Tron, the money arrives at best after a paid recovery – at worst never. That is why exchanges spell out which networks they accept for deposits.

Swiss providers also ask for proof that the destination wallet belongs to you before a withdrawal. This follows from Switzerland's strict implementation of the travel rule, which we explain in our guide to FINMA crypto regulation.

Why Revolut dropped USDT – and Swissquote did not

In the EU the MiCA crypto regulation has applied in full since the end of 2024. Tether did not apply for authorisation as a stablecoin issuer. According to industry reports, Coinbase Europe (December 2024), Crypto.com (January 2025) and Binance (March 2025) removed or restricted USDT for EEA customers; the transitional periods ended on 1 July 2026 at the latest.

In July 2026 Revolut announced it would remove USDT by 31 August 2026 for customers in Switzerland as well, citing a review of its offering "in light of the evolving EU regulatory framework under MiCA". The background: crypto services for Swiss customers are provided by a Revolut company in Cyprus with a MiCA licence. In September 2026 Revolut applied to FINMA for a Swiss banking licence; whether that changes the offer is unclear (Revolut review).

Swissquote, LUKB and Mt Pelerin, by contrast, operate under Swiss law – and Swiss law does not ban USDT.

What FINMA says about stablecoins

FINMA's Guidance 06/2024 of 26 July 2024 is aimed mainly at issuers based in Switzerland: anyone issuing a stablecoin here must verify the identity of everyone who holds it, not just the first buyers. Banks that provide default guarantees for such issuers must meet strict minimum requirements. As a buyer of USDT this does not affect you directly, but it explains why Swiss stablecoins are so rare.

Bigger change may come from the planned revision of the Financial Institutions Act. In October 2025 the Federal Council proposed two new licences: "payment instrument institutions" for stablecoin issuers in Switzerland, and "crypto-institutions" for services involving crypto assets – explicitly including stablecoins issued abroad, such as USDT. The consultation closed in February 2026; the next step is the Federal Council's dispatch to Parliament.

USDT, USDC or a Swiss franc stablecoin?

USDC is the obvious alternative: also pegged to the dollar, authorised in the EU and available at PostFinance, Swissquote, LUKB and Mt Pelerin. For payments in Lugano, however, the city accepts USDT, not USDC.

Swiss franc stablecoins are still a niche. The decentrally issued Frankencoin (ZCHF) is available through Mt Pelerin, for example. According to Cointelegraph, UBS, PostFinance, Sygnum, Raiffeisen, Zürcher Kantonalbank and BCV launched a test environment for a Swiss franc stablecoin in April 2026. Whether it leads to a retail product remains open.

How large the currency riskThe risk of losing value because an asset is denominated in a different currency from your income and spending – here dollars instead of francs. can be shows in the federal price list: at the end of 2025 one dollar was worth CHF 0.79225. Anyone who swapped francs for USDT at the start of 2025 had lost noticeably in franc terms by year-end – even though USDT itself stayed "stable". If your rent and health insurance are paid in francs, that matters.

USDT in daily life: Lugano and Plan ₿

Lugano is the only place in Switzerland where USDT plays a role in everyday life. The city launched Plan ₿ in March 2022 together with Tether. Since December 2023 every city invoice, including municipal tax, can be paid in bitcoin or USDT by scanning the QR code; Bitcoin Suisse handles the processing. According to Plan ₿, more than 360 businesses accept bitcoin, USDT or the city's LVGA token. A review by Swiss-Italian broadcaster RSI in March 2026 was more sober: around CHF 600’000 in total payment volume, with LVGA used more than USDT. Full details on our Bitcoin in Lugano page.

Storage: exchange, bank or your own wallet

At Swissquote and LUKB your USDT sits in a bank custody account. That is convenient but not designed for paying third parties. For payments, or for holding larger amounts long term, a self-custody wallet is the better fit. According to its datasheet, the Swiss-made BitBox02 hardware wallet supports USDT only on Ethereum, not on Tron – a detail that matters when you pick a network. Our guide to crypto wallets in Switzerland has an overview.

One peculiarity of USDT: Tether can freeze tokens held at specific addresses, for example at the request of authorities. Self-custody protects you against an exchange failing, not against the issuer.

Tax: USDT on your Swiss return

Like other crypto, USDT goes in the securities list (Wertschriftenverzeichnis). What counts is the value on 31 December: for 2025 the Federal Tax Administration set CHF 0.791468 per USDT in its ICTax price list. If you held 10,000 USDT at the end of 2025, you declare CHF 7’915 of taxable wealth. Exchange-rate gains and losses against the franc are tax-free (and not deductible) for private investors. Income is different: interest or rewards on lent or "staked" USDT are taxable. More in our Swiss crypto tax guide and our walkthrough on declaring crypto on your tax return.

The risks at a glance

• Depeg: in October 2018 USDT briefly fell to 0.88 dollars. A stable price is a promise, not a guarantee.
• Issuer: Tether is not supervised by any Swiss authority; an insolvency would hit all holders.
• Freezes: Tether can block USDT at individual addresses.
• Currency: for Swiss residents, USDT is a dollar position.
• Network: sending on the wrong network can mean a total loss.
• Scams: USDT is a favourite of investment fraudsters – no legitimate firm asks for USDT in exchange for 'guaranteed returns'.

Put simply: a depegWhen a stablecoin drifts from its target value, for example when one USDT is worth 95 cents instead of a dollar. has so far been rare and short-lived for USDT. It is still not a savings account. If you just want to keep money safe, francs in a Swiss bank account do the job better. How fraudsters use stablecoins is covered in our guide to crypto scams in Switzerland; for other coins see our overview of the top cryptocurrencies.