"Crypto Valley" is one of the few Swiss place names that people abroad recognise instantly. It refers to the canton of Zug and its neighbouring towns, where hundreds of blockchain companies have settled since 2014. If you move here expecting to pay for coffee in bitcoin, you will be disappointed. In a survey by the local portal Zug4you in summer 2025, not one of 43 shoppers asked in town had ever paid with crypto.
This page separates the industry from daily life. It covers the crypto infrastructure that really exists in Zug, where you can buy and spend bitcoin as a private person, how paying your taxes in crypto works – and what we could not confirm.
How Zug became Crypto Valley
The story starts in 2014. That year the Ethereum Foundation (Stiftung Ethereum) was set up in the canton of Zug, and it still steers development of the world's second-largest cryptocurrency; it was funded by a public token sale in July and August 2014, paid in bitcoin. The same year, Zug-based Bitcoin Suisse, a member of the self-regulatory organisation VQF, got the green light to run bitcoin ATMs. Low taxes, approachable authorities and the nearby Zurich financial centre did the rest.
- 2014
Ethereum Foundation established in the canton of Zug. Bitcoin Suisse cleared to operate bitcoin ATMs as a VQF member.
- 2016
The City of Zug residents' office accepts bitcoin for fees up to CHF 200 – a first for a Swiss authority.
- 2017
The Crypto Valley Association is founded.
- 2019
SEBA, today AMINA Bank in Zug, receives a FINMA banking licence.
- Feb 2021
Canton of Zug starts accepting tax payments in bitcoin and ether.
- Mar 2023
The cap per tax bill rises from CHF 100,000 to CHF 1.5 million.
- Oct 2023
Zuger Kantonalbank becomes the first cantonal bank to launch crypto trading.
- 2024
Cantonal parliament approves CHF 39.35 million over five years for the Blockchain Zug research initiative of the University of Lucerne and HSLU.
- Apr 2025
Spar Zug becomes the first Spar store in Switzerland to accept bitcoin via Lightning.
- Sep 2026
Bitcoin Suisse announces it will move up to 60 of its 120 Swiss jobs abroad; Zug remains its headquarters.
How big is Crypto Valley, really?
It depends who is counting. Zug-based investor CV VC counted 1,749 blockchain companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in May 2025, with 719 of them in the canton of Zug – 41 percent. Zurich came a distant second with 264.
The IFZ Crypto Assets Study by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) uses a narrower definition and found 399 crypto-asset companies in Switzerland and Liechtenstein in its 2026 edition. Zug still leads, but by a smaller margin over Zurich.
The Crypto Valley Association reports more than 800 individual members, over 120 start-ups and more than 45 SME and corporate members, including Bitcoin Suisse, Sygnum, AMINA and the Cardano Foundation. It is not all growth: Bitcoin Suisse, one of the valley's pioneers, plans to move up to half its Swiss roles to Bratislava and Vietnam and is concentrating on wealthy and institutional clients.
Buying crypto in Zug: what works locally
Zuger Kantonalbank
On 2 October 2023 Zuger Kantonalbank became the first cantonal bank to offer crypto trading and custody, built on Sygnum Bank's B2B platform. At launch it offered bitcoin, ether, XRP, litecoin, Polygon and Uniswap; media reports say Cardano and Avalanche were added in March 2025. Trading runs in e-banking and the mobile app – at launch Monday to Friday, 01:30 to 22:00 – and is settled in US dollars. You need a securities account with the bank.
The coins stay with the bank and you never handle keys. That is convenient, but it is not Holding crypto in your own wallet and controlling the private keys yourself, instead of leaving them with a bank or exchange.. Fees are in the bank's price list, which we could not fully verify on zugerkb.ch. For the bigger picture, see our overview of Swiss banks offering crypto.
Bitcoin Suisse and AMINA Bank
Two of the country's best-known crypto finance firms are headquartered in Zug. Bitcoin Suisse offers trading in more than 65 assets, custody, staking and Lombard loans, but publishes no fee schedule and increasingly targets wealthy clients. AMINA Bank (SEBA until 2023) holds a FINMA banking licence and has an offering for individuals, with no published minimum. At neither firm could we confirm over-the-counter bitcoin purchases for cash, so do not turn up with banknotes.
Online by bank transfer: the normal route
For most residents, including expats, an exchange or app is the practical choice. You open an account, complete Know Your Customer: identity checks with ID and selfie that financial intermediaries must run under anti-money-laundering law. and send Swiss francs. From CHF 1,000 within 30 days, a Swiss provider has to identify you in any case.
- CEX.IO has operated 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. There is no CHF: you fund via SEPA in euros, SWIFT or card (CEX.IO review).
- Kraken accepts Swiss francs via SIC through Bank Frick, free of charge.
- Relai, a Zurich start-up, sells bitcoin only, charges a 1% fee from CHF 50 and sends the coins straight to your own wallet (Relai review).
- PostFinance offers 22 coins in e-finance with trading fees from 0.95%, if you have a Swiss tax domicile and a B, C or C1 permit or Swiss ID (PostFinance crypto).
Our guide to buying crypto by bank transfer walks through the steps. None of the exchanges, banks or apps we checked accepts TWINT for crypto purchases; the workarounds via P2P marketplaces and vouchers are covered on our TWINT and crypto page.
Cash and ATMs: thinner than you would expect
This is where Zug surprises most. Coin ATM Radar listed only two crypto ATMs in the town (figure via HelloSafe, undated), compared with around forty in Zurich. According to BTC Map (btcmap.org) there is one listing within four kilometres – a Bity machine with no address – and Bity no longer presents ATMs on its website. A machine from Värdex – which claims more than 80 ATMs in Switzerland – used to stand in the Parkhotel Zug; we could not confirm whether it is still there. The location finder on vaerdex.ch will tell you. In short, we cannot name a working bitcoin ATM with an address in Zug. Counts change constantly; our Swiss bitcoin ATM guide covers alternatives.
If you want to pay cash, two routes are more reliable. SBB ticket machines at Zug station sell bitcoin and ether as paper wallets for CHF 20 to 500 (how the SBB machine works). At a Swiss Post counter you can pay a Mt Pelerin QR bill in cash, without ID up to CHF 999 per 30 days.
The irony: much of Switzerland's retail crypto infrastructure comes from the canton of Zug but mostly sits elsewhere. Crypto sales at SBB ticket machines are handled by Zug-based SweePay AG, a member of the self-regulatory organisation PolyReg. ATM operator Värdex is also based in the canton and supervised by the VQF. And Tangem's hardware wallet cards are sold by a company on Baarerstrasse.
| Zuger KB | App (Relai) | SBB machine | Post + Mt Pelerin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where | e-banking | smartphone | Zug station | post office |
| Coins | BTC, ETH and more | BTC only | BTC, ETH | BTC + ~30 tokens |
| Amount | per price list | from CHF 50 | CHF 20–500 | no ID up to CHF 999 |
| Own wallet | paper wallet | |||
| Settled in | USD | CHF | cash or card | cash |
Don't want to depend on an ATM? An online account works in Zug exactly as it does anywhere else in Switzerland.
Operating since 2013Group registered with FinCEN (US) and the FCA (UK)
Paying with bitcoin in Zug
The most tangible place is, of all things, a supermarket. In April 2025 the Spar at Bahnhofstrasse 10 became the first Spar in Switzerland to accept bitcoin via A payment layer on top of the Bitcoin blockchain that settles small amounts in seconds for a fraction of a cent.: you scan a QR code at the till, with technology (OpenCryptoPay) from DFX AG, a Zug company based a few doors down at Bahnhofstrasse 7. Zug4you reported 30 to 50 crypto payments a day. Spar later extended the option to around a hundred stores, including the one on Buonaserstrasse in Rotkreuz.
Beyond that, the list is short. The Meating restaurant on Grafenauweg has accepted bitcoin for about three years and sees one or two crypto payments a month. MB Auto Center Zug in Steinhausen has taken crypto since 2021; ten customers used it in 2024. BTC Map also lists the gold dealer Gold Point on Zeughausgasse and two firms at Baarerstrasse 2, one of them a fiduciary. In total, according to BTC Map (btcmap.org), there are twelve listings within four kilometres of the centre. Lugano has more than 250.
Paying your taxes in bitcoin or ether
Since February 2021 you can settle cantonal tax bills in bitcoin or ether. Bitcoin Suisse runs the service, takes the exchange-rate risk and pays the canton in francs the next business day. The essentials:
- Cap: up to CHF 1.5 million per bill (since 1 March 2023, previously CHF 100,000).
- Cost: 1% of the amount, charged by Bitcoin Suisse.
- Covered: cantonal and municipal income and wealth tax, direct federal tax, inheritance and gift tax, and withholding tax. Taxes billed by the municipalities, such as property gains tax or dog tax, are excluded.
- Process: request via the tax office's secure contact form (subject "Kryptowährungen"); you then receive a payment link and a QR code for your wallet.
- Catches: the bill must be paid in full in crypto; overpayments are credited to future taxes but never refunded, neither in crypto nor in francs.
Take-up is small: about 120 payments worth CHF 3.3 million in 2024, against tax revenue of more than CHF 4 billion. Our guide to paying taxes in bitcoin explains when it makes sense and how Lugano compares.
Crypto in your Zug tax return
In Zug, crypto goes into the securities list of your tax return and is subject to Annual cantonal tax on your net assets as of 31 December – crypto holdings count towards it.. The cantonal tax office's fact sheet sets the valuation: use the year-end rate published by the Swiss Federal Tax Administration (ESTV) in its price list; failing that, the year-end rate of the platform you used, with CoinMarketCap as the reference; and as a last resort the purchase price in francs.
Private capital gains remain tax-free. Income from mining and Locking coins in a network to help validate transactions, in return for rewards in the same cryptocurrency., however, is taxable income. If you are new to Swiss tax returns, our guides on crypto tax in Switzerland and declaring crypto on your tax return explain the professional-trader test and the forms.
Scene, research and events: often in Rotkreuz
The scene often meets in Rotkreuz rather than Zug's old town. The HSLU campus Zug-Rotkreuz (Suurstoffi 1) houses the HSLU Blockchain Lab, which describes itself as the first Swiss university lab dedicated solely to blockchain, and the Institute of Financial Services Zug (IFZ), which publishes the annual Crypto Assets Study. The canton-funded Blockchain Zug research initiative links HSLU with the University of Lucerne.
The Crypto Valley Conference, organised by the Crypto Valley Association and HSLU, is also held in Rotkreuz, typically in late spring. CV Summit, run by Zug-based CV Labs, has meanwhile moved to Zurich, where it takes place at the Kongresshaus.
There is a gap when it comes to meetups. Neither the Bitcoin Association Switzerland nor the Einundzwanzig network lists a regular meetup in Zug itself. The nearest are in Lucerne, in Zurich (every other Wednesday) and in Pfäffikon SZ.
What is realistic for residents
Zug is a base for crypto companies, not a town where you live on bitcoin. For a private person, the balance looks like this:
- Crypto in your normal e-banking: possible if you bank with Zuger Kantonalbank.
- Tax bill in BTC or ETH: possible, with a 1% fee and only for the full amount.
- Shopping with Lightning: the Spar on Bahnhofstrasse and a few businesses, no dense network.
- Turning cash into bitcoin: easier at an SBB machine or a post office than at a crypto ATM.
- Small purchases at a crypto firm's counter: not confirmed at Bitcoin Suisse or AMINA.
Nearby towns: Baar, Cham, Steinhausen and Rotkreuz
Crypto companies are spread across the canton; infrastructure for individuals much less so. In Steinhausen, MB Auto Center Zug accepts crypto, and in Rotkreuz the Spar on Buonaserstrasse. In Baar, BTC Map lists only an agency and a travel agency; in Cham a single address on Fabrikstrasse. Otherwise, SBB machines and online routes are the same as in town.
For more choice, head to Zurich: more ATMs, a bitcoin shop and Zürcher Kantonalbank with crypto in e-banking (crypto in Zurich). To the south-west, Luzerner Kantonalbank offers crypto savings plans and loans against bitcoin (crypto in Lucerne).
Pay taxes in bitcoin
Paying Swiss taxes in crypto: how it works in the Canton of Zug and the City of Lugano, what it costs, where it is not possible and the tax consequences.
Zurich
Bitcoin in Zurich for residents and expats: ZKB crypto in e-banking, ATMs and the bitcoin shop near the main station, where to pay, meetups and tax rules.
Lucerne
Buying bitcoin in Lucerne: what crypto costs at LUKB, where the ATM is, where visitors can pay in bitcoin, local meetups and tax in the canton of Lucerne.
Crypto banks
PostFinance, ZKB, LUKB, Swissquote, Sygnum, AMINA: coins, fees and whether you can withdraw to your own wallet. Plus UBS, Raiffeisen and crypto-friendly banks.
