In a McDonald’s by a lake surrounded by mountains, in the centre of the Swiss city of Lugano, a customer orders coffee.
“Can I pay with bitcoin?” he asks, and the person behind the counter holds out what looks like a credit card payment terminal.
It is, in fact, a machine for paying with cryptocurrency. The equipment has been distributed free to local retail businesses by the city council.
The buyer pays by contactless, from the Bitcoin wallet on his mobile phone. The bill comes to 0.00008629, which is roughly $8.80 (£6.60).
Few people who have bought Bitcoin would probably think about using it to purchase actual things in shops. It is instead generally seen as an investment, a bet on its value going up.
But in Lugano, in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, it’s a different story.
Dispatches From The Front 