Switzerland has become Europe’s clear leader in everyday cryptocurrency use, with 23% of adults saying they use digital assets at least occasionally, according to a Bearingpoint study. That figure is more than double Germany’s 11%, while Austria recorded 18%.
The results, published on 30 July, are based on an online YouGov survey of more than 4,000 adults across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The poll questioned 2,031 people in Germany, 1,003 in Austria and 1,001 in Switzerland, with the findings weighted by age, gender and region to provide a representative picture of adults in each country.
Switzerland’s lead extends beyond the number of people using cryptocurrency. Some 37% of Swiss respondents considered it a worthwhile investment, compared with 28% in Austria and 23% in Germany.
Swiss participants were also more likely to believe digital assets could eventually become international trade or reserve currencies. That view was held by 45% of respondents in Switzerland, compared with 36% in Austria and 32% in Germany.
The survey also showed greater Swiss openness to government-backed digital money. Forty-four per cent said they would consider using a central bank digital currency (CBDC), such as a digital franc, in their daily lives. The comparable figures were 38% in Austria and 29% in Germany. A CBDC is a digital version of government-issued currency, rather than a privately issued cryptocurrency.
Dr Robert Bosch, Bearingpoint’s global head of financial services, said the research indicated Switzerland was not only more receptive to cryptocurrency but also more prepared to accept digital forms of money generally.
Switzerland’s position has been supported by decisions taken several years before the latest adoption figures emerged. Parliament approved the country’s Distributed Ledger Technology Act in September 2020, with the framework becoming fully effective on 1 August 2021.
Distributed ledger technology, or DLT, is a shared record-keeping system used by blockchain networks to record and verify transactions securely. Rather than introducing a completely separate cryptocurrency law, Switzerland amended existing financial and civil legislation.
Those changes clarified how tokenised assets would fit within established legal arrangements, set out how they would be treated in bankruptcy cases and created a licensing system for specialist DLT trading facilities. The legal certainty helped attract businesses before cryptocurrency became a mainstream subject for consumers.
It also gave Swiss companies time to develop products, establish operations and gain experience while many other European countries were still creating their own regulatory systems.
That early start helped drive the growth of Crypto Valley, the blockchain and DLT cluster spanning Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The ecosystem included 1,749 active companies in its 2024 industry report, representing annual growth of 14% and a 132% increase since 2020.
Zug remains the centre of Crypto Valley, accounting for about 719 companies, or 41% of the ecosystem. Zurich represents roughly 15%, while further groups have developed in Geneva, Ticino, Lucerne, Neuchatel and Liechtenstein.
The concentration has brought together lawyers, banks, developers, venture capital firms and technical specialists. It has also created a cycle in which the arrival of more companies encourages the growth of specialist financial services, compliance expertise and investment.
Organisations associated with Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, Polkadot and Tezos have links to Switzerland, alongside Sygnum Bank, Amina Bank and Bitcoin Suisse.
Cryptocurrency use was highest among younger adults and continued to vary according to gender, education and income. In Switzerland, 36% of respondents aged 18 to 24 said they used cryptocurrency. Austria and Germany displayed the same age-related trend, but at lower participation levels.
The findings do not suggest digital assets are replacing traditional finance. Between 80% and 87% of respondents across the three countries still regarded government-issued currencies as effective means of payment. In Switzerland, about 64% continued to favour gold as protection against inflation.
The results point instead to cryptocurrency being viewed as an additional financial instrument. That could allow banks and policymakers to expand digital services without displacing established products.
Germany’s retail adoption remains below Switzerland’s, although its banking system could help narrow the gap. Cooperative banks connected to DZ Bank and savings banks linked to Dekabank together have about 80 million customer relationships, giving them a reach that few specialist cryptocurrency platforms can match.
DZ Bank received authorisation in late December 2025 for its “meinkrypto” platform, which is being integrated into the VR Banking App. The service launched with bitcoin, ether, litecoin and cardano, while Borse Stuttgart Digital provides custody services. Individual cooperative banks must decide whether to activate the feature.
Dekabank is developing a comparable platform for Germany’s Sparkassen network, which serves about 50 million customers. The rollout is expected to continue through 2026, initially offering bitcoin and ether.
Adding cryptocurrency to banking apps that customers already use could remove one of the main barriers for newcomers, who otherwise need to open accounts with separate digital asset providers.
Germany is therefore relying on established banks and existing customer relationships to expand access within Europe’s regulatory framework. Switzerland, by contrast, has built its advantage through legal certainty, specialist infrastructure and years of ecosystem development.
Switzerland’s accumulated expertise and concentration of businesses remain difficult to replicate, even though Germany has substantial distribution potential. Future Bearingpoint surveys, together with customer figures from Germany’s new banking platforms, should show whether the difference begins to narrow.
Zurich-based Sygnum Bank has also connected its regulated cryptocurrency services directly to Bancastato’s online banking system, giving clients in Switzerland’s Ticino…
