Groceries are a good test of whether crypto is useful in daily life: you buy food every week, the amounts are predictable and the shops are everywhere. Supermarkets do not take Bitcoin at the till, but their gift cards can be bought with crypto, and then you pay like any other customer. This guide covers which supermarket cards are available, in which countries, and how to organise a month of shopping.
Supermarket cards available
| Supermarket | Countries | Amounts |
|---|---|---|
| Carrefour | Spain, France, Italy | 50, 100, 200, 500, 1000, 2000 |
| Lidl | Spain, Germany, France | 50 |
| Alcampo | Spain | 50, 100 |
Each card works in its own country. A Carrefour gift card for Spain is for Carrefour Spain; one for France is for Carrefour France.
Planning the month
The simplest method is to estimate your monthly shop and buy it as one or two cards at the start of the month. Fewer, larger cards also mean fewer payments and fewer network fees.
- Look at what you spent on groceries last month.
- Choose the supermarket where you shop most, in your country.
- Buy a card close to that amount, for example a 200 Carrefour card, or a few 50 Lidl cards for smaller weekly trips.
- Use the balance through the month and top up when it runs out.
Lidl: smaller amounts, frequent trips
Lidl cards come in 50 for Spain, Germany and France. They suit people who shop in short, frequent trips. If your weekly shop is around 50 to 100, one or two Lidl gift cards a week cover it. As always, use them according to the card's terms, typically shown at the till.
Alcampo: the Spanish hypermarket
An Alcampo gift card is Spain-only, in 50 or 100, and is useful if you do a big monthly trip to the hypermarket, where food, household products and small appliances are in the same place.
An example month
Imagine a household that spends about 300 € a month on food in Spain, mostly at Carrefour with a quick weekly stop at Lidl. One way to cover it: a 200 € Carrefour card at the start of the month plus two 50 € Lidl cards. That is three payments instead of a dozen, all made from a stablecoin balance on a low-cost network. If a week runs over, the difference is paid with a bank card as usual. The next month, the same plan is repeated or adjusted to what was actually spent.
Online or in store?
How each card is accepted, at the till, on the online shop or both, depends on the supermarket and its terms. In store, the usual approach is to show the code on your phone at the till. Online, look for the gift card option at the payment step. If you plan to use the card on the supermarket's website or app, check that option is available in your country before buying.
Paying: stablecoins make budgeting easy
For a recurring expense like food, a stablecoin is the most comfortable option: a 100 € shop costs about the same in USDT or USDC each week, apart from the euro-dollar rate. Paying on a cheap network such as Tron, BNB Smart Chain, Solana or Polygon keeps the sending cost low. You can open Carrefour with USDT to see live prices; every price already includes our 3% fee.
Paying with Bitcoin also works, but the amount in BTC changes with the market and network fees vary, so it fits better with one larger card a month than many small ones.
Not just the supermarket
If part of your food budget goes on delivery, Glovo (Spain and Italy) and Just Eat (Spain) cards work the same way. And for household goods beyond groceries, see our guide to IKEA, MediaMarkt and El Corte Inglés cards.
Things to keep in mind
- Country: the card must match the country of the supermarket.
- Keep the code private: anyone with it can spend the balance.
- Save your order ID: the code is on your order page, not in your email.
- Taxes: spending crypto may count as a disposal for tax purposes in your country, including Spain; groceries are no exception.
For the bigger picture of where crypto can be spent through gift cards, see what you can buy with crypto in Spain and Europe.